Ask Rebecca: Sage Taxation Q&A now live
AccountingWEB tax editor Rebecca Benneyworth is now hosting the Sage Taxation online Q&A session and is available to answer your queries as Self Assessment season heats up.
Sage Taxation customers can register here to take part in the technical clinic and put questions to one of the leading tax experts in the profession. Even if you’re not a Sage customer, you can still log on and see how the conversation unfolds. The content will then be made available in the form of a whitepaper hosted on sagetax.co.uk.
“So far it’s all quite smooth. My gut feeling is that people are getting more returns done in-year because of the new penalty regime,” Rebecca said.
She added that people have been raising issues with her earlier in the tax season compared to last year and that the inevitability of the £100 late filing penalty under the new regime has motivated both clients and advisers to be better organised.
If you’re a Sage customer drop into the surgery to put your questions to Rebecca. AccountingWEB members who are not registered to participate can still view the questions and answers on this page.
Rebecca is answering questions on technical tax issues now up until 31 January, from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 3.30pm each day on the following dates:
- 18-20 January inclusive
- 23-27 January inclusive
- 30-31 January inclusive
Questions posted outside this time will be answered as and when she is free.
Query forwarded to the clinic
Hi Doug and thanks for your question - although with all the other things she's doing, Rebecca may not have time to answer it here.
However, I took the liberty of posting it in the Sage Taxation Q&A and will report back her answer. We were planning to have a "view only" mode for AccountingWEB members, but this didn't work when the clinic opened up this morning. The link has now been fixed and you can view the questions and answers on this page.
Reply from Rebecca
"This is a nasty position to be in as a client. Even worse, I guess would be if disaster struck and she ended up having to pay tax to cover the relief at source - although if things were that bad I guess she would have been unable to make the donations.
"I do see your suggested amendment to the legislation as a sensible change to allow for this - as otherwise you are right, it really does militate against early filing - and I have been trying to get my clients onside about this for years. Indeed I filed my own return in May and I'm now thinking that your point is very well made. The charity tax lobby has been most effective recently, managing to get changes to the "substantial donors" legislation (for which we have to thank a gentleman convicted of fraud this week) amended to be more workable. I wonder if they are up for it?"
Happy to be quoted 2 thanks
Doug, I would be happy for you to use my quote. I hope it helps!
Yes, actually...
If you haven't noticed the dispaly ads and notices in our email bulletins, Sage asked us to organise their SA Q&A clinic with Rebecca and pay us to promote it. They've done it for several years now, for which we are very thankful.
The bulk of AccountingWEB's running costs are funded by advertisers like Sage, so they are an important part of this community, which gives you a platform to express your views. The door is open to anyone else who wants to advertise with us, and one of our objectives is to bring other smaller, suppliers into the limelight.
The Sage Taxation Q&A is an innovative way to support the company's users, who for two weeks have access to high-powered tax advice from Rebecca. As a side benefit of the arrangement, they let us display the feed for non-Sage-using AccountingWEB members. So I don't really see what you're complaining about.
Answer from Rebecca
Sorry for the delay, Sue - you're being filtered through two sets of busy hands here, but Rebecca answered your query in the Q&A late on Monday afternoon.
She wrote: "Interest is charged on the amount that arises during the year - and with bank accounts that is the amount credited to the account. The arising basis is at ITTOIA 2005 s 370. Tolleys Taxwise 1 states that interest arises on the date it is received, but I can't find a statutory reference for that. Hope this helps
Rebecca"
s426 (6) (a) ITA 2007
Dear Rebecca
I have a client who unfortunately lost her job part way through the current year. She has made regular and significant monthly contributions under gift aid to a registered charity for several years. Her current contributions are likely to receive basic rate relief unless she obtains a new job soon. Last year she was a higher rate taxpayer. Because her 2011 Tax Return was filed before losing her job, the need to carry back 2012 gift aid contributions was lost. In future I will probably delay submitting Tax Returns to HMRC for this very reason.
Do you agree that the default date for carrying back Gift Aid donations under s246 (6)(a) 2007 should be the 31 January following the end of the tax year rather than the date of submission of the return?
Regards
Doug Collier