Tech’s ‘central’ role in zero emissions
“WHAT on earth…?” the BattleAxe exclaimed, propping up her bike in the hallway and staring into reception at a backside poking out from the furniture.
“Ah,” said the Backside “you’re back from your ride.
“I’m hunting some missing interest. I’ve checked everywhere else and can’t find it, so thought I’d look down the back of the sofa.”
The BattleAxe sighed. “Another PAYE coding notice? One including amounts the employee has never had to pay tax on?” she queried.
“Spot on!” The Backside extracted itself from the soft furnishings, transforming into the Chief Elf.
“This time they’ve coded in £1 of bank interest, which seems odd given that client’s Personal Savings Allowance would be £1,000 to start with and the total interest on their last return was £1, not to mention the £10,000 of rental profit we’ve already asked to be taken out as they only ever break even!”
She snorted. “That seems to be HMRC’s latest money-making scheme. Honestly, sometimes dealing with them is like dealing with Del Boy!
“We’ve had all sorts of oddities appearing in coding notices recently from dividend tax to ‘anticipated’ higher rate adjustments.
“Not only that but HMRC have apparently borrowed ERNIE to help generate random numbers.”
“Well, there is CJRS and SEISS to pay for,” the Chief Elf noted.
“True! Goodness knows, we’ve churned out enough CJRS calculations.
But that’s no excuse for collecting tax upfront for things that would either appear on their tax return in any event or actually won’t be taxable at all. Thank heavens we’re here for clients to make HMRC get things right!”
The BattleAxe’s nostrils flared. “Actually, they’re trying to grab taxpayer’s money all over the place – Rishi has clearly ramped up all their targets.”
“I mean, in April HMRC snuck in the change on second properties so that the Capital Gains Tax is now due within 30 days of a sale. That’s caught out quite a few people, as it seems a number of conveyancing teams either aren’t aware or haven’t been telling their clients there’s now an urgent need to get the tax paid. A lot of people sold holiday homes this year and I bet many of them don’t have accountants and have never filled in a CGT return before,” she continued.
“And that feels like just the start of ‘Operation Tax-Grab.’ The last budget already slashed the lifetime Entrepreneur’s relief on capital gains, dividing it by ten. Now, the Office of Tax Simplification has opted for an easy life suggesting alterations that would basically align CGT rates with income tax and more than halve annual allowances. Any more changes may well put off potential founders, not to mention making it harder for start-ups to recruit.”
“I know the Treasury needs cash from somewhere, but Rishi’s being politically very brave going down those roads – especially when the average CGT-payer is over 50!”
“I’ll write to the Examiner about it!”
DIGITAL technology has a ‘central role to play’ in achieving net zero emissions and tech giants must play their part, a report has said.
Smart meters, supercomputers, weather modelling and AI could all help cut carbon emissions by one third in the next 10 years, according to the Royal Society.
It estimates that digital technology contributes between 1.4 per cent and 5.9pc to global emissions and recommends that firms be more open about their energy consumption, in particular from data centres.
The net zero transition should be data-led, with governance arrangements in place that enable the safe and rapid use of data to support the achievement of the net zero target, the report explained.
Professor Andy Hopper, vice president of the Royal Society and professor of computer technology at the University of Cambridge, said: “There are many routes to net zero but digital technology has a central role to play. This pandemic has accelerated the digital transition so now is the time to take stock and ensure the sustainable development of future digital technologies and systems.”