The Tax Law Rewrite Project of HM Revenue and Customs was a major effort to re-write the entire tax legislation of the United Kingdom in a format which is both more consistent and more understandable. It aimed to remove archaic language and impenetrable terminology from tax law and to replace it with modern language and terminology.
The project was initiated in 1997 and produced five pieces of primary legislation and one piece of secondary legislation. A sixth and seventh bill went before Parliament. The project focussed purely on primary legislation but special dispensation was given to the re-writing of the regulations governing PAYE by the project.
The project began its work with the legislation covering capital allowances and the first legislation passed thanks to the project was the Capital Allowances Act 2001. The project then moved on to consider income tax. Three pieces of primary legislation relating to income tax—the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 and the Income Tax Act 2007—have been passed by Parliament. Their main change is to remove the concept of schedules from British income tax law. Previously income was assessed in one of six schedules (labelled from A through to F) depending on its source. The schedules have been replaced with everyday terminology. For example, Schedule A income is now referred to as property income and Schedule E income is now referred to as employment income.
It was felt that in addition to the primary legislation necessary for the project that one piece of secondary legislation would need to be rewritten. The PAYE system is intimately linked with income tax in British law and consequently the legislation governing it was dealt with by the project. The result was the Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations 2003.
Following the passage of the Income Tax Act 2007 attention was turned to corporation tax. The Corporation Tax Act 2009 applies to accounting periods ending on or after 1 April 2009. Two further bills were enacted in 2010 – the Corporation Tax Act 2010 and the Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010. Once these bills were enacted the Tax Law Rewrite Project was disbanded in April 2010 – see ICAEW report.
National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their families.
Corporation tax in the United Kingdom is a corporate tax levied in on the profits made by UK-resident companies and on the profits of entities registered overseas with permanent establishments in the UK.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of state support and the administration of other regulatory regimes including the national minimum wage.
Taxation in the United Kingdom may involve payments to at least three different levels of government: central government, devolved governments and local government. Central government revenues come primarily from income tax, National Insurance contributions, value added tax, corporation tax and fuel duty. Local government revenues come primarily from grants from central government funds, business rates in England, Council Tax and increasingly from fees and charges such as those for on-street parking. In the fiscal year 2014–15, total government revenue was forecast to be £648 billion, or 37.7 per cent of GDP, with net taxes and National Insurance contributions standing at £606 Billion.
In the UK, a P60 is a statement issued to taxpayers at the end of a tax year. It is important a taxpayer does not destroy the P60 forms issued to them, as they form a vital part of the proof that tax has been paid. They were also issued in Ireland until the 2018 tax year.
A Finance Act is the headline fiscal (budgetary) legislation enacted by the UK Parliament, containing multiple provisions as to taxes, duties, exemptions and reliefs at least once per year, and in particular setting out the principal tax rates for each fiscal year.
The schedular system of taxation is the system of how the charge to United Kingdom corporation tax is applied. It also applied to United Kingdom income tax before legislation was rewritten by the Tax Law Rewrite Project. Similar systems apply in other jurisdictions that are or were closely related to the United Kingdom, such as Ireland and Jersey.
The constitutional basis of taxation in Australia is predominantly found in sections 51(ii), 90, 53, 55, and 96, of the Constitution of Australia. Their interpretation by the High Court of Australia has been integral to the functioning and evolution of federalism in Australia.
In the UK, every person paid under the PAYE scheme is allocated a tax code by HM Revenue and Customs. This is usually in the form of a number followed by a letter suffix, though other 'non-standard' codes are also used. This code describes to employers how much tax to deduct from an employee. The code is normally based provided to HMRC by the taxpayer or their employer. Tax codes are usually adjusted once a year to take into account any changes made in the National Budget, but can be altered more often to reflect an employee's circumstances. Tax codes can be changed if someone has paid too much or too little tax the previous tax year, if an employee receives state benefits, or has non-PAYE income. Changes in a tax code are to ensure the employee has paid the correct amount of tax by the end of each tax year.
