Business and Other Briefings
TfL: Transport for London is calling on the owners & operators of vehicles set to be affected when new emissions standards come in to effect in January 2012 to take action now & avoid fines. The owners of around 150,000 vehicles will need to upgrade their vehicles to ensure they meet the new Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards in a little over 6 months. London also has to meet European legal standards for air quality.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, recently announced he has secured significant discounts off new vans & minibuses in a package of financial deals for drivers set to be affected by these changes. Air pollution is a serious health issue in London contributing to an estimated 4,300 premature deaths in a year with many more people, especially children and the elderly, having their quality of life adversely impacted by it.
HMRC: As part of a campaign aimed at VAT rule-breakers, HM Revenue & Customs will be sending letters informing businesses how to register to pay what they owe. The new campaign focuses on individuals & businesses trading above the VAT threshold of £73,000 turnover, but who have not registered for VAT.
More than 40,000 letters will be sent out over the next few weeks. Under the terms of the VAT Initiative, those who have not registered to pay VAT can come forward any time up to 30 September 2011 to tell HMRC that they want to take part. If they make a full disclosure, most face a low penalty rate of 10% on VAT that has been paid late.
They will also be invited to disclose any other tax arrears. Where they have to pay a penalty on undeclared tax other than VAT, this will be lower than the customary penalty of up to 100% charged to those who fall outside the opportunity.
This Brief affirms HM Revenue & Customs view that the Greenbank decision on goodwill also covers instances where synergy savings are involved.
This brief announces the withdrawal of item 2 of Business Brief 28/04 with effect from 1 August 2011.
