With reporting now underway in the UK for both FATCA (the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), STEP has been liaising with HMRC on some of the more common reporting issues: 1. The financial institution (FI) has to re-register and is not able to view previous returns on the… Read More Top 10 FATCA/CRS reporting issues
STEP is working with HMRC on a Gift Aid working group set up to explore options to maximise the amount of Gift Aid that charities can claim on donations, together with ways of increasing customer understanding of the system and how it works. HMRC is also investigating opportunities to improve the way that Higher Rate… Read More The Gift Aid tax gap
When the European Union announced its blacklist of jurisdictions judged not to be cooperative on tax in December 2017 it granted several nations in the Caribbean extra time to change their tax systems to meet EU standards. That revised deadline has now passed and the EU’s finance ministers have approved a number of changes. The… Read More EU finance ministers approve changes to blacklist
Update 23 March: HMRC has updated its guidance to clarify that if a penalty is payable for late registration, it will be the burden of the lead trustee and not the agent. We received the following communication from HMRC on 5 March 2018: ‘On 8 December 2017, HMRC announced that while the 31 January 2018… Read More HMRC announces trustees, NOT agents, will be liable for penalties
You might not know it, but New Zealanders have a love affair with trusts. NZ practitioners probably won’t be surprised to hear that there may be anywhere between 300,000 to 500,000 trusts in the country, one of the highest per capita rates in the world. But trusts can lead to unfair outcomes when a relationship… Read More Reviewing the New Zealand Property (Relationships) Act: have your say
Update: 18 January Further to the post last week alerting members to an issue with SA900 forms, HMRC has issued the following update: ‘In December 2017, we advised of an issue affecting a small number of SA900 forms filed electronically which resulted in some inaccurate calculations where there is a capital gain liability. The problem… Read More HMRC message regarding SA900 forms
As 2017 draws to a close, and with the final STEP Journal (Dec/Jan) having recently landed on your (or your office’s) doormat, this seems the perfect juncture take a quick look back on our member publications and bulletins this year. Above are the varied, colourful covers of this year’s ten STEP Journal issues, each of… Read More 2017: A brief editorial review
With the new year just round the corner, it seems time to reflect on what’s been happening at STEP in recent months. STEP’s global Branch Chairs’ Assembly took place in London late last month, and was extremely well-attended. Its main focus was to ensure members feel they have an effective voice in developing STEP’s membership… Read More What’s happening at STEP in England and Wales
The end of November saw STEP Special Interest Groups’ (SIGs’) annual day of conferences, the ‘Spotlight Sessions’, held at the Montcalm Hotel in London and attracting over 300 international delegates. The day started early with a breakfast-time Philanthropy Advisors SIG session. Outgoing chair Suzanne Reisman TEP welcomed attendees and contributed to a panel discussion, which… Read More STEP’s Special Interest Groups under the spotlight
After much debate and scrutiny, an EU blacklist of jurisdictions deemed not to be cooperative on tax matters has been agreed. The announcement came following a meeting of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council, attended by the finance ministers of each Member State. The list, officially called the Common EU List of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions,… Read More EU tax haven blacklist confirmed
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