The government confirmed that it is to introduce legislation in the Finance Bill 2016 to implement the following measures:

These measures were consulted on in July 2015 (see Legal update, HMRC consultation on strengthening sanctions for serial tax avoidance). A response document has yet to be published, but it is anticipated that one will be published alongside the draft Finance Bill 2016 legislation.

We are tracking the progress of these measures to implementation, see Tax legislation tracker: compliance, disputes and investigations: Deterring serial avoiders and Tax legislation tracker: miscellaneous: GAAR-related penalties.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.152, 3.83 and 3.84 and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, pages 26 and 210.)

The government announced that it will consult on a penalty-backed requirement for individuals to correct past offshore non-compliance. Additionally, it confirmed that it is to introduce legislation in the Finance Bill 2016 to implement the following measures:

The government also confirmed that it will introduce a new corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent the facilitation of evasion. It would appear that this offence will not feature in the Finance Bill 2016.

These four measures were consulted on in July 2015 (see Legal update, Tackling offshore tax evasion: HMRC publishes four consultations). We anticipate that a response document will be published alongside the draft Finance Bill 2016 legislation. We are tracking the progress of these measures to implementation, see Tax legislation tracker: compliance, disputes and investigations: Criminal liability for offshore evasion and Strengthening civil sanctions for offshore evasion.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 3.77, 3.78, 3.79, 3.80 and 3.81.)

HMRC has published a call for evidence on the role of cash in tax compliance. HMRC seeks views on the following issues (among others):

Evidence should be submitted to HMRC by 27 January 2016.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.82 and HMRC: Cash, tax evasion and the hidden economy: call for evidence.)

For other announcements (non-tax), see Legal update, 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: key business crime and investigations announcements.

The government has published draft legislation for inclusion in the Finance Bill 2016, which will counter two types of capital allowances avoidance that have been used in leasing.

The first measure will counter avoidance occurring where a company (or a connected person) receives a non-taxable sum for taking over the obligation to make payments under a lease of plant and machinery for which it (or a connected person) obtains income deductions. In these circumstances, the amount received is treated as income of the company unless it is otherwise chargeable to tax as income, or is brought into account as income or for capital allowances purposes. These measures will be enacted by inserting a new section 894A into the Corporation Tax Act 2010. Identical measures will be included for income tax purposes as section 809ZG of the Income tax Act 2007.

The second measure is aimed at countering avoidance schemes designed to bring into account a disposal value significantly less than the value of the plant or machinery being disposed of and where the difference is received (directly or indirectly) in a way that does not impact the disposal value and is not otherwise subject to tax. This measure will amend the anti-avoidance provisions in Chapter 17 of Part 2 of the Capital Allowances Act 2001 (CAA 2001), so that it can apply to adjust the disposal value brought into account on the relevant disposal and not just the qualifying plant and machinery expenditure of the person acquiring it.

Section 215(1) of CAA 2001, which applies where (one of) the main purpose(s) of the transaction, scheme or arrangement of which it is part, is to enable a person to obtain a tax advantage, will be amended so as to extend it to the imposition of balancing charges and to make it clear that it may apply to both parties to the transaction (S and B). If section 215 applies, new section 218ZB(1) of CAA 2001 cancels the tax advantage if S would otherwise obtain it in the form of a higher allowance, reduced balancing charge or no balancing charge as a consequence of a payment made to any person.

Both measures will apply to transactions made on or after 25 November 2015.

For information about equipment leasing, see Practice note, Equipment leasing: tax.

(See HMRC: Corporation Tax and Income Tax: capital allowances and leasing - anti-avoidance, HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.86, Draft clauses, Draft explanatory notes - clause 1, Draft explanatory notes - clause 2 and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, pages 23 and 210.)

The government has confirmed that it will shortly consult on the taxation of company distributions. The confirmation follows a proposal, announced in the July 2015 Budget and subject to consultation, to reform the taxation of dividends by abolishing the tax credit and replacing it with a new tax-free dividend allowance. For background and details of the proposed changes to the taxation of dividends, see Legal update, July 2015 Budget: Dividends taxation: reform).