Tax codes are passed between periods of employment by a P45, which is generated when a person leaves a job. If a P45 is mislaid or not supplied at the end of a period of employment, a P46 can be filled out in order to determine which tax code is applicable to a person. Between submitting a P46 and receiving the correct tax code from HM Revenue and Customs, an employer can apply the emergency tax code on a week 1 basis. In this case, tax will be calculated as if the employee is working in the first week of the tax year, and all previous earnings are ignored.
At the end of each tax year employers are required to send out a P60 which documents the total earnings and tax a person has paid within that tax year.
The Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988, also known as ICTA, was the foremost United Kingdom Act of Parliament concerned with taxation until the Income Tax Act 2007 and the Corporation Tax Act 2010. ICTA was enacted in order to consolidate a number of earlier legislative provisions covering taxation. Originally, ICTA primarily covered income tax and corporation tax.
An honorarium is an ex gratia payment, i.e., a payment made, without the giver recognizing themself as having any liability or legal obligation, to a person for his or her services in a volunteer capacity or for services for which fees are not traditionally required. It is a common remuneration practice in schools or sports clubs, for teachers and coaches. Another example includes the payment to guest speakers at a conference meeting to cover their travel, accommodation, or preparation time. Services for Christian Church funerals and/or memorial services are often paid by honorarium, as the minister, musicians, organist, soloist and others, out of care, do not have a set fee for services to grieving families. Likewise, wedding officiants are sometimes paid through honorarium. When required, honorariums may be termed altarages, although an altarage may be paid to a church or parish rather than a person.
The Calendar Act 1750 (c.23) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act had two parts: first, it reformed the calendar of England and the British Dominions so that the new legal year began on 1 January rather than 25 March ; and, second, Great Britain and its Dominions adopted the Gregorian calendar, as already used in most of western Europe.
The Ministry of Law and Justice in the Government of India is a cabinet ministry which deals with the management of the legal affairs, legislative activities and administration of justice in India through its three departments namely the Legislative Department and the Department of Legal Affairs and Department of Justice respectively. The Department of Legal Affairs is concerned with advising the various Ministries of the Central Government while the Legislative Department is concerned with drafting of principal legislation for the Central Government. The ministry is headed by a cabinet rank minister appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India. The first Law and Justice minister of independent India was B. R. Ambedkar, who served in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet during 1947–52. Ravi Shankar Prasad is the current Minister of Law and Justice.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, or ZIMRA, is the body responsible for collecting taxes and other revenue streams for the government in Zimbabwe. It derives its mandate from the Revenue Authority Act, passed by the parliament of Zimbabwe in 2002 and other related legislation.
The history of taxation in the United Kingdom includes the history of all collections by governments under law, in money or in kind, including collections by monarchs and lesser feudal lords, levied on persons or property subject to the government, with the primary purpose of raising revenue.
Taxation in Bhutan is conducted by the national government and by its subsidiary local governments. All taxation is ultimately overseen by the Bhutan Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue and Customs, which is part of the executive Lhengye Zhungtshog (cabinet). The modern legal basis for taxation in Bhutan derives from legislation. Several acts provide for taxation and enforcement only germane to their subject matter and at various levels of government, while a smaller number provide more comprehensive substantive tax law. As a result, the tax scheme of Bhutan is highly decentralized.
The Corporation Tax Act 2009 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It restated certain legislation relating to corporation tax, with minor changes that were mainly intended "to clarify existing provisions, make them consistent or bring the law into line with well established practice." The Bill was the work of the Tax Law Rewrite Project team at HM Revenue and Customs. It has the distinction of being the longest Act in British Parliamentary history.
The Income Tax Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Income Tax Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Capital Allowances Act 2001 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that governs how capital allowances are deducted from income taxable under the Income Tax Act 2007 and the Corporation Tax Act 2009.