AAT public affairs and public policy activities: January 2021
4 February 2021

Every month AAT summarises some of the key Public Affairs & Public Policy activities undertaken on behalf of our members.
Below you will find some key highlights for January 2021.
If you would like any further information about any of these issues, please contact Phil Hall, AAT Head of Public Affairs & Public Policy via twitter or via email.
AAT Campaign success - self-assessment filing deadline extended
Since September 2020, AAT has been pressing HMRC to extend the filing deadline or waive penalties due to the impact of Coronavirus. Most of the other accountancy and tax professional bodies subsequently pressed HMRC to do the same.
Further to December coverage of AAT’s views on this issue, in both the Financial Times and The Times, January saw the issue covered in The Telegraph.
This was eventually followed by an announcement from HMRC that there will be no Self-Assessment late filing penalty for those who file online by 28 February – the first time the deadline has been extended in almost quarter of a century of operation.
This led to further coverage for AAT’s position on the issue, again in the Financial Times and in a range of smaller publications.
Small companies must be exempt from £100m annual crime levy
AAT has written to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen MP, urging Government to exempt small businesses from the new annual Economic Crime Levy that professional bodies such as AAT are likely to have to collect from April 2023 onwards.
The reasons why we feel an exemption is necessary are set out in this AAT Comment piece.
AAT External Panels
Our Tax, Digital Advisory and Payroll panels all met last month. New and old members were welcomed after a 12-month Coronavirus inspired hiatus and topics discussed included paying for Coronavirus, Digital Services Tax and Capital Gains Tax (Tax Panel) the digital impact of Coronavirus, the new Data Markets Unit, data assets tax and Brexit (Digital Advisory Panel) and IR35, the effect of the pandemic on the payroll profession and again, Brexit (Payroll Panel).
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like to know more about any of these panels or topics of discussion.
HMRC & Technology
Making Tax Digital
Computer Weekly picked up on an AAT Comment article highlighting AAT’s belief that the new MTD threshold of £10,000 (applicable from April 2023) is too low.
The issue was also raised with the HMRC Director for MTD and discussed with a number of senior politicians.
AAT will continue to press for the threshold to match the personal allowance (currently £12,500) to prevent hundreds of thousands of people with no tax liability having to register for MTD and provide quarterly updates.
Open Banking
Meanwhile, HMRC recently published a request for information, inviting suppliers to contribute to building their knowledge, regarding the use of real-time transaction data in banking products for streamlined tax determination, automatic calculation and payment to HMRC, simplifying this process for tax payers.
AAT believes that anything which makes tax reporting easier for small businesses would be welcomed by both the SME community and their accountants and said so in both Global Government Forum and its sister publication Global Government FinTech.
Road Pricing
AAT responded to the Transport Committee Call for evidence into road pricing, highlighting and expanding upon the position we took in our 2018 Alternatives to Tax Rises report that pay as you drive could provide a fairer, more effective and more financially sound approach to road tax, fuel duty and so on.
The response has already been very well received by a range of politicians and businesses.
Parliamentary engagement
Engagement with a dozen Parliamentarians in January centred on subjects including the Second Homes Loophole, Capital Gains Tax, Making Tax Digital and economic crime.
Non-Parliamentary engagement
Engagement with over 60 external stakeholders took place in January. These included the likes of the Law Society, Bar Council, Cilex and other accountancy bodies on the economic crime levy to the Federation of Small Businesses, journalists, the FCA and HMRC on issues ranging from the VAT Reverse Charge and IR35 to sustainability reporting and cyber security.
AAT consultations, calls for evidence & inquiry responses
AAT responses to the Companies House consultation on corporate transparency and register reform, the HMRC consultation on Follower Notices & Penalties and the Transport Select Committee Call for Evidence on zero carbon emissions vehicles and road pricing, were made in January 2021.
These and other responses can be viewed on the AAT Policy page.
Other meetings, events and engagements
- I participated in the regular HMRC Virtual Communications Group (VCG)
- Represented AAT at the regular trade bodies roundtable hosted by the Federation of Small Business (FSB)
- Attended an HMRC roundtable on raising standards in the tax advice market
- Participated in an HMRC webinar to discuss Making Tax Digital for Corporation Tax
- Met with HM Treasury officials to discuss the Economic Crime Levy
- Joined a representative bodies group meeting with HMRC to discuss the publication of employer’s details relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)