The government has also announced that it will introduce, in the Finance Bill 2016, changes to the transactions in securities rules and a new targeted anti-avoidance rule to prevent taxpayers from obtaining a tax advantage by converting, in certain circumstances, what would otherwise be an income distribution into a capital receipt. This is intended to tackle the use of voluntary liquidation as a tax planning tool by introducing two new sets of rules the effect of which will be that voluntary liquidations of companies which are then "re-opened" by the same controlling shareholders will result in an income tax liability rather than a CGT liability. For background on the transactions in securities rules, see Practice note, Transactions in securities: tax anti-avoidance. These measures will take effect from April 2016.

We are tracking the changes to the taxation of dividends in Tax legislation tracker: miscellaneous: Reform of dividends taxation.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.85 and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, pages 25 and 209.)

The government has announced that it will consult, at the 2016 Budget, on expanding the circumstances in which a corporation tax deduction can be made for contributions to grassroots sport.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.58.)

Following an announcement in the July 2015 Budget and a consultation that ran from 22 July 2015 to 14 October 2015 (see Legal update, HMRC consultation on improving large business tax compliance), the government has confirmed that it will introduce legislation in the Finance Bill 2016 to improve tax compliance by businesses.

The legislation will introduce:

The precise scope of these measures, and the extent to which HMRC's proposals have changed as a result of the consultation process, will be clarified when the draft legislation becomes available. In particular, it is currently unclear whether the proposed "framework for cooperative compliance" refers to the voluntary code of practice proposed in the consultation document, or some other new measure.

We are tracking the last two of these measures in Tax legislation tracker: compliance, disputes and investigations: Special measures for persistently aggressive large businesses and Voluntary code of practice for large businesses.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.91.)

The government has reiterated its plan to replace annual tax returns with digital tax accounts, first announced as part of the March 2015 Budget (see Tax legislation tracker: compliance, disputes and investigations: Digital tax accounts). The government intends to make digital tax accounts available for all small businesses and individuals by 2016-17.

Under the government's proposals, certain taxpayers will be required to keep track of their tax affairs digitally, integrating electronic record keeping with online tax reporting using business accounting software, and update the tax information provided to HMRC at least quarterly through their digital tax account. HMRC will ensure the availability of free apps and software that link securely to HMRC systems, and provide support to those who need help using digital technology.

The new requirements are to apply to most businesses, including companies, sole traders, self-employed people, partnerships and landlords. However, they will not apply to employees, or pensioners, unless they have one or more secondary income sources from self-employment or property the gross income from which exceeds £10,000 per year. (It is not clear whether such income of exactly £10,000 a year would lead an otherwise exempt taxpayer to fall inside or outside the new requirements, as the main 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review document differs from HM Treasury's policy costings document on this point.)

The new requirements are to apply to income tax and national insurance contributions from April 2018, to VAT from 2019 and to corporation tax from April 2020. In each case, the year before full implementation, the new regime will be tested by a limited number of taxpayers.

The government will consult on the details of the requirements in 2016.

The stated purpose of the requirements is to reduce incidences of errors in tax returns, saving the public money. HM Treasury estimates the savings to the Exchequer as reaching almost £1 billion by 2020-21. The government also states that the introduction of digital accounts will give taxpayers a more convenient, real-time view of their tax affairs, providing them with greater certainty about the tax that they owe.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.288 and 3.93, and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, pages 27 and 209.)

The government has announced that it will publish draft legislation introducing a new procedure to deal with taxpayers with simple tax affairs, who are within self assessment and for whom HMRC holds all the information necessary to calculate their tax liability. HMRC will send taxpayers a calculation that will serve both as an assessment capable of appeal and a legally enforceable demand for payment.

The draft legislation will be included in the Finance Bill 2016 and will come into effect for 2016-17.

The government has also announced that the Finance Bill 2016 will clarify that the time allowed for making a self-assessment is four years from the end of the relevant tax year.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 3.99 and 3.96.)

The Finance Bill 2016 will contain legislation ensuring that HMRC's general statutory power to set off any amounts that are payable (or to be repaid) by it to a person against any sums payable by that person to HMRC (sections 130-133, Finance Act 2008) covers Scotland as well as the rest of the UK.

The government states that the proposed legislation aligns Scotland with the rest of the UK, "as intended in Finance Act 2008". This is a curious statement, however, because section 130 of the Finance Act 2008 clearly extends to "England and Wales and Northern Ireland only" (section 130(10), Finance Act 2008).

