HMRC has confirmed that almost 800,000 employees who have been working from home during the pandemic have already claimed tax relief on household related costs.
The saving is worth up to £125 per year for each employee, and eligible workers can claim the full year's entitlement if they have been told to work from home by their employer, even if it has been for just one day during the tax year.
HMRC is reminding tax credit claimants that they have until 31 July 2021 to renew their claims.
According to HMRC, 440,000 claimants have yet to renew their claims. More than 2.5 million annual tax credits packs were posted to claimants between late April and early July 2021.
More than 282,000 working families used a Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account during March 2021, according to figures from HMRC.
HMRC stated that it is the highest recorded number of families in any one month since the scheme was launched in April 2017. These families received a share of more than £33 million in government top-up payments for their childcare.
Three schemes were launched on 1 July to deal with VAT on business-to-consumer supplies of goods and services to EU customers.
They are known as the 'Union', 'non-Union' and 'import' schemes. The schemes are designed to facilitate the collection of VAT by one EU member state, which is then passed on to the member state in which the supply is deemed to take place.
HMRC has launched nearly 13,000 investigations into alleged abuse of the government's coronavirus (COVID-19) financial support schemes.
A freedom of information request revealed that, up to the end of March 2021, HMRC opened 12,828 investigations into alleged cases of fraud. 7,384 of these investigations related to abuse of the COVID-19 support schemes.
The government has confirmed that employers of all sizes in England can now apply for £3,000 in extra funding to help them take on new apprentices.
The boost to the apprenticeship incentive scheme was confirmed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Budget in March.
From 1 July 2021 there are changes to the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and Land Transaction Tax (LTT) bands for residential property.
SDLT is payable by the purchaser in a land transaction occurring in England and Northern Ireland. The following rates and thresholds apply for SDLT from 1 July 2021 to 30 September 2021:
Legal restrictions in place in respect of Covid-19 will start to end on Monday 19th July in England, Wales and Scotland. Each country is taking a slightly different approach to timings and some of the detail around what is required, but in all countries, there is the start of an easing.
The government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) begins winding down from 1 July.
The latest data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that at the end of April 3.4 million jobs were still on furlough so the change to the furlough scheme will affect thousands of employers across the country.
The forms P11D which report details of benefits and some expenses provided to employees and directors for the year ended 5 April 2021, are due for submission to HMRC by 6 July 2021. The process of gathering the necessary information and completing the forms can take some time, so it is important that this process is not left to the last minute.