9:35 am, November 5, 2008
DEALERS who drive whatever’s free in the car park each night, listen up.
The tax rules are changing – and you’re probably going to see your tax demand increase.
A new national agreement comes into force on 6 April 2009, replacing the current system where dealers make individual agreements with their local tax office.
This will standardise taxation methods and, says RMIF director Sue Robinson, end up costing dealers more.
‘The new arrangements are not the result of legislative change, but of HMRC attempting to enforce the existing law more rigidly to ensure best practice,’ she explained.
‘We are not sure that this is the correct way forward. There will be winners and losers, but we think there will be more losers.
‘Although we believe, in the long run, the new system should mean less paperwork for dealers, we are concerned that the impact of the changes will mean more dealer staff will be paying more tax. HMRC wants to stop the unfairness of the current rules, but that unfairness was caused by them failing to monitor the situation properly.’
A rapid-fire review is expected come autumn 2009, but the RMIF will still be lobbying strongly on behalf of any dealers who are penalised.
Should you or your staff, therefore, receive a big hike in your tax bills next year, get onto the RMIF to put your case to HMRC. We’ll be sure to monitor how the situation develops…