For background, see Legal update, Budget 2008: New set-off and debt recovery powers.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.55.)

The government restated its commitment to devolving corporation tax rate-setting powers to Northern Ireland following the UK and Irish governments and the Northern Ireland (NI) Executive reaching political agreement on 17 November for the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement. For an explanation of the rate-setting powers Bill, see Legal update, Bill empowering Northern Ireland to set corporation tax rates for trading profits introduced (detailed update). The NI Executive has now committed to a rate of 12.5% with a commencement date of April 2018. Devolution will continue to depend on the NI Executive demonstrating that its finances are on a sustainable footing for the long term and the successful implementation of the Stormont House Agreement commitments.

(See HM Treasury: A Spending Review that delivers for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Office, A fresh start for Northern Ireland and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 1.226.)

The government has announced that it is to legislate to remove the requirement for a referendum to be held before introducing Welsh rates of income tax (as to which, see Practice note, Wales Act 2014: tax aspects: Partial devolution of income tax following "yes vote" in Welsh referendum). This reiterates the government's commitment to income tax devolution and should hasten the introduction of the Welsh rates.

(See 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: The Chancellor's speech, Wales Office and HM Treasury: Press release: A Spending Review that delivers for Wales and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 1.233.)

The Finance Bill 2016 will include provisions introducing an annual apprenticeship levy, payable through PAYE alongside income tax and national insurance, with effect from April 2017. The levy will be payable by employers at the rate of 0.5% of their total pay bill, with an annual allowance of £15,000 to offset against the levy payment. This means that the levy will be payable only on a pay bill in excess of £3 million. "Pay bill" will mean gross pay, excluding benefits in kind. There will be rules on connected persons so that employers who operate more than one payroll will not be entitled to claim more than one allowance. The BIS response to the consultation also sets out how the levy will be used and includes example calculations.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.172 - 1.174 and 3.56, HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, page 9 and BIS: Apprenticeships levy: employer owned apprenticeships training, Government response, November 2015.)

The government has confirmed its plan to restrict the tax relief for travel and subsistence expenses that workers engaged through intermediaries can claim with effect from 6 April 2016. Following consultation, relief will now be restricted for individuals working through personal service companies where the intermediaries legislation applies.

As the most recent in the series of consultations on this subject closed on 30 September 2015, it is likely that the summary of consultation responses, together with draft legislation, will be published on 9 December 2015. For developments to date, see Tax legislation tracker: employment.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.20.)

The government has responded to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) final report on employment status (as to which, see Legal update, OTS final report on employment status) and is taking forward the majority of its recommendations. In particular, a cross-government working group for employment status will be established (which will include representatives from HM Treasury, HMRC, Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills). The group will consider the benefits of, and barriers to, an agreed set of employment status principles and a statutory employment status test. The first meeting of the group should take place in early 2016. The employment status guidance and the employment status indicator tool will be updated, expanded and improved (including the addition of more real-life examples). The government will consider whether, if the tool has been properly and reasonably completed, HMRC could stand by the tool's results. A number of recommendations are being considered including whether ESC A37 (taxation of directors' fees) should be legislated and whether an employment status safe harbour should be developed. Three recommendations were rejected:

Following the OTS final report on employee benefits and expenses published on 31 July 2014, focusing on accommodation benefits and termination payments (see Legal update, OTS final report on employee benefits and expenses), the government has also announced that it will issue a call for evidence on the current tax treatment of employer-provided living accommodation.

We are tracking these measures in Tax legislation trackers: employment: Review of employment status and Review of employee benefits and expenses.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 3.97 and 3.98 and Office of tax simplification, Letter: Financial Secretary to OTS with Autumn Statement 2015.)

The Class 1 NICs limits and thresholds from 6 April 2016 will be as follows:

As promised, there are no changes to the NICs rates and, as announced in the July 2015 Budget, the employment allowance will rise to £3,000 from its current level of £2,000 with effect from 6 April 2016.

(See HM Treasury: Tax and tax credit rates and thresholds for 2016-17.)

The government confirmed that the RTI reporting concession that enables certain micro employers (employers with nine or fewer employees) to report PAYE information on or before the last payday in the tax month instead of in real time, will end, as anticipated, on 5 April 2016. For background, see Legal update, Real time information: relaxation of PAYE reporting for certain micro employers until April 2016.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.100.)

