31 May 2024
The Belgian tax administration has announced that groups within the scope of the Pillar Two global minimum tax rules with a presence in Belgium will need to comply with Belgium’s Pillar Two registration requirements by a strict deadline of the later of 13 July 2024 or 30 days after the start of a group’s first Pillar Two reporting year starting after 31 December 2023. This means that, for in-scope December year-end businesses, the registration notification form will need to be submitted by 13 July 2024. Please see Deloitte Belgium’s alert for further details, including details on the extensive information that will need to be included in the notification form.
As a reminder, last week HMRC published details of the UK’s Pillar Two registration processes. Registration in the UK is due within six months of the end of the group’s first Pillar Two accounting period. For example, for in-scope December year-end businesses, registration with HMRC will be required by 30 June 2025.
The governments of Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man have released public statements in relation to their local implementation of the Pillar Two global minimum tax rules. These statements reconfirm the Crown Dependencies’ shared commitment to the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework’s approach, and confirm that they will shortly be commencing the introduction of legislative procedures with effect for the accounting periods of in-scope groups commencing on or after 1 January 2025. The government of Guernsey proposes to introduce an income inclusion rule (IIR) and a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up-Tax (QDMTT). Jersey intends to introduce an IRR together with a new standalone domestic ‘Multinational Corporate Income Tax’ (MCIT) that will align with the Inclusive Framework’s Model Rules. The Manx government has confirmed its intention to introduce a QDMTT and a final decision on whether to implement an IIR will be taken later in 2024. More details can be found in alerts from Deloitte Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man respectively.
HMRC have announced the new advisory fuel rates for company cars applicable from tomorrow (1 June 2024). The previous mileage rates, effective from 1 March 2024, can be used for up to one month from the date the new rates apply. Compared to the previous rates, the advisory fuel rates for all sizes of diesel engines have each increased by 1p. The advisory fuel rates for petrol engines sized up to 2000cc have increased by 1p each, and the petrol rate for larger engines has increased by 2p. Rates for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are unchanged from the previous quarter. The advisory rate for fully-electric cars has decreased from 9p to 8p per mile.
When issuing a VAT assessment, in addition to the four-year cap, HMRC must issue the assessment either within two years of the end of the relevant VAT period or within a year of having the facts they need to raise an assessment. HMRC received data downloads from Nottingham Forest Football Club Limited’s new accounting system (Navision) on 20 April 2018, and from its old system (Sage) on 9 May 2018. HMRC considered that the change in accounting systems had led to an underpayment of £345,561 on the August 2015 VAT return, and issued an assessment on 29 April 2019. The club challenged the assessment on the basis that HMRC had all the information they needed on 20 April 2018 (the Sage data having been disregarded), meaning that it was out of time. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed the club’s appeal, as it had failed to show, on the balance of probabilities, that HMRC did not think that they needed the Sage data.
The Upper Tribunal has now ruled that the burden of proof was on the club to show when HMRC had the evidence to raise an assessment. This proposition has not been explicitly argued before the courts previously, but it was accepted without comment by the Court of Appeal in Lithuanian Beer, and this is tantamount to binding authority. The Upper Tribunal also decided that the FTT had not followed the tests about the one-year rule set out in Pegasus Birds because it had not been provided with sufficient evidence, and rejected the club’s argument that the FTT had failed to apply the Pegasus Birds tests correctly. Finally, the Upper Tribunal rejected a challenge that the FTT had made its decision based on a view of the facts that could not reasonably be entertained. The club’s appeal was dismissed. (Contact: Oliver Jarratt)
The next EMEA Dbriefs tax webcast is on Wednesday 5 June 2024 at 12.00 BST/13.00 CEST. In UK Tax Update – June, hosted by David Walters, our panel will discuss topical tax developments of relevance to UK businesses in relation to corporate taxes, employment taxes and indirect taxes.