HLAS

If you are travelling abroad, it is advisable to take out appropriate travel insurance before you go. To understand the risks in a country, including the latest COVID restrictions (including for entry), follow FCDO Travel Advice. To prevent new COVID variants from entering the UK, you should not travel to red list countries. Check what you need to do to travel abroad and return to England, or read travel guidance for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office currently advises against all but essential travel to many countries and territories, due to coronavirus (COVID-19) risks. You should check the travel advice for your destination and [...]

CJRS claims for July can now be submitted and must be made by Monday‌‌ ‌16‌‌ August. Employers can claim 70% of furloughed employees' usual wages for the hours not worked, up to a cap of £2,187.50 per month. They will need to pay the difference, so that they continue to pay furloughed employees at least 80% of their usual wages in total for the hours they do not work, up to a cap of £2,500 a month. Employers can still choose to top up employees' wages above the 80% level or cap for each month if they wish, at their own [...]

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released a survey on the hospitality sector during coronavirus) with a focus on the most recent easing of restrictions in spring 2021. This Includes details of how the sector has performed and the future of employment in hospitality. The key findings are not unexpected and are summarised below: Hospitality has been hit hard by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the impact has been uneven; bars and clubs have fared the worst, but campsites had a relatively better year than the rest of the sector. Consumer spending on hospitality started to increase in May [...]

International road haulage This has been updated to state that insurance green cards are not needed from 2 August 2021 to drive in the EU (including Ireland), Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia or Switzerland. Bus, coaches and HGV trailers will also be exempt. See: Carry out international road haulage - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) International bus or coach services and tours: vehicle documents See: International bus or coach services and tours: vehicle documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) International road haulage: HGV and trailer documents See: International road haulage: HGV and trailer documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Guidance: pavement licences (outdoor seating) A [...]

This service was created to enable paperless filing in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. It is quicker to upload your documents than to send them by post. You can use this service to file certain documents online that would usually be sent to CH in a paper format. In this service, you can upload certain documents for: share capital registrar's powers change of constitution insolvency (registered insolvency practitioners only) Read the guidance to find out how to upload a document, including which documents you can file. There is separate guidance for uploading insolvency documents. A same day service is now available [...]

The claims service for the fifth SEISS grant will open from late July. In the meantime, here is the latest SEISS update from HMRC. Personal claim dates Shortly HMRC will be contacting every customer who may be eligible for the fifth grant, to tell them their personal claim date. Customers can claim from this date up until the claims service closes on 30‌‌ ‌September‌‌ ‌2021. Claims made before the personal claim date will not be processed. This is to ensure the system is fast and easy to use for everyone on their given date, and that telephone support continues to [...]

Following the deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme, the process for completing right-to-work checks on EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens has now changed. Employers can no longer accept EU passports or ID cards as valid proof of right-to-work, with the exception of Irish citizens. Instead, you need to check a job applicant’s right to work online using a share code and their date of birth. You do not need to retrospectively check the status of any EU, EEA, or Swiss citizens you employed before 1 July 2021. You can find out more information on these changes, including what to do [...]

Draft legislation has been published with the intention of increasing normal minimum pension age (NMPA), which is the minimum age at which most pension savers can access their pensions without incurring an unauthorised payments tax charge unless they are retiring due to ill-health, from age 55 to 57 in 2028. There follows a consultation on the implementation of the increase and a proposed framework of protections for pension savers who already have a right to take their pension at a pre-existing pension age. This consultation was launched on 11 February 2021 and closed on 22 April 2021. Currently registered pension [...]

On 20 July 2021, the Treasury and HMRC issued a number of policy papers and consultations flagging up possible future tax changes. Draft legislation for inclusion in the next Finance Bill has also been issued alongside some of the measures. Among the documents these are probably the most significant: Abolition of basis periods for income tax A draft clause and Schedule propose to abolish basis periods for income taxed as trading profits for the tax year 2023/24 and subsequent years and provide transitional rules for the tax year 2022/23. These measures were announced as a “simplification” measure and will facilitate [...]

We are awaiting further information on MTD from HMRC this summer but one significant announcement on 20 July was draft legislation to abolish basis periods for unincorporated businesses for the 2023/24 tax year to simplify MTD reporting. That change would apply to sole traders, partnerships, as well as trusts with trading and property rental income. There would also be complicated transitional rules for 2022/23 which could result in a big tax bill that year for some traders. The Treasury are also consulting on changing the tax year itself from the archaic 5 April year end to 31 March or even 31 [...]