HMRC Stakeholder Digest – 27 October 2021

27 Oct 2021

Please see the following message which we are sharing on behalf of HMRC:

This HMRC Stakeholder Digest provides a round-up of our latest news and updates, which we’d be grateful if you could share with your clients, customers or members.

The government has set up a dedicated support page where businesses can find the right support, advice and information to help with the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Budget 2021

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, has today delivered the government’s Autumn 2021 Budget.

In his speech, the Chancellor announced a number of important tax reforms and confirmed legislation for the forthcoming Finance Bill. Key measures include:

  • the conclusions of the government’s review of business rates
  • reform of Research and Development tax reliefs to support modern research methods, refocusing support towards innovation in the UK and to target abuse and improve compliance
  • reform of Alcohol Duty so that all beverages are taxed in direct proportion to their alcohol content alongside simplification of the regime
  • reform of Aviation Tax introducing a new domestic band and ultra long-haul band for air passenger duty
  • reform of Tonnage Tax to make the UK regime more competitive
  • an extension of the £1 million level of the Annual Investment Allowance to 31 March 2023
  • a temporary increase in the rate of Theatre, Orchestra and Museums & Galleries Exhibition tax reliefs and clarification of the relief rules
  • an immediate change to the time limit for making Capital Gains Tax returns and associated payments on account when disposing of UK land and property from 30 days to 60 days
  • reform to the Income Tax basis period rules to come into force from 6 April 2024.

The government also announced a number of consultations including:

  • a consultation on potential online sales tax
  • a detailed consultation on the alcohol reform proposals
  • a consultation on the regime for company re-domiciliation.

The government also confirmed that more detail on some of the measures above and a further set of tax administration and maintenance announcements will be forthcoming later in the autumn.

For more information about all the measures announced today please visit GOV.UK.

Spending Review 2021

In September of this year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer launched Spending Review 2021 which sets departmental resource and capital budgets over the 3-year period from 2022-23 to 2024-25. The formal funding settlements were announced today.   

The settlement which HMRC received enables us to move forward with our plans to deliver on our strategy and towards our vision to be a modern, trusted tax and customs department.  

We still have some decisions to make around how and where we prioritise some of the funding we have received, so we aren’t yet in a position to share the full detail. 

However, we can provide some initial information about what we will be prioritising as a result of our funding settlement and we will update you further on how we will use the Spending Review settlement to take forward our strategy in more detail in the coming months. 

Given the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew that this spending round would be constrained by the challenging fiscal environment and the need to put the public finances on a sustainable path so that we are resilient to future challenges. 

While the settlement will not fund everything we bid for, it does provide funding for us to continue to deliver on our key priorities: allowing us to continue to support taxpayers to get their tax right, delivering a secure and efficient customs border, and continuing our transformation.  

Our bid and the settlement we received focused primarily on three key areas: 

  • Maintaining the delivery of our core services 
    • The funding we have received in this spending round ensures we can continue to deliver our core services. This means we can continue to collect the UK’s tax revenues, tackling the tax gap through increased funding for compliance activity and ensure customer experience standards continue to improve. 
  • A resilient, responsive, modern tax system 
    • We have secured funding to ensure our IT and data remain safe and secure, while enabling us to move forward with our modernisation agenda. 
  • A secure and compliant border 
    • Our settlement supports the government's strategy to improve our international competitiveness and create a truly global Britain. It provides the funding to facilitate trade and deliver a secure and effective border, delivering the ambition set out in the 2025 Border Strategy. 

We’ve shown that we can deliver for the UK in the most challenging of circumstances. As we plan for the future, we’re confident that we can keep delivering for businesses, individuals and families.