Businesses in Northern Ireland will be able to access a mix of UK-wide coronavirus support schemes and specific measures announced by the devolved Stormont Assembly to reduce the impact of the covid-19 pandemic

If your employees are working from home due to the coronavirus lockdown, there are important tax compliance issues to consider before reimbursing expenses, explains Jacqui Gudgion CTA, corporate and business tax partner at Mercer & Hole

April 6 heralds the start of the new tax year, which sees the personal allowance for income tax unchanged, but a hike in the threshold for national insurance contributions (NICs) and a delay to promised reforms to the IR35 off payroll employment rules, reports Pat Sweet

Accountants put on furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be able to continue their training to achieve professional qualifications and may be able to take on a second job depending on any restrictions in their employment contract, reports Sara White

HMRC is to introduce special arrangements for taxpayers affected by the loan charge rules relating to disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes, paving the way for some of them to make claims under the government’s coronavirus support scheme for the self-employed, reports Pat Sweet

HMRC has updated its guidance confirming that the government has shelved its original plans to lower corporation tax, with the main rate (for all profits except ring fence profits) for the years starting 1 April 2020 and 2021 remain at 19%, as announced at Budget 2020

IR35 contractors working for public sector organisations through personal service companies who are unable to carry on working due to the covid-19 pandemic will now be eligible for the 80% furlough scheme if their contracts are ongoing, reports Sara White

From the 2020/21 tax year, digital multinationals like Google, Amazon and Apple, will have to start paying the new digital services tax (DST)

Second home owners and buy-to-let investors face significant tax changes from the new 2020-21 tax year on 6 April with the 30-day CGT payment window and end of mortgage interest rate relief, in the works since first announced at Summer Budget 2015, reports Sara White

HMRC has deferred by one year the deadline for businesses reporting under Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT to meet the requirement to have ‘digital links’ within their recordkeeping for transferring information from Excel spreadsheets and other data sources to their online VAT filing

As EU governments make rapid changes to VAT reporting and payment schedules in light of the coronavirus pandemic, tax authorities across member states are taking very different approaches, with complex schemes with disparate qualifying criteria, payment deferrals and some taking no action as yet 

Following some initial confusion, HMRC has now updated its advice for businesses and individuals affected by coronavirus to make clear that the six-month income tax self assessment deferral for payments due in July applies to all taxpayers, and not just those who are self-employed