The government stated in the July 2015 Budget that it was "actively monitoring" the use of salary sacrifice arrangements. It remains concerned about the growth of such arrangements and announced at Autumn Statement that it is gathering further evidence and considering what action to take.

For an overview of salary sacrifice arrangements, see Practice note, Salary sacrifice arrangements.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.25.)

The government announced the following for 2016-17:

We expect the charges for 2016-17 to be introduced by statutory instrument along the lines of the Van Benefit and Car and Van Fuel Benefit Order 2014 (SI 2014/2896).

For more detail on these charges, see Practice note, Taxation of employees: benefits and expenses: Cars: fuel and Vans.

(See HM Treasury: Tax and tax credit rates and thresholds for 2016-17: Fuel benefit charge and Van benefit charge.)

The government has announced that the diesel supplement for company car taxation will be retained until April 2021.

When a company car is made available to an employee by reason of employment but the car is available to the employee for private use, a taxable benefit arises. The value of that benefit is calculated by multiplying the manufacturer's list price for the car when new by a percentage determined according to the car's CO2 emissions. At present, there is a 3% supplement for diesel cars (up to a maximum of 35% for 2014-15 and 37% in 2015-16). (For further details, see Practice note, Taxation of employees: benefits and expenses: Cars.)

The diesel supplement was due to be discontinued from April 2016. However, it is now proposed that the supplement continue in operation until April 2021, when EU-wide testing procedures are to ensure that new diesel cars meet air quality standards even under strict real-world driving conditions. Legislation effecting this extension is to be included in the Finance Bill 2016.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.206 and 3.66, and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, page 19.)

The 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review produced no new major pensions-related announcements. Of most significance is the Chancellor of the Exchequer's confirmation that the next two increases in the minimum level of contributions payable to defined contribution auto-enrolment pension schemes will be delayed by six months, in order to align these with the following tax years. Figures from HM Treasury reveal this will save the Exchequer £840 million in tax relief.

The remainder of the pensions-related announcements concerned development of existing pensions reform initiatives. The government's commitment to the "triple lock" for the state pension was restated, and confirmation was given on when the government would announce progress on key changes that are under review, such as the introduction of a secondary annuity market (December 2015) and the pensions tax relief consultation (2016 Budget).

For more detail, see Legal update, 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: key pensions announcements.

The key announcements most relevant to share schemes are:

For more detail, see Legal update, 2015 Autumn Statement: key share schemes and incentives announcements.

The government will consult on Finance Bill 2016 legislation that ensures that the UK's reduced rate of VAT for energy-saving materials complies with EU law.

In June 2015, the ECJ decided that the UK's reduced rate of VAT for supplies concerning energy-saving materials infringed the VAT Directive (see Legal update, ECJ: UK reduced rate VAT for energy-efficient materials infringes VAT Directive). Following the ECJ's decision, the government announced in July 2015 that it was considering the implications of the ECJ's decision but that, among other things, no legislative changes would be made before the Finance Act 2016 (see Legal update, Revenue & Customs Brief 13/2015: Government reconsiders application of reduced VAT rate for energy-saving materials). For the potential implications of an increase in the rate of VAT charged on installing energy-saving materials, see Legal update, European Commission refers UK to ECJ over 5% VAT rate for energy-saving materials: Comment.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.64.)

For other environmental announcements (tax and non-tax), see Legal update, 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: key environmental announcements.

The government has announced that the Finance Bill 2016 will include legislation updating the loan relationship and derivative contract rules to ensure that they "interact correctly" with new accounting standards in "three specific circumstances". However, details of these changes have not yet been specified.

(For details of the loan relationship and derivative contract rules, see Practice notes, Loan relationships and Derivatives: tax.)

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.60.)

The government has confirmed that it is to introduce legislation to address the tax treatment of hybrid mismatch arrangements. This is to implement the recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in this area (see Legal update, Final BEPS recommendations published (detailed analysis): Hybrid mismatches).

This confirmation follows consultation on the proposed new rules (see Tax legislation tracker: finance: Hybrid mismatches). The legislation is to be included in the Finance Bill 2016 and is to have effect from 1 January 2017.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.88.)

