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Improve SDLT!
More than 4,000 solicitors country-wide have signed up to the Law Society's campaign to improve the system of stamp duty land tax collection.
Small high street solicitors firms claim that administration costs are soaring due to fines being incorrectly levied and the time it takes to sort out the mistakes made by the Revenue. Costs have risen significantly as a result of the new regime, introduced in 2003, and in a competitive market smaller firms have had to absorb the costs themselves.
Forms are regularly rejected by HMRC even though the correct information has been provided. Correspondence with HMRC goes unanswered for many months and demands for interest are received when both the return and duty have been submitted on time.
To sign up to the campaign, visit www.lawsociety.org.uk
Law Society press release dated 11 July 2005.
International burden
The time taken to convert to international financial reporting standards and the need to explain their impact to senior management are the top two issues facing tax directors and chief financial officers, worldwide, when asked how their corporate tax function was most affected by the conversion to international financial reporting standards, according to research carried out for Ernst & Young.
With regard to the actual implementation of international standards, respondents said that their main concerns were:
- the calculation and explanation of deferred taxes;
- the overall impact on effective tax rate;
- the impact on tax treatment of financial instruments such as derivatives;
- the impact on the tax treatment of intangible assets.
David Nickson, an international tax partner at Ernst & Young, said 'The conversion to international financial reporting standards for many comes at a time when tax directors are already struggling under increased regulatory and compliance requirements and heightened sensitivity towards tax risk management and effective corporate governance'. He said that while the standards brought 'greater transparency and enables management to more readily compare their results with those of their competitors', the possibility was that this would increase the pressure on tax directors to manage their effective tax rates more proactively when the effective tax rate was 'being viewed by some regulatory authorities as an indication of aggressive tax planning'.
Lectures online
E-learning company Online Tutors Ltd has entered into an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with LexisNexis Butterworths for the service previously known as CCH Seminars Online.
Available on CD or online, the service has been relaunched as Tolley Seminars Online, and comprises monthly audio-visual lectures on recent tax changes, supplemented by quarterly updates on audit and accounting standards.
The lectures take the form of spoken-voice commentary combined with animated graphics that illustrate key technical points. Each lecture lasts around 15 minutes and can be paused, rewound or fast-forwarded to suit the user. It comes with around 50 pages of notes, which can be printed as a permanent record.
Each lecture offers an interactive test that allows the practitioner to assess his understanding of the latest rules.
Tolley Seminars Online is available on annual subscription in either CD or online format. The CD version is £385 a year and the online £345. A founder's club price of £299 is available for those who order the product before 29 September 2005. Subscribers to CCH Seminars Online should call 0208 662 2000 and LexisNexis will honour their existing subscription free of charge.
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International tax
The Chartered Institute of Taxation has changed papers II and III of its advanced diploma in international taxation. Instead of having only one paper II option (UK) and two paper III options (US and EC), from 2006 the institute is also offering paper II US and Hong Kong options and a paper III UK option. The aim is to make the diploma more attractive to candidates in the far east and north America. The institute plans to add further options in future years.
Courses on papers I and II are offered by LexisNexis Butterworths and further information is available by calling 020 8662 2000.
Tax for the young
The ICAEW Tax Faculty Younger Members Committee is launching a programme of events aimed at attracting young professionals, from across the professional bodies, with an interest in tax.
Events will be free, fun and provide networking opportunities with fellow professionals from industry, practice and the public sector. Tax Club will provide a regular forum for young tax professionals to meet. The club will convene every other month, in the private room of the Red Herring pub, 49 Gresham Street, EC2V 7EH, to discuss a topical tax issue. Key figures from the world of taxation will attend the meetings to give their views.
Members' ideas will be fed back to the technical committees and, where relevant, they will have a direct influence on the representations the Tax Faculty makes.
The club will be launched on 13 September and former Tax Faculty chairman Mark Lee, from Shaw & Co, will lead the initial discussion. Future diary dates are:
13 September 2005 — Small and medium-sized business reform
14 November 2005 — Debating HMRC powers
16 January 2006 — TBC
14 March 2006 — TBC
16 May 2006 — TBC
11 July 2006 — TBC
Introductory events will also be held at Chartered Accountants' Hall in October and April each year. The event this autumn will be held on 4 October 2005, 'How to succeed in tax'. Francesca Lagerberg, Tax Faculty chairman, will introduce three speakers who will explain how they have been successful in tax. The speakers are Sam Mitha, HMRC, Chris Sanger, Ernst & Young and Alan McLean, head of group tax practices at Shell International Ltd. Further details are on the ICAEW website: www.icaew.co.uk/taxfac.
The committee would love to hear from young professionals with ideas for future introductory events and/or topics they would like covered by Tax Club. Comments can be e-mailed to the Tax Faculty at the address below. To register to receive notification of all younger member events, e-mail: tdtf@icaew.co.uk.
