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The CIOT backs the introduction of cash accounting for the smallest businesses as suggested by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). However, HMRC have coupled the proposed cash basis with a number of what the CIOT dewscribes as 'unpalatable conditions', such as the withdrawal of the ability to claim certain business expenses, making the package unattractive. This seems to be linked to the much-increased (compared with the OTS recommendation) size limit for the scheme, which has led to HMRC concerns about tax leakage.
Andrew Gotch, Chairman of the CIOT’s Owner Managed Business Sub-Committee, said: “HMRC’s version of the cash basis is not really a cash basis at all, but a means of arriving at an estimate of a person’s income from a business by a less formal means than that of preparing GAAP accounts to produce a profit or loss. That seems wrong.
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“Preventing loss making businesses from claiming sideways loss relief is not equitable and is based on a false premise.
“The proposal for improved and wider flat-rate allowances has been linked to the cash basis with uneconomic rates of allowances. This adds complexity and fails to achieve what could otherwise have been a welcome simplification: it will increase the need for advice. HMRC’s proposals to abolish some existing allowances for agricultural and other industries would be a significant burden.
“It is time for HMRC to embrace the true meaning of simplification and give the smallest businesses relief from tax administrative burdens.”
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Susie Hughes © Shout99 2012
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