As announced as part of the July 2015 Budget, the government will consult on restricting the scope of the bank levy to UK operations from 1 January 2021 (see Tax legislation tracker: finance: Bank levy: territorial restriction).

(For details of the bank levy, see Practice note, Bank levy.)

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.62.)

The government has confirmed that the Finance Bill 2016 will contain legislation determining the tax treatment (income or capital gain) of asset managers' performance awards. An award will be subject to income tax unless the underlying fund undertakes long-term investment activity.

The government launched its consultation on the legislation in the July 2015 Budget. At that time, it was implicit that the final legislation would appear in the Finance Bill 2016: the government stated that it would publish a response document with draft legislation and guidance at the 2015 Autumn Statement, with the legislation taking effect from 6 April 2016. For more detail on the consultation, see Legal update, July 2015 Budget: key business tax announcements: Consultation: tax treatment of fund managers' performance-related returns.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.90.)

The government has confirmed that the Finance Bill 2016 will introduce an SDLT seeding relief for property authorised investment funds (PAIFs) and co-ownership authorised contractual schemes (CoACSs). The legislation will also provide that transactions in units in CoACSs will not be subject to SDLT.

The seeding relief will be available if a portfolio test is satisfied. This will require a transfer to the PAIF or CoACS of either:

The seeding period will be 18 months and a three-year clawback provision will apply. The legislation will take effect from the date that the Finance Bill 2016 receives Royal Assent.

The government consulted on these measures in July 2014 and confirmed its intention to introduce them in the 2014 Autumn Statement, the March 2015 Budget and the July 2015 Budget (see Tax legislation tracker: property, energy and environment: PAIFs seeding SDLT relief). For information on PAIFs and co-ownership ACSs, see Practice notes, Property authorised investment funds: tax and Authorised contractual schemes: tax.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.71.)

The government has announced that shares transferred to a clearance service or depositary receipt issuer as a result of the exercise of an option will be subject to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax (SDRT) at a rate of 1.5% of the higher of the market value of the shares or the option strike price. The aim of this measure is to prevent avoidance using "deep in the money" options, which have a strike price significantly below (for call options) or above (for put options) market value. This measure will be included in Finance Bill 2016.

This measure will apply to options entered into on or after 25 November 2015 and exercised on or after the date of the 2016 Budget.

(For a discussion of the existing stamp duty and SDRT rules regarding issues of shares to a clearance service or depositary receipt issuer, see Practice note, Share issues: tax: Issue of shares to depositary or clearance service.)

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.59 and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, pages 21 and 209.)

The government has announced that it will explore the introduction of a tax relief for museums and galleries, to encourage the sector to create new exhibitions and display their collections to a wide audience.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 1.210.)

The government has published draft legislation for the Finance Bill 2016, effective from 25 November 2015, that prevents the use of arrangements, involving partnerships or LLPs:

To fall within the IFA regime, the IFA must have been created, or acquired from a person that is not a related party, by a company on or after 1 April 2002 (commencement rules) (see Ambit of the intangibles regime in that Practice note). The rules that define a "related party" generally refer to connections between companies or their participators or both (see Related parties: the four cases in that Practice note). These rules do not say specifically how a partnership is to be treated. If a company is a partner in a partnership, it pays corporation tax on its share of the partnership profits but the partnership must first calculate its profit along corporation tax lines (see Practice note, Partnerships: tax: Computation of partnership profits). Therefore, if the partnership has IFAs, the IFA tax regime could be relevant to calculating a corporate partner's profit share.

The Finance Bill 2016 legislation will apply the commencement rules specifically to partnerships, clarifying that transfers of IFAs to a partnership with companies as members will not circumvent the commencement rules that would otherwise apply to those corporate members. It does this by providing that:

These changes also apply for the purposes of sections 893 to 895 of CTA 2009 (see Practice note, Intangible property: tax: Anti-avoidance).

This legislation has effect in relation to accounting periods beginning on or after 25 November 2015, with a period that straddles that date being split and an apportionment being on a time or other just and reasonable basis.

The Finance Bill 2016 legislation also makes similar changes to the rules providing for a transfer between a company and a related party to be treated as taking place at market value (see Practice note, Intangible property: tax: Transactions between related parties in that Practice note) to ensure that those rules apply when a partnership is involved. This legislation applies to a transfer that takes place on or after 25 November 2015 unless it takes place under a contractual obligation that was unconditional before that date (meaning that it may not be varied or extinguished by the exercise of any right).

