From income tax to VAT, HMRC has specific time limits for issuing tax assessments. Depending on the circumstances—whether it’s standard, careless, offshore, or deliberate behaviour—these limits can stretch from 4 to 20 years.

HMRC’s time limits apply in different ways to various taxes, including income tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax, VAT, insurance premium tax, aggregates levy, climate change levy, landfill tax, inheritance tax, stamp duty land tax, stamp duty reserve tax, petroleum revenue tax, and excise duty.

There are four time limits within which assessments can be issued. These are:

• 4 years from the end of the relevant tax period
• 6 years (careless) from the end of the relevant tax period
• 12 years (offshore) from the end of the relevant tax period
• 20 years (deliberate) from the end of the relevant tax period

The 4-year time limit is the standard time limit for all taxes.

The 6-year time limit applies when taxes have been lost due to the careless behaviour of the taxpayer, or another person acting on their behalf.

The 12-year time limit applies when taxes have been lost due to an offshore matter or offshore transfer. This also applies if reasonable care was taken, or the behaviour is considered careless by the taxpayer or another person acting on their behalf.

Lastly, the 20-year time limit applies when taxes have been lost due to the deliberate behaviour of the taxpayer or another person acting on their behalf, or if the taxpayer has failed to comply with specific historic obligations for periods ending before 1 April 2010.

Umbrella companies offer an easy way for freelancers and contractors to get paid without running a limited company. They handle payroll and tax via PAYE, ensuring compliance and employment rights. But are they the right choice for you? Consider the pros and cons.

Essentially, an umbrella company acts as an intermediary between the worker and the end client (or recruitment agency), handling payroll, taxes, and other administrative tasks on behalf of the worker.

The worker enters into a contract with the umbrella company. In most cases, the umbrella company employs the worker and pays their wages through PAYE. The umbrella company then enters into a separate contract with the client or recruitment agency who requires the worker's services.

As an employee of an umbrella company, a worker has the same employment rights as other employees including the right to a written employment contract.

There are many advantages to using an umbrella company, this can include simplifying tax obligations, employee rights and IR35 compliance. Some of the disadvantages can include the costs of using the umbrella company, limited control and the overall tax burden may be higher compared to other structures that may be available.

There are many tax reliefs available to married couples or civil partners. In many cases, these reliefs are only available if the couple / civil partners meet the legal definition of living together.

This definition of ‘living together’ is set out in the Income Tax Acts as follows:

Individuals who are married to, or are civil partners of, each other are treated for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts as living together unless:

(a) they are separated under an order of a court of competent jurisdiction;

(b) they are separated by deed of separation; or

(c) they are in fact separated in circumstances in which the separation is likely to be permanent.

It is important to understand that the three alternatives mentioned all require the spouses or civil partners to be separated, meaning their marriage or civil partnership must have broken down. However, if the couple are not living together but their marriage or partnership has not ended, they are still considered to be living together for Capital Gains Tax purposes.

HMRC’s internal manuals on the transfer of assets between spouses discusses this point when talking about a transfer of an asset. The transfer of an asset between spouses or between civil partners will be treated as transfer at no gain/no loss if they are living together.

The date of separation is crucial in determining whether an asset transferred between spouses or civil partners is considered to have been transferred at no gain or loss.

HMRC’s published guidance titled ‘Check genuine HMRC contact that uses more than one communication method’ has been updated. The list is intended to help taxpayers check if recent contacts purporting to be from HMRC are actually a scam.

The guidance contains a list of emails, phone calls, letters and text messages recently issued by HMRC that are genuine. The list can be useful to help taxpayers decide if a contact is genuine or from a fraudster trying to trick taxpayers into supplying confidential or personal information.

Some of the most recent additions to the list include the following:

• Temporary Customer Compliance Manager service for mid-size businesses. HMRC’s Customer Insight Team will be inviting mid-size businesses and their agents for feedback about the temporary Customer Compliance Manager service. From 1 March 2024 up to and including 31 May 2024 HMRC may contact you by phone or email.
• Tax code notice research. HMRC are working with independent research agency People for Research to recruit participants to gather feedback on communications notifying taxpayers of their tax code. You may have been contacted by email or phone call to take part in the research.
• Cryptoasset research. HMRC are working with independent research agency Ipsos UK to carry out research into the cryptoasset industry. From 2 April 2024 up to and including 31 May 2024 Ipsos UK may contact you by email, letter or phone. Ipsos are carrying out research on behalf of HMRC into the cryptoasset industry. The research aims to understand the behaviours and attitudes of individual owners of cryptoassets and the operation and business models of cryptoasset service providers. You may receive a letter, email or phone call from Ipsos UK asking you to take part in an interview, which will be conducted online or by telephone.
• Impact of Making Tax Digital on Income Tax self-assessment taxpayers. HMRC are working with independent research agency Verian to explore the impact of Making Tax Digital (MTD) on Income Tax self-assessment (ITSA) taxpayers. You may be contacted through email, letter or phone call and asked to take part in a telephone interview or a survey.

Participation in any of these research items is voluntary.