AAT public affairs and public policy activities: October 2021

Every month AAT highlights some of the key public affairs and public policy activities undertaken on behalf of our 140,000 members.

Below you'll find some key highlights for October 2021.

If you'd 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.

Another AAT campaign success - CGT payment period doubled

The amount of time that those with a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) liability have to report and pay the tax was drastically reduced to just 30 days last year. AAT has campaigned for this to be doubled to 60 days over the last 18 months securing some trade press coverage of our views in recent months including in FTAdviser as well as a helpful article on our own AAT Comment site.

Meetings and conversations with HMRC officials had been productive and correspondence on the issue exchanged with the Financial Secretary to the Treasury but no advance warning of a change was given. The news that this change will take place immediately therefore proved a little surprising but has been widely welcomed by the accountancy profession as a whole, and AAT members in particular, as well as by the UK property and landlord sectors.

The change should provide those with a CGT tax liability, and their accountants, with some much needed breathing space.

Other AAT Budget Wins

Office of Tax Simplification (OTS): Board Governance

In June 2021, AAT made a number of recommendations to improve the OTS, one of which was for the appointment of additional independent representatives on the OTS Board. This was confirmed at the Budget last week, with the expansion of the Board with an additional two appointments.

Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefs

Expanding qualifying expenditure to include data and cloud computing costs, to more effectively capture the benefits of R&D, is something that AAT had specifically recommended in its March 2021 response to the government consultation on the issue and so we are pleased that the government has listened and acted accordingly.

Annual Investment Allowance (AIA)

The AIA limit of £1m was temporarily extended until the end of 2021 prompting AAT to recommend (in its March 2021 Budget response to the Treasury Committee) that it should instead be extended until 31 March 2023. AAT is therefore pleased that the government did precisely this.

Business rates

The Chancellor announced the introduction of a targeted business rate exemption for eligible plant and machinery used in onsite renewable energy generation and storage, to support the decarbonisation of non-domestic buildings. This is something that AAT recommended almost five years ago, and on numerous occasions since. The reform is long overdue and very much welcomed.

Additional AAT Budget News

Aviation Tax Reform

Not all Budget announcements were in line with AAT recommendations and it's only right that we highlight some of the work left to do as well as the campaign successes. As feared, increases in Air Passenger Duty (APD) on long haul flights have been offset by a reduction in APD for domestic flights. This is despite the fact that domestic flights are the most carbon intensive form of travel and emit more CO2 per person per mile than long haul flights.

This undermines the government commitment to Net Zero and was particularly badly timed just a few days before COP26.

AAT will continue to push for more sustainable reform.

Conservative Party Annual Conference 2021

Adam Harper and Phil Hall attended the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, having attended the Labour Party Conference in Brighton the week before.

Attendance enabled us to raise political awareness of a number of key AAT messages including on unregulated accountants, tax arrangements that contradict the government's “net zero” ambitions and on further education policy, primarily in relation to apprenticeships.

We were also able to promote awareness of the AAT Digital Advisory and Tax Panels; our views on Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duty reform; a Deposit Return Scheme; business rates; Council Tax reform; compulsory ethnicity pay gap reporting; tax relief for lifelong learning and general information about the work and nature of AAT.

Parliamentary engagement

Engagement with 9 Parliamentarians took place in October, relating to road pricing, Further Education, unregulated accountants and a range of other issues.

Non-Parliamentary engagement

Engagement with over 40 external stakeholders took place in October. These included the Federation of Small Businesses, HMRC officials and BEIS civil servants on issues including the government's Help to Grow programmes and Making Tax Digital.

AAT consultations, calls for evidence & inquiry responses

AAT responded to the Treasury Committee request for a Budget response.

Most AAT consultation responses can be viewed on the AAT public affairs and public policy page.

Other meetings, events and engagements

• Our Head of Public Affairs & Public Policy, Phil Hall participated in the regular HMRC Virtual Communications Group (VCG).

• AAT's Director of Professional Standards, Adam Harper, attended the regular Representative Bodies Steering Group (RBSG) with HMRC.

• Phil represented AAT at the regular Trade Association Forum hosted by the Federation of Small Businesses.

• Phil attended a number of post Budget webinars including the IFS analysis, Resolution Foundation webinar and the EY Item Club Budget discussion.

• Phil also attended a joint IFS/CIOT event on tax and "net zero".

• HMRC officials responsible for the Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme met with AAT to discuss potential joint working to promote awareness and the benefits of MTD.

• Phil met with officials from BEIS and the Chartered Association of Business Schools to discuss the government's Help to Grow scheme and its relevance to AAT members and their clients.