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.154 and 3.89, HMRC: Corporation Tax: related party rules, partnerships and transfers of intangible assets and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, pages 24 and 210.)

The government has confirmed that it is considering how best to limit the unintended effects of some of the changes introduced by the Finance Act 2015. Professional bodies have drawn to HMRC's attention the fact that provisions designed to prevent individuals from contriving to fall within the scope of entrepreneurs' relief on associated disposals unfairly prejudice, among other things, genuine retirements from family companies and partnerships.

A shareholder or partner who disposes of an individual asset owned personally but used by a business qualifies for entrepreneurs' relief only if the disposal coincides with a substantial reduction in the individual's shareholding or partnership share in the business. For disposals before 18 March 2015, any reduction in partnership share or shareholding at the time of the asset disposal was sufficient to bring the gain on the personal asset within the scope of ER. For disposals after that date, section 169K of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 was amended by section 41 of the Finance Act 2015, to make ER available only if the asset disposal is associated with a reduction in partnership share representing at least 5% of the partnership assets, or with a sale of shares or securities in a personal trading company representing at least 5% of the relevant shares or securities of the company. The problem, however, is that relief is denied if the transfer of the shares or partnership interest is to a person who is associated with the individual or if such a person may acquire the interest in the future.

A further area in which Finance Act 2015 changes have had an impact on structures set up for commercial reasons with no tax avoidance motive is the treatment of joint ventures, where ER is denied in relation to shares in a company whose sole trading income arises from its participation in a joint venture. The effect on a holding company of a trading group that also holds shares in a joint venture is uncertain. Tax advisers will welcome any amendments that restrict the impact of the Finance Act changes to the avoidance structures that they were intended to target. For background information, see Practice note, Entrepreneurs' relief.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.92.)

Class 2 and 4 thresholds for 2016-17:

As promised, there are no changes to the NICs rates and, as announced in the July 2015 Budget, the employment allowance will rise to £3,000 from its current level of £2,000 with effect from 6 April 2016.

(See HM Treasury: Tax and tax credit rates and thresholds for 2016-17.)

The government has announced that it intends to bring forward the date for payment of CGT on gains arising from the disposal of residential property. Instead of the current due date of 31 January following the tax year of disposal, tax will be payable within 30 days of completion. This payment date will apply to gains realised with effect from April 2019. Individuals who benefit from the principal private residence exemption will not be affected.

The reasons given for implementing this change include the fact that there is a disparity between the dates on which employees pay income tax under PAYE and the 10 to 22 month period between disposal and tax payment that investors currently enjoy, coupled with a suggestion that individuals who sell a property may either forget to make a return with such a long delay period, or spend the money needed to pay the tax. There is no explanation as to why these factors should be of concern in relation to tax on residential property that has been held as an investment or second home but not in relation to CGT generally.

However, there are clearly other reasons that underlie this further attack on buy-to-let landlords and owners of second homes. In addition to benefitting the Treasury, this accelerated payment date will bring the payment date applying to UK residents in line with that applying to non-residents who sell UK residential property. This measure will remove at a stroke both the potential scope for a challenge on the grounds that UK tax legislation discriminates against non-residents and the difficulties in deciding part way through a tax year whether an individual will or will not be considered non-resident in that year (see Practice note, Capital gains tax: disposals of UK residential property by non-residents).

Although the announcement mentions only CGT, it would not be surprising if a similar date were introduced for the payment of corporation tax on gains on residential property realised by close companies. Draft legislation will be published for consultation in 2016 with legislation to be included in the Finance Bill 2017. Buy-to-let landlords with high borrowings who are intending to reduce their property portfolios in response to the restriction on interest deduction from April 2017 (see Finance (No. 2) Act 2015: business tax provisions analysis) may need to plan their disposals carefully.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.290 and 3.76 and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, pages 14 and 212.)

A new consultation will be launched to determine how the current rules on business investment relief should be changed to increase investment in new UK businesses.

Business investment relief was introduced in Finance Act 2012. It is a tax relief for foreign income or capital gains brought to the UK by a remittance basis taxpayer for the purpose of making a commercial business investment in an unlisted company or a company listed on an exchange-regulated market (such as AIM). See Practice note, Remittance basis: business investment relief.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.22.)

