HMRC breached privacy rules with voice recordings
HMRC is deleting voice records of five million taxpayers as the way they were collected broke privacy rules, with the Revenue failing to gain explicit consent from individuals using a voice ID system for telephone enquiries. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said there had been a “significant” breach of data laws and issued an enforcement notice under GDPR rules to ensure the data is deleted. The records of 1.5m people who have said they want to continue using the service since HMRC changed the way it sought permission for voice ID in October will be retained, while HMRC said the records of the remaining 5m people will be deleted “well before” the Information Commissioner’s deadline of 5 June. Steve Wood, deputy commissioner at the ICO, said: “We welcome HMRC’s prompt action to begin deleting personal data that it obtained unlawfully.”
Source: Daily Mail (04/05/2019) The Times (04/05/2019)
Cash-in-hand costs taxman £5bn a year
A survey for the Homeowners Alliance shows that a third of homeowners admit to paying workmen in cash to avoid VAT. Analysis suggests that, with an estimated 4m households renovating their homes each year at an average cost of £19,300, some £5.1bn is failing to make its way to HMRC. Homeowners Alliance chief executive Paula Higgins has called for a cut in the 20% VAT rate charged on building work, suggesting a maximum of 5% would encourage compliance and could boost the economy by £15bn over the next five years.
Source: The Times (04/05/2019)
Stamp duty break would ease crisis – Saga
Financial services firm Saga says a stamp duty break for over-50s looking to downsize would help ease the housing crisis by freeing up family homes.
Source: Daily Mirror (07/05/2019)
More pensioners file tax returns
The number of pensioners required to file a tax return has risen by 100,000 in the past two years, despite HMRC’s efforts to move towards digitisation. Data from the tax office shows that 1.8m people over the age of 65 filed a return for the 2017/18 tax year, up from 1.7m in 2015/16. Former Pensions Minister Sir Steve Webb said: “The number of pensioners filling in tax returns should be going down, not up, and HMRC needs to take action to reverse this trend.” Overall, 11.6m people submitted a return for the most recent tax year, marking an annual increase of 200,000.
Source: The Sunday Telegraph (05/05/2019)
New funding to encourage SME housebuilders
The British Business Bank is to make up to £1bn of guarantees available to banks that lend to housing developers. The move follows a pledge by the Chancellor to help small and medium-sized developers, in a bid to meet a Government target of 300,000 new homes every year. The proportion of homes put up by small builders has halved since the late 1980s, and many in the sector have complained that access to finance is one of the biggest hurdles.
Source: The Sunday Times (05/05/2019)
Confidence remains subdued
The latest business confidence monitor from ICAEW shows that a delay to Brexit has done little to boost confidence, with the index at -16.6, a small decline from the -16.4 recorded in the first quarter. The ICAEW believes stockpiling ahead of the original Brexit deadline of March 29 will have lifted gross domestic product growth to 0.5% in Q1. Michael Izza, the ICAEW’s chief executive, said: “Businesses I speak to say that there is no sense that things will change much in the next few months and this is reflected in their confidence.”
Source: The Sunday Times (05/05/2019)
US authorities could tax Royal baby
US tax authorities could have a claim to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby’s inheritance if he retains his US citizenship, which automatically passes to him from his mother, with it believed that the Duchess of Sussex has retained her US citizenship. The US taxes its citizens worldwide, on all income, regardless of where they live. Paul Miller, of New York-based Miller & Company, said he would be surprised if the child’s royal status granted it a US tax exemption.
Source: The Daily Telegraph (08/05/2019) Daily Mail (08/05/2019)