IN THE NEWS
RISHI SUNAK TO GIVE HMRC ‘DRACONIAN’ POWERS TO RECLAIM HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN COVID-19 SUPPORT PAYMENTS
The Government is set to hand tax offi- cials draconian new powers in an at- tempt to claw back hundreds of millions in falsely claimed furlough and Covid- 19 business grant payments. iNews reports that Rishi Sunak will add legislation to the Finance Bill that will allow Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to go after those who broke coronavirus support payment rules. HMRC is expected to focus on a num- ber of high-profile companies that it believes may have asked staff to work
despite taking the 80 per cent furlough payments from the Treasury’s
Job
Retention Scheme (JRS). If HMRC suspects a company has bro- ken the rules of the JRS scheme, which do not allow fur- loughed staff
to
work while receiving up to £2,500 a month to stay at home, it will impose a 100 per cent tax rate on the pay- ments. The Treasury’s deci- sion to take the unusual step of effectively introduc- ing a new tax band has been made to ensure HMRC can
use existing powers to prosecute busi- nesses that fail to pay tax demands from Covid-19 pay- ments that it be- lieves were misused, obtained incorrectly or not necessary. HMRC will also be handed powers to target beneficiaries of the Self-Employ- ment Income Sup-
MANDATORY MoT TESTING TO BE REINTRODUCED FROM 1 AUGUST
whose car, motorcy- cle or van is due for an MoT test from 1 August will be required to get a test certificate to continue
driving
Mandatory MoT testing is to be rein- troduced from 1 August 2020 as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, Roads Minister Baroness Vere announced on Monday 29 June. Due to the coron- avirus
outbreak,
drivers were granted a six-month exemp- tion from MoT testing in March to help slow the spread of the virus. Howev- er, as restrictions are eased when safe to do so, all drivers
90
their vehicle. Drivers with an MoT due date before 1 August will
still
receive a six-month exemption
from
testing. However, all vehicles must con- tinue to be properly maintained and kept in a roadworthy con- dition, and people are able to voluntar- ily get their MoT sooner should they wish, even if they are exempt from the legal re-quirement. Motorists can be prosecuted for driv-
ing an unsafe vehi- cle. Roads
Minister
Baroness Vere said: “As people return to our roads, it is vital that motorists are able to keep their vehicles safe. That’s why as restrictions are eased, from 1 August MoT testing will again become mandatory. “Garages across the country are open and I urge drivers who are due for their MoT to book a test as soon they can.” The DVSA has also issued guidance to MoT testers about safely conducting tests in line with the latest Government advice.
port Scheme (SEISS) and small compa- nies that received grants of up to £25,000 to help them through the crisis. If HMRC sus- pects a business did not actually require a loan, or that a sole trader ceased trad- ing soon after re- ceiving money from the SEISS scheme, it will be able to put the burden on those investigated
to
prove otherwise. The draft legislation to hand HMRC the tough powers will be added to the Finance Bill, which is currently making its way through Parlia- ment and is ex-
pected to receive Royal Assent from the Queen by the middle of July. Once passed any business or individu- al that has received cash from the JRS or SEISS schemes, which are due to come to an end on 31 October, will have 30 days to self- declare a mistaken application and pay the furlough cash or loan back without penalty. If, however, HMRC decides an unde- clared mistake has been made after considering filed accounts for the last financial year and the current one, it
will launch an inves- tigation and force those accused to show they did not break any Covid-19 support payment rules. Ultimately, a failure to pay 100 per cent to cash back to HMRC could result in criminal prosecu- tion. A spokesman for HMRC said: “HMRC can already refuse to pay claims that they think are fraud- ulent or abusive, but these measures will ensure we can prop- erly investigate and recover overpay- ments and penalise deliberate abuse of the schemes.”
DVLA LAUNCHES ONLINE SERVICE TO CHANGE ADDRESS ON LOG BOOK
A new online service has been launched by the DVLA to change
address
details on log books (V5C). It will cut the amount of time it takes for motorists to receive a new log book from up to six weeks to just five working days. With the housing market opening up across the UK post lockdown, motorists who need to update their address details can now do this online in a matter of
minutes. Last year DVLA received around 1.4 million paper appli- cations for change of address on a vehi- cle record, now the information will be updated instantly. Using this new ser- vice, it takes less than two minutes for motorists to inform DVLA of their new address. All they need is their vehicle registration number, log book document reference number and their postcode. DVLA Chief Execu- tive Julie Lennard said: “We’re launch- ing this service at a time when online services are becom-
ing even more vital to help people get back on the road. So if you’ve just moved home try the service and see how simple it is.” This announcement comes as DVLA launches a campaign to encourage motor- ists to try their online services, rather than sending in paper applications. Recent research commis- sioned by DVLA shows that of those motorists asked 97% would recommend DVLA’s online ser- vices and the most popular reason to transact online was convenience (86%) followed by speed (82%).
JULY 2020
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