The government has announced that:

The main Autumn Statement document also states that the new Help to Buy ISA will launch on 1 December 2015, as announced in the July 2015 Budget. However, the policy costings document states that there is a three-month delay from the original date of 1 October 2015, which would put the start date at 1 January 2016.

For more information about the tax treatment of ISAs and to follow future developments, see Practice note, Tax data: individual savings accounts and Private client tax legislation tracker 2015-16: ISAs: additional flexibility.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.146 and 3.32-3.34, HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, page 218 and HM Treasury: ISA qualifying investments: consultation on whether to include investment based crowdfunding.)

The government has confirmed that the amount of an individual's savings income that qualifies for the starting rate of income tax (currently 0%) will remain unchanged at £5,000 for the tax year 2016-17.

The current rate and threshold were announced in the 2014 Budget and took effect from 6 April 2015. For further background on income tax rates and thresholds, see Practice note, Tax rates and limits: Income tax.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.31.)

The government has announced that a measure will be introduced in the Finance Bill 2016 to introduce a partial exemption from the loans to participators rules for certain charity transactions.

The purpose of the rules is to ensure that value is not extracted by individuals from close companies in ways which minimise their personal tax liabilities. Following consultation, the government agreed that some financing transactions entered into by charities do not fit the policy rationale of the rules, as the funds could not end up in the hands of individuals for their personal use. The measure therefore provides a targeted exemption, while providing for the tax charge to continue to apply to charity transactions that fall within the mischief the rules were intended to prevent.

A new subsection 2A will be inserted into section 456 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 (CTA 2010) to exempt from the charge to tax (in section 455 of CTA 2010) loans or advances made on or after 25 November 2015 by close companies to trustees (corporate or individual) of charitable trusts, where the loan or advance is applied wholly to the charitable purposes of the trust.

Charities can refrain from accounting for any tax charge that arises between 25 November 2015 and Royal Assent to Finance Bill 2016. However, should the measure not be approved by Parliament, they will be liable for the charge under the current law.

For further information about the loans to participators rules, see Practice note, Close companies: tax: Close company loans and benefits to participators.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.39 and HMRC: Corporation Tax: loans to participators, trustees of charitable trusts.)

See Legal update, 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: key private client announcements.

The government announced that, subject to obtaining state aid approval, it will introduce increased flexibility for replacement capital for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme. This appears to reflect the announcement made by the Association of Investment Companies at its annual VCT conference (see Tax news round-up to 17 November 2015: AIC hosts annual VCT conference: more changes?) and government statements made during Finance (No.2) Bill 2015 Public Bill Committee debates. Legislation is expected in secondary legislation.

The government also confirmed that all remaining energy generation activities will become excluded activities for the purposes of the venture capital schemes with effect from 6 April 2016. (The venture capital schemes are the EIS, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), the VCT scheme and the social investment tax relief scheme). This follows the addition of reserve electricity generating capacity to the list of excluded activities by the Finance (No.2) Act 2015 (see Legal update, Finance (No. 2) Bill 2015: Commons Report stage government amendments to venture capital schemes (21 October 2015): New excluded activity for EIS, SEIS and VCT regimes).

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.151 and 3.23 and HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review: policy costings, page 22.)

From 1 April 2016, higher rates of SDLT will apply to the purchase of additional residential properties (such as second homes and buy-to-let properties) for chargeable consideration exceeding £40,000. The government will publish a consultation document on the policy detail in due course.

The higher rates will be 3% above the current SDLT rates for residential property. Therefore, the following SDLT rates will apply on a progressive basis to acquisitions of such residential property:

Purchasers of additional residential properties will have to effectively opt in to the higher rates by declaring that the acquired property will not be their primary residence.

The increased rates will not apply to corporate or fund purchasers that make significant investments in residential property. The consultation will consider whether the ownership of more than 15 residential properties is appropriate as a "significant investment" for these purposes. The higher rates will also not apply to acquisitions of caravans, mobile home or houseboats.

For information on the current SDLT rates for residential property, which will continue to apply to acquisitions of first homes occupied by buyers, see Practice note, SDLT and residential property.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.146 and 3.70 and HM Treasury: Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015: policy costings, pages 12 and 209.)

