Month: July 2018

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Press release: Top football agent scores £1.2 million tax avoidance own goal

Former football agent Jerome Anderson has lost his £1.2 million tax battle with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The case, heard at the Upper Tribunal, shows that Anderson and 8 others failed in their attempt to avoid large amounts of tax.

The scheme involved investments in the recruitment and training of young footballers at the Bafana Soccer Academy in South Africa.

Anderson attempted to use this investment to claim a £3 million artificial trading loss to reduce his tax bill by huge amounts of money.

Thet tribunal found that Anderson’s activities were more like those of an investor, and this didn’t show that he was trading.

This decision means he could not claim a trading loss and tax was due.

Penny Ciniewicz, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Compliance, said:

The court has made it clear that these schemes don’t work.

Our public services rely on everyone paying their taxes and it’s unfair for people not to pay their share.

Anyone who’s caught up in tax avoidance and wants to put it behind them should come forward now and settle what they owe.

This latest victory continues HMRC’s excellent record of winning 9 out of 10 tax avoidance cases taken to court, with many more settling what they owe before reaching that stage.

Further information

You can read the Upper Tribunal decision.

This was the first case to consider section 74B of the Income Tax Act 2007, an anti-avoidance provision that denies an individual any sideways loss relief claimed where that individual carries on a trade in a ‘non-active’ capacity and where that loss arises in connection with tax avoidance arrangements.

An image of Penny Ciniewicz, Director General of HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group, is available on Flickr.

Link: Press release: Top football agent scores £1.2 million tax avoidance own goal
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: Amnesty event chance for illegal car breakers to make fresh start

Illegal car breakers in the Portsmouth area are being invited to find out more about becoming ‘legit’ at an amnesty event being staged all this week by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency is encouraging those interested in making a fresh start to visit their incident vehicle parked next to Mick’s Burgers on Portsdown Hill.

Visitors will be able to talk to staff in person and find out how to get a permit – with no catches or comebacks. The officers will be there from 8am until 3pm every day until Friday July 20.

The impact of illegal waste sites is estimated at £98 million, with illegal car breakers among the worst offenders. The Environment Agency has new powers to clamp down on illegal breakers, such as by blocking their yard, seizing their van and confiscating their profits.

Those choosing to hurt the reputation of the car-breaking industry by operating illegally without the necessary paperwork and infrastructure might save money in the short term. However, they cause pollution, fires, illegal hazardous waste, and take business away from the ‘good guys’ who are doing their best to run a professional operation to support their family.

Environment Agency officers are already out looking for illegal operators, on the roads of Portsmouth and Chichester, and online.

Vic Jennings, from the Environment Agency’s Hampshire and Isle of Wight Regulatory Waste Team, said:

We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for local car breakers to get legit. We’re using our incident vehicle up on Portsdown Hill from 8am to 3pm all this week so people can drop in discretely, and anonymously if they wish.

We can answer their questions, or even start them on the process if that’s what they want. Our message is simple: ‘show us you’re trying, and we’ll help you all the way’.

Free help is also available online or by calling 03708 506 506.

The Environment Agency will be holding another amnesty week 15 to 19 October 2018, on the Chichester bypass, next to the Pass Street Café, PO19 7RT.

Link: Press release: Amnesty event chance for illegal car breakers to make fresh start
Source: Environment Agency

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The Investigatory Powers (Codes of Practice and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2018

Article 2 of this Order brings into force three revised codes of practice issued under section 71 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (c. 23) (“the Act”), which will replace the current version of those Codes issued under the Act. The codes of practice come into force on the day on which this Order comes into force.

Link: The Investigatory Powers (Codes of Practice and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2018
Source: Legislation .gov.uk

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Press release: Statistical press release: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2018

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy today (26 July 2018) releases 4 key statistical publications:

These provide a detailed analysis of production, transformation and consumption of energy in 2017.

Statistical press release: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 2018

PDF, 227KB, 9 pages


Link: Press release: Statistical press release: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2018
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: PM: We will deliver a farming policy which supports agriculture and improves the environment

The UK will maintain environmental protections, safeguard animal welfare and support the production of high quality food, the Prime Minister will say tomorrow as she meets farmers and food producers at the Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd, Powys.

Theresa May will set out the government’s plans for a post-Brexit farming policy which works for farmers and food producers, while improving the environment, by replacing the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy – which awards subsidies based on the amount of land farmed – with a new system of public money for public goods.

In a roundtable with farmers and agricultural organisations including the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, Farmers Union Wales, NFU Cymru and the CLA, the Prime Minister will also reiterate her commitment to maintaining current funding levels until the end of this Parliament to ensure farmers have the certainty they need to plan for their business.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

This Government is committed to supporting the half a million people who work in agriculture and growing our world leading food and drinks sector, which contributes over £100 billion to the UK economy. But we also need to protect the farmed environment for future generations.

Leaving the EU presents us with a unique opportunity to transform our food, farming and environmental policies so we can have a healthy and prosperous agricultural industry that is fit for the future, and helps us to leave the environment in a better place than we found it.

Scrapping the Common Agricultural Policy, and introducing a simpler system which provides funds in return for public goods, like improving water quality, reducing emissions and planting wild flower meadows to boost biodiversity, is fundamental to our new approach.

I want to make the most of the freedoms provided by Brexit to design a new scheme that is less bureaucratic, and does away with the overly prescriptive information farmers currently have to provide to apply for grants.

I commend our hard working farmers up and down the country, and here in Wales, who deserve better than the fundamentally flawed CAP system. That is why I want to hear from them today about what they need so we deliver a farming policy which supports the whole industry.

And while our proposals are for England only, I look forward to working with the Farming unions, Welsh Government and stakeholders to best serve our farmers here as they develop a scheme specific to Wales.

During her visit the Prime Minister will also meet with the Wales Young Farmers Club, and stall-holders in the Food Hall, sponsored by Food is GREAT, alongside setting out measures from the 25 Year Environment Plan to protect the nation’s countryside and steps to bring forward the first Environment Bill in over 20 years.

Link: Press release: PM: We will deliver a farming policy which supports agriculture and improves the environment
Source: Gov Press Releases

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The Oil and Gas Authority (Offshore Petroleum) (Disclosure of Protected Material after Specified Period) Regulations 2018

These Regulations specify the time at, or after which, protected material (as defined in section 62(1) of the Energy Act 2016 (c. 20)) which has been obtained by the Oil and Gas Authority under Chapter 3 of Part 2 of that Act (offshore petroleum-related information and samples) may be published (or otherwise made available) by it or a subsequent holder. Regulations 2 and 3 set out how the Regulations apply. Material falling within regulations 5 to 7 is only subject to the Regulations if the end of the calendar year in which the information was acquired or created (by or on behalf of an offshore licensee, as defined in section 18(1) of the Energy Act 2016) occurs after the commencement of the Regulations (regulation 2(a)). Material falling within regulations 8 to 21 is subject to the Regulations where the event which under the Regulations determines the time at, or after which, the material may be published occurs after the commencement of the Regulations (regulation 2(b)). Where the determination of an offshore licence (as defined in section 18(1) of the Energy Act 2016) determines when protected material may be published under these Regulations and the determination relates to only part of the area in respect of which the licence was granted, only material relating to that part may be published unless that is the only area in respect of which the licence continued to have effect (regulation 3).

Link: The Oil and Gas Authority (Offshore Petroleum) (Disclosure of Protected Material after Specified Period) Regulations 2018
Source: Legislation .gov.uk