Spring Statement 10 tax takeaways

13 Mar 2019

It was a quiet statement on the tax front. These are our main quick observations.

1) MTD for VAT still going ahead – ‘soft landing’ confirmed

2) But MTD won’t be extended before 2021 at earliest

3) Lengthy paper on tax avoidance, evasion and other non-compliance is mostly a list of what government have already done

4) But remember the Labour request for a review of the effects of the tax avoidance provisions of the last Finance Act on various groups and regions, and the SNP proposal for a review of the effectiveness of the provisions of the Act on tax avoidance, that were both accepted by the government? These are tucked away in annex B of the paper. But don’t get too excited. The amount of data on the impact of tackling hybrid mismatches on child poverty is about what you’d expect!

5) The review of offshore time limits – with the loan charge wrapped in – hasn’t been published (deadline is March 30th)

6) New paper on offshore tax compliance strategy emphasises maximising the use of new technologies, continuing to lead internationally and moving the focus onto helping taxpayers to get things right/ prevent errors (rather than purely on evasion). This is welcome.

7) Structure and Buildings Allowance – this is of course in effect already. Now you’ve got 29 pages of detailed draft secondary legislation to look at. Appears the government might have made moves on disuse and demolition in response to business concerns

8) Waiting for the consultations on CGT private residence relief for landlords, and preventing abuse of R&D tax relief? You’re still waiting. These will be published ‘in the coming months

9) Updated tax consultation tracker here

10) And perhaps most of all, the Chancellor has stuck to his ‘single fiscal event’ promise making the SS a ‘non-event’ in tax terms. Hooray! Let’s hope this impressive self-control is not just a temporary, Brexit-induced phenomenon.

By George Crozier, CIOT Head of External Relations.