The government announced that it will consult on changes to the SDLT filing and payment process, including bringing forward the deadline for paying SDLT and filing an SDLT return to within 14 days after the effective date. The consultation will take place in 2016 and legislation will be included in the Finance Bill 2017. The changes will come into effect in the 2017-18 tax year.

The current deadline for payment of SDLT and submission of the SDLT return is within 30 days of the effective date (see Practice note, SDLT and contracts for the transfer of land: The effective date). Currently, if a buyer wishes to defer payment of SDLT on contingent or uncertain consideration it must apply to HMRC and state in its SDLT return whether permission for deferral has been granted. This measure will mean that it is imperative that such deferral applications are made as soon as possible after the effective date.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.72 and HM Treasury: Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015: policy costings, pages 13 and 212.)

The government will include measures in the Finance Bill 2016 to remove, with retrospective effect from 6 April 2015, a double charge that occurs in some circumstances when capital gains tax (CGT) is calculated on the disposal of UK residential property by non-UK residents. A measure will also be included in Finance Bill 2016, but with effect from 25 November 2015, to correct an omission in the current legislation.

Measures to give HMRC power to prescribe the circumstances where a CGT return is not required by non-UK residents will also be included in the Finance Bill 2016. The government has also announced that it will introduce measures to include CGT among the taxes that it can collect on a provisional basis.

The charge to CGT was extended to non-residents disposing of UK residential property in Finance Act 2015. Given that the non-UK resident CGT charge involves complex computations that potentially interact with other CGT charging and relief provisions such as the annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED), principal private residence relief and the annual exemption, it is not surprising that changes have proved necessary.

For more information on the non-UK resident CGT charge for disposals of UK residential property, see Practice note, Capital gains tax: disposals of UK residential property by non-residents.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.75.)

The government will announce 18 new enterprise zones and extend eight existing zones with effect from April 2016.

The new and extended zones will benefit from reduced business rates and an ability to retain 100% of those rates. Companies in designated assisted areas within the enterprise zones will be entitled to a 100% first year allowance for expenditure on plant and machinery.

For information on the first year plant and machinery allowance for companies within enterprise zones, see Practice note, Capital allowances on property transactions: Enterprise zones: plant and machinery allowances.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraphs 1.251 and 3.13 and HM Treasury: Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015: policy costings, page 11.)

The government confirmed that the Finance Bill 2016 will include legislation extending the averaging period for self-employed farmers to five years with effect from April 2016. Farmers will be given the option to use the extended five-year averaging period or the existing two-year averaging period.

This measure was first announced in the March 2015 Budget and confirmed in the July 2015 Budget, when a consultation document was published seeking views on how the extension should be designed and implemented (see Legal updates, March 2015 Budget: key business tax announcements: Farmers: averaging period to be extended to five years and July 2015 Budget: key business tax announcements: Averaging period for farmers to be extended to five years: consultation). A summary of responses to the consultation has not yet been published. However, as the ability for farmers to choose between averaging periods has not been previously announced, it is assumed that this measure has arisen as a result of the consultation responses.

For information on averaging profits, see Practice note, Income tax: calculation of income profits: Special rules for certain trades. To track progress of this measure, see Tax legislation tracker: owner-managed business: Extension of averaging period for farmers.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.21.)

The Finance Bill 2016 will include a relief from the annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED) for equity release schemes (home reversion plans) and will extend the reliefs available for property development and properties occupied by employees. These will apply for chargeable periods beginning on or after 1 April 2016.

No further detail is available, but in the case of property development it is understood that the current relief is not sufficiently wide to include certain activities that ought properly to be within its ambit.

For more information on ATED, see Practice note, Annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED).

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.73.)

The Finance Bill 2016 will include a relief from the 15% rate of SDLT (see Practice note, SDLT: 15% rate on enveloping high-value residential property), for equity release schemes (home reversion plans) and will expand existing reliefs to include certain property development activities and employee occupation not currently covered. These changes are to apply from 1 April 2016.

No further detail is available, but it is understood that the property business relief (see Practice note, SDLT: 15% rate on enveloping high-value residential property: Property business relief) is not sufficiently wide to include certain property development activities that ought properly to be within the ambit of the relief.

(See HM Treasury: 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review, paragraph 3.73.)

For summaries of announcements (tax and non-tax) relating to these areas, see: