Other news in brief

The Government has announced that ‘Tax Administration and Maintenance day’ (TAMD) will take place on 30 November 2021. TAMD is expected to follow a similar format to ‘Tax Day’, which took place in March 2021. On TAMD the Government will publish consultations for announcements made at Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, as well as summaries of responses to recently closed consultations and technical information notices. A Tax Administration and Maintenance Command Paper will outline steps the Government is taking in respect of tax simplification, tackling non-compliance, and ensuring the UK tax system is fit for the modern world.

Following the publication of Finance (No.2) Bill 2021-22 (referred to here as Finance Bill 2022) on 4 November 2021, the Bill’s second reading was completed on 16 November 2021. The Committee of the whole House has been scheduled to debate selected clauses from the Bill on 1 December 2021. The clauses to be debated are set out in a programme motion and include, amongst others, the legislation on basis period reform and the corporation tax surcharge on banking companies. Following the Committee of the whole House, the Public Bill Committee stage will commence, and this will be concluded no later than 13 January 2022. Further dates for the remaining stages of the Bill have not yet been published.

HMRC are currently undertaking a review of tax reliefs, prompted by the National Audit Office. As part of this, in a move which will be of interest to employers with an internationally mobile workforce, HMRC are reviewing Overseas Workday Relief (OWR). OWR allows individuals moving to the UK to exempt the income relating to their non-UK workdays from UK taxation, providing certain conditions are met. HMRC recently invited agents and professional bodies to provide their comments regarding the effectiveness and difficulties of OWR, and held a follow-up group discussion which KPMG attended. The general view of KPMG and other attendees was that OWR is overly complex for taxpayers and not as effective in delivering its underlying policy intent as it could be. Although HMRC stressed that they have no current plans to reform OWR, we welcomed the opportunity to share our views and await any further developments with interest.

The Authorised Investment Funds (Tax) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 amend legislation concerning the tax treatment of authorised investment funds (AIFs). Specifically, the amendments facilitate the introduction of a new type of authorised fund: the long-term asset fund (LTAF). These regulation follow the introduction of the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules for the LTAF.