Other news in brief

In June, HMRC announced that the self-assessment registration threshold for individuals with only employment income would be increased to £150,000. This was an increase from the previous registration threshold of £100,000. Whilst this will apply for the current 2023-24 tax year, HMRC confirmed in the Autumn Statement that for the tax year 2024-25 (which commences 6 April 2024) and beyond, individuals who earn £150,000 or more via employment income alone will not be required to submit a self-assessment tax return. HMRC estimate this will take out approximately 338,000 people from self-assessment. It is important to note that if individuals are earning £150,000 or more via employment and also have dividends, interest, personal pension contributions or anything else to complicate their tax affairs, then they may still be required to submit a self-assessment tax return. 

HMRC recently updated their Gift Aid guidance to confirm that donations of cryptoassets do not qualify for Gift Aid relief, on the basis that HMRC do not consider cryptoassets to be currency or money. HMRC have clarified that should the cryptoassets in question be converted into ‘money’ and then donated to the charity, then this will qualify for Gift Aid relief, subject to the normal qualifying conditions applying.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax, will be mandated from April 2026 for unincorporated businesses and landlords with business and/or property income over £50,000, followed by those with income over £30,000 from April 2027. In preparation for this, on 7 December 2023 HMRC published draft regulations and associated notices for consultation. The drafts reflect changes made as a result of the MTD Small Business Review announced at the Autumn Statement. The consultation is open until 12 January 2024.

Following the signing of the 2023 UK/San Marino Double Taxation Convention in May 2023, HMRC have confirmed it came into force on 30 November 2023. The treaty will take effect in the UK on 1 January 2024 for withholding taxes, 1 April 2024 for corporation tax and 6 April 2024 for income tax and capital gains tax. 

The First-tier Tribunal has handed down its latest judgment in Atholl House Productions Ltd, finding that the ‘IR35’ rules did not apply to the relevant engagements. This case concerned the radio presenter Kaye Adams, who provided her services to BBC Scotland through a personal services company. The case had previously reached the Court of Appeal which, after clarifying how the relevant law should be applied, remitted it to the Tribunals to redetermine whether Ms Adams would have been an employee had she been engaged directly by BBC Scotland (see our previous article). We will comment on this case in more detail in a future edition of Tax Matters Digest.

AI will change the way that many of us work, bringing opportunities and challenges, including in relation to how employees are engaged and managed. In a recent blog post Donna Sharp, KPMG Law Partner, explores six key considerations for HR leaders.

This article considers the recent decision of the Court of Session (Inner House) for Ponticelli UK Ltd v Gallagher which looked at whether, in the context of a Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) transfer, the new employer must put in place a share plan for transferring employees on equivalent terms to their pre-transfer share plan with their former employer. A decision which may have significant costs, as well as practical implications to consider.