This week's opinion: 21 March 2019

Many readers are cynical about the value of HMRC’s consultation processes. Some think they are a waste of time because the department will already have made up its mind about what to do. I admit that sometimes during the many hours that I have spent drafting consultation responses I have felt the same way, but to conclude that all consultations are valueless would be unfair.

A positive example can be seen in the new draft legislation for the structures and buildings allowance. As a result of concerns raised during the consultation, HMRC has dropped the proposal that allowances should be restricted for periods of disuse. That might seem a minor point, but it is important. Readers who can remember industrial buildings allowances will recall how much work had to be done when a building was temporarily not in use and, critically, how little effect those adjustments had on the actual tax liability. That really was a case of compliance costs outweighing the tax effect. So I am pleased that we won’t have to go through the same amount of near-pointless work in the new regime.

This is hardly a major policy shift, but that is not the issue. Consultation has meant that what could otherwise have been a source of frustration to businesses and their advisers has been removed. It is right to acknowledge this. Perhaps next time I am drafting a consultation response I will have more of a spring in my step.

If you do one thing…

Read Dave Jennings article ‘Payment time’ (page 12) on the loan charge. There have been many arguments about the rights and wrongs of the charge but, unless there is an unexpected last minute change of heart, it is only days away. It is essential that advisers understand the practicalities of what is about to happen.

Andrew Hubbard, Editor in Chief