In recent budget announcements the government had said that the way in which employee benefit in kind (BIK) charges for the personal use of cars was calculated would be updated from 6 April 2020.  These changes meant that the rate of taxable benefit for cleaner cars would fall.
 
In July the government published a response to a consultation they launched in April following the introduction of the Worldwide harmonised Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), and this contained details of further changes the government intends to make.

To aid our fundraising for our Charity of the year - Derbyshire Mind, several members of the Ashgates team, some clients and other contacts will be taking part in the 40 Something Challenge!

For more info and a full list of participants and their challenges - visit https://www.ashgates.co.uk/40something.html

All donations are greatly appreciated and if you would like to donate to help spur everyone on, please visit our Virgin Money Giving page.

HMRC has updated their list of examples of websites, emails, letters, text messages, WhatsApp messages and phone calls used by scammers and fraudsters to obtain an individual's personal information.

The guidance can be used to help you decide if a contact from HMRC is genuine and provides examples of the different methods that fraudsters use to get individuals to disclose personal information.

​You can also read about how to recognise genuine contact from HMRC, and how to tell when an email is phishing/bogus.
Internet links: GOV.UK genuine contact examples GOV.UK phishing examples

The government is reminding working parents that they could ease this summer's childcare costs by using Tax-Free Childcare (TFC). The scheme is worth up to £2,000 a year for each child and allows parents to save regularly for childcare costs. For each £8 saved the government will make a top-up payment of £2. The money saved can be put towards a range of registered childcare options from more than 68,000 childcare providers. These include summer camps across the UK, as well as before and after school care during term time, nurseries and childminders.
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The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is warning that a major change in the way that VAT is accounted for in the building and construction sector which takes effect later this year may cause chaos.
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The VAT domestic reverse charge for building and construction services applies from 1 October 2019. It is an anti-fraud measure - an administrative change, impacting invoicing and VAT return procedures. With a reverse charge, a VAT-registered recipient of services accounts for VAT, rather than the supplier.
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