CTG Newsletter – 17 August 2017

Charity VAT Recovery

CTG’s Technical Adviser Graham Elliott has published a new commentary piece, giving his views on the recent decision in Will Woodlands (TC06021), considering what it means and how it might assist charities more widely. The case considers the question of how to attribute costs where a charity’s objective or motive is non-commercial, but the outcome of the activity is that taxable supplies are made. It is only the second decision in a UK court relating to the CJEU decision in Sveda as applying to charities (the first having been the recent case of Durham Cathedral). Click here for the full commentary.

Post-Brexit customs agreement proposal

The Government has published the first of a series of papers setting out its position on what the UK’s relationship with the EU should look like post-Brexit. The paper sets out two possible alternatives for a future customs relationship with the EU as well as detailing a transitional period immediately post-Brexit, which would mean close association with the EU Customs Union for a limited time, ensuring that UK businesses only have to adjust to a new customs relationship once. Click here for more information.

Transferring Apprenticeship Levy funds

HMRC VAT guide updated

HMRC has published updates to VAT Notice 700: the VAT guide. Most of the changes simplify information or remove outdated information, but some additional information has been added such as text about the importance of distinguishing between single and mixed supplies. Click here for full details.

Round up of topical issues

• Charities and volunteering: The House of Commons Library has published a research briefing detailing the size, income and activities of the voluntary sector, including data on social investment, National Lottery funding, charitable giving and rates of informal and formal volunteering. Statistics show that out of £1.5bn of social investment in 2015, only £1m worth was enabled by Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR). Details on charity tax statistics, published in June 2017, can be found here.
• Charity Commission case report – Surrey Canal Sports Foundation Limited: The Charity Commission was contacted by a member of the public with concerns about the charity including that it was being used as a vehicle for money laundering and/or tax avoidance. Following a review, the Charity Commission considered that the charity had addressed its regulatory concerns and demonstrated that it was acting independently, with no evidence of tax avoidance. It therefore had no ongoing concerns about the funding of the charity and closed its case in March 2017.
• Devolved taxes: The Welsh Government has published a consultation on the criminal investigatory powers to be provided to the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) to tackle and deter devolved tax crime, once the devolved Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) and Land Transaction Tax (LTT) come into force next year. The deadline for responses is 2 October 2017.
• Inheritance tax: HMRC form, IHT205 (2011), which is used to provide HMRC with estate information for inheritance tax purposes, has been made into an online service.

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