COVID-19: VAT should be cut to help boost green recovery from pandemic, MPs say

Reports suggest that “the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee has called for tax incentives to make electric vehicles more affordable as a way of boosting a green recovery from the pandemic.”

There are also calls from MP’s to reduce VAT on home projects to make homes green.

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HMRC lays down IR35 compliance principles ahead of the new tax year

HMRC has outlined its compliance principles for the changes coming to IR35 in the private sector.

“Core principles are identified below:

  • We [HMRC] will support customers who are trying to do the right thing and comply with the rules
  • We will help customers meet their responsibilities under the off-payroll working rules
  • Where customers make a mistake, we will help them correct it
  • We will check that mistakes are corrected
  • We will identify and correct non-compliance with the off-payroll working rules
  • We will challenge deliberately non-compliant customers
  • We will challenge tax avoidance schemes that claim to avoid the off-payroll working rules or otherwise reduce the tax payable
  • We will use a specialist team to carry out all our off-payroll working compliance activity”

HMRC has advised that they will not penalise you for any mistakes made in the first 12 months of the changes.

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‘I saved £5,000 by charging my electric car for free’

An electric car owner talks about how she saved £5,000 by only using free electric charging points for her car.

The report suggests that the company Zap Map highlights all the charging points in the UK; of the 21,267 public charging points, 4,928 are currently free to use.

With the target still looming for no new sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, the need for free-to- use charging points is crucial.

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House prices up 8.5% in 2020 amid tax holiday

House prices have been a recurring topic in the news, with the stamp duty holiday positively impacting the property market. COVID has also affected the market with many people spending more time at home and needing more space.

The stamp duty holiday is set to end on the 31st March, which will cause destruction in the market. An extension is still being discussed, with The Budget meeting taking place on the 3rd March confirming if this will go ahead.

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Budget to provide fresh Covid rescue package as tax rises deferred

The wait is on! The Budget meeting is just weeks away and reports suggest that the Rishi Sunak meeting will provide a fresh COVID rescue pack for businesses. With the MP urging that the reopening of everything will be very slow and gradual, businesses need more support than ever.

Sources are suggesting that “The Budget will likely echo Sunak’s last autumns plans. With the extension of key support schemes such as furlough and the business interruption loans, which are due to close at the end of next month.”

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