Measures that deliver tax proposals announced in Summer Budget 2016, Autumn Statement 2016 and Spring Budget 2017, renew annual taxes and maintain administration of the tax system are listed – together with supporting documentation such as guidance, policy papers and draft legislation – in ‘Finance Bill 2017‘.
A key section features measures that continue the government’s crackdown on tax avoidance by
- introducing a penalty for using tax avoidance schemes later defeated by HM Revenue & Customs
- deterring people from transferring their pensions abroad
- preventing businesses from exploiting flexibility in the tax code to minimise tax bills
- preventing the use of disguised remuneration schemes
Other measures aim to help achieve key policy objectives such as
- helping tackle childhood obesity by introducing the soft drinks levy
- improving the fairness of the tax system
- modernising it by introducing ‘Making tax digital changes’
With regards to the latter, businesses with turnover below the Vat registration threshold will have an extra year – until April 2019 – before being required to introduce digital record keeping and quarterly updates.
22/3/2017