Our round up of topical news includes details of 30 April 2018 enveloped dwellings deadline along with changes to corporation tax reliefs and an update on the status of EMI reliefs.

Due to the increasing complexity of legislation affecting employers, there has been a significant increase in employer compliance visits by HMRC, resulting in a corresponding rise in penalties charged for non-compliance.

Our round up of topical news includes an update on the changes to venture capital reliefs, new rules for termination payments made on or after 6 April 2018 and increases to company vehicle diesel supplements.

R&D tax relief is arguably the most generous corporation tax relief currently available in the UK today. For SMEs, up to one-third of qualifying R&D costs can be recovered through the tax system. It’s therefore of little surprise that the bombshell of Brexit has left many SMEs nervous about the future of the R&D tax relief scheme.

The deadline for claiming R&D tax relief on money spent on qualifying activities between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 3016 is at midnight on 31 March 2018.

The speed and scale of the changes caused by digitalisation have had implications for the UK tax system especially in respect of corporation tax, where the development of certain business models has challenged the understanding of how and where companies create value and ultimately how that value is taxed.

In the Autumn Budget 2017 the Chancellor announced that there would be changes to entrepreneurs’ relief to address the situation where an individual’s shareholding is diluted to below 5% because of a fresh issue of shares by the company.

At the Spring Statement, the Chancellor announced a call for evidence on the role of cash and digital payments in the new economy. The digital economy has revolutionised the way people shop, sell, etc. with less than 50% of all payments now undertaken in cash.

​The objective of this consultation is to look at the capital gap that knowledge-intensive companies face, and to consider an extension to the venture capital schemes to encourage “patient capital”.

​Business rates are an annual tax on non-residential property. The amount of business rates is determined by its rate-able value, which is estimated at the open market rental value of the property at a set date.