Penalties waived for businesses missing tax deadline
Late filing and late payment penalties to be waived for one month for self-assessment taxpayers.
With COVID still impacting small businesses and the self-employed, having this month extension will give them more time to complete this.
The penalty waivers mean that:
- Anyone who cannot file their return by the 31 January deadline will not receive a late filing penalty if they file online by 28 February.
- Anyone who cannot pay their self-assessment tax by the 31 January deadline will not receive a late payment penalty if they pay their tax in full or set up a Time to Pay arrangement by 1 April.
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Ikea cuts sick pay for unvaccinated staff forced to self-isolate.
With rules constantly changing, people with at least two doses don’t need to self-isolate, whereas someone who is unvaccinated that has been in contact with someone with COVID will need to isolate by law.
As the spread of the Omicron variant is so contagious, businesses are left with mass staff shortages and still rising costs that need paying to keep the business afloat. The need to cut sick pay for unvaccinated staff is a new solution many businesses have opted to use.
On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeated that the data continued to show those people most seriously affected by Omicron remained unvaccinated.
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Free lateral flow tests ‘could be scrapped as UK learns to live with Covid’
Reports claim that free lateral flow tests could soon be scrapped for most of the public within weeks.
Under plans reportedly being weighed up by officials, the tests could soon only be available in “high-risk” settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools.
This is part of a new movement strategy, ‘living with the virus.
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New VAT penalty regime deferred to January 2023
The VAT default surcharge was due to be replaced by new late submission and payment penalties and interest charges from April 2022. The new regime’s introduction has been deferred to January 2023 to allow HMRC more time to make the necessary systems changes.
For the full story, click here.
Plastic Packaging Tax: all you need to know before April
The UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) comes into force on 1 April 2022 – less than three months away. Businesses producing or importing packaging made of mostly virgin plastics (ie, if less than 30% of the plastic is recycled) will be required to pay PPT.
All manufacturers and importers need to register with HMRC unless under the ten metric tonnes over 12 months.
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