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9am Lowdown: Taxpayers unaware of savings changes

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4th Mar 2016
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Good Morning. Here’s this morning’s Lowdown.

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Taxpayers unaware of imminent changes

Most taxpayers are unaware of the imminent changes to savings and dividends because of poor communication from HMRC, says the House of Lords committee in its report on the draft Finance Bill 2016.

To combat taxpayers’ lack of awareness, the Committee calls for an effective strategy of communicating with taxpayers and a public awareness campaign. This need for clarification extends to other areas, including its plans for implementing the new Assessments.

Issues relating to HMRC’s making tax digital plans were also raised in the review. They called on HMRC to provide support and educate taxpayers, particularly those unfamiliar with, or without access to, digital technologies.

Commenting, Lord Hollick, Chairman of the Committee, said: “Changes to how we are taxed can have a huge impact on financial planning including savings and pension arrangements. It is vital that taxpayers know what it is expected of them and how much they will be taxed. We are concerned that the Government’s consultation and communication about imminent and important changes in the Finance Bill has been so poor. 

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Companies House moves towards digital

Companies House aims to be a 100% digital organisation by the end of 2018/19.

Companies House promoted the benefits of switching to digital. For example, an annual return costs £13 when filed online, but £40 when filed by paper and the built-in checks which avoids errors as reasons why companies should file online.

Over 80% of companies already file their documents digitally with Companies House. For some key transactions, such as annual returns and incorporations, 99% were submitted digitally.

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Chancellor set to cut the top rate

Conservative MPs have urged the Chancellor to cut the top tax rate after it emerged this week that reducing it to 45p raised £8bn.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, Sir Edward Leigh believes that the numbers released this week strengthens the case for further reductions. “The case is unanswerable that if we reduce the top rate back down to 40p, it will not only provide a wonderful fillip for entrepreneurs but also provide us with more revenue,” Leigh told the Mail.

David Davis also joined the chorus, telling The Daily Mail: “'I argued at the time that [Mr Osborne] should have gone straight back down to 40p,” He said. “These figures show once again that you can choose how to deal with the well-off – you can choose to punish them, or you can choose to harvest them. If you want extra taxes for schools and hospitals then you should choose a tax rate that they will pay.”

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By SteveHa
08th Mar 2016 08:59

“These figures show once

“These figures show once again that you can choose how to deal with the well-off – you can choose to punish them, or you can choose to harvest them. If you want extra taxes for schools and hospitals then you should choose a tax rate that they will pay.”

It shouldn't be about what they are prepared to be. We have thousands of pages of legislation that dictates what they should pay, and that should be the aim, not appeasing the privileged.

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