2008 tax highlights and Accountingweb.co.uk Top Ten Hits with Nichola Ross Martin, Editor Practical Law Company.

It is the end of the year, and time to dust down the motley collection of neglected sherry glasses which have been lurking in the grease of the top cupboard. Gather round the office Christmas tree and turn on the monitor for the Accountingweb.co.uk Top Ten Hit Parade.

It is not unexpected to find that most of the top stories are all about…tax. In the last 12 months we have seen a lot of changes. These changes came about in the 2007 and 2008 Pre-Budget Reports and the 2008 Budget:

• A new CGT regime which created by abolishing taper, complicating transfers for spouses and then at the last minute delivering entrepreneurs relief.
  
• A new tax on who continue to use the remittance basis. Last minute tweaks to the proposals were still being made just before the Finance Bill was debated, so it is safe to say that many people are still in the dark over the small print of the new rules.
  
• New do you know your integral features from your fixed fixtures, should you even care? How will you ever work out what is what when you come to buy or sell a property?
  
• The Income Tax Act: this was actually put through in 2007, but who knows where all those bits of ICTA 1988 are now hiding: They could be in ITTOIA 2005, ITA 2007 or even the new Corporation Tax Act…
  
• Income Shifting: no changes but it was possibly the most talked about consultation. Then of course it was postponed and now postponed indefinitely, for the moment...
  
• Small company tax: first up and then down,
  
• That (need anyone say more?).
  
• Get Chartered: another consultation proved positive, a new charter for HMRC, and of course us lot, and it will have statutory effect. certainly paid off!
  
• VAT: yes well, the less said about that the better. Very costly, not just in terms of the UK’s budget deficit, but around with all those tills?
  
• The strange affair of trading stock: the rule in Sharkey v. Wernher got enacted into legislation, but why? Who asked for this, not the tax bodies, not the accountancy bodies, not the trade associations (although the otherwise). Shame on it that it will not publish the Freedom Of Information requests on this topic.

• What expenses can I claim... walked it for the second year running, accumulating a massive 19,642 hits to come in at Number 1.
  
• Always looking like a strong contender, has the form to maybe do it next year, but until then it made second place in 2008 with 18,031 hits.
  
• In 3rd place was the new CGT regime:
  
• Cis remains a favourite for the nation! So popular that we have had to create of Rebecca's articles! These received 13977 hits.
  
• IR35: Responses to a various articles on IR35 this year reveal that it is a bit of for readers. The case of caused us all to ponder the idiosyncracies of the intermediaries legislation
  
• To P11D or not to P11D? an article, was an unexpected winner. It turns out that a lot of you just don't...
  
• Self Assessment: and Oh dear, does anyone understand the

Accountingweb would not be anything without its members who from time to enter into ludicrous debates in the Any Answers forum...we have had one or two (too many?) this year some involving the lunatic fringe, who appear to be populated by genuine nutters, (disguised as basket cases?), and accountants who seem to have been driven to madness by and ...

Personal favourites

Tax writing doesn't always have to be serious, especially when VAT cases hit the headlines:

• A Christmas tale on income shifting:

• HMRC review of powers: what happened to our safeguards?

• Tax penalties:

• Bags to riches?

• Storm in a teacake:

• Tax competition:

• Jolly hockey sticks!