10 Asian LEADER
1 Jan - 14 Jan 2014
Online tax tool helps
taxpayers work out residence
H
M Revenue and
Customs (HMRC)
has launched an
online tool to help people
determine their residence
status for tax purposes.
The Tax Residence Indicator (TRI) asks people a
number of questions before
telling them what their status is.
It has been introduced as
part of the statutory residence test, introduced in
April 2013. The test gives
people who may move in
and out of the UK greater
clarity and certainty over
their residence status.
HMRC’s new tool allows people to go onto the
HMRC website, input their
personal details, and quickly establish whether they
should be paying tax in the
UK. The people potentially
affected include expatriates, pilots, cabin crew and
cruise workers, rig workers,
foreign students, health
workers, seasonal workers
and others.
Specialist Personal Tax
Director Mary Aiston said:
“It is important that
people who come and go
from the UK keep records
that are readily available.
Their residence status is
assessed according to time
spent in the UK, in conjunction with their other
ties to the country.
“The old statutory residence rules were complex
and lacked clarity, with the
definition of tax residence
resting on legal cases de-
England overcrowded
E
ngland has overtaken
the Netherlands to become second only to
tiny Malta as the most densely populated nation in the EU.
Four times as many people
will soon be crammed in as
France and twice as many as
Germany and over the next 30
years the gap will widen because Germany, France and
Holland will either decline or
grow only slowly.
The House of Commons figures are based on data from
the UK and EU statistical
agencies.
The House of Commons
report says the number of
people living in every square
kilometre in England will rise
from 411 now to 419 in 2015,
to 433 in 2020 and to 460 in
2030.
By 2046, 494 people will be
living in each square kilometre.
The equivalent figure for
France will be just 115, for
Germany 204 and the Netherlands 421.
The research raises concerns about how the UK’s
infrastructure can cope with
the increased pressure on
schools, hospitals and roads.
The Office for National Statistics has already
warned that Britain must
make room for almost 10million more people over the
next 25 years – the equivalent of building a city even
larger than London.
The increase, mainly a result of immigration and high
migrant birthrates, will push
numbers to 73.3million by
2037.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Immigration has
brought benefits to the UK
and we welcome people who
want to come here to contribute to our economy and society.
“However, it is important to
control immigration because
of its effect on social cohesion, our public services, and
on jobs and wages.”
The figures for the rest of
the UK in 2015 are predicted
to be: Scotland 40 per square
kilometre, Wales 258 and
Northern Ireland 131.
cided in the courts over a
long period. The new residence test is clearer.”
The residence status of
most people is expected to
remain the same under the
new residence test.
To help people with more
complex living and working
arrangements, HMRC has
published guidance – www.
hmrc.gov.uk/international/
rdr3.pdf
Taxpayers can find the
new tool at http://tools.
hmrc.gov.uk/rift
£30m tax boost
from HMRC voluntary
sector projects
H
M Revenue and Customs
grants to voluntary and
community sector organisations that help people with taxes,
benefits and tax credits led to additional tax of £30.6 million being
declared last year.
During 2012-13, HM Revenue and
Customs (HMRC) made £2 million
available to voluntary and community sector (VCS) bodies to provide
help and advice to customers who
need support to meet their obligations and claim entitlements.
More than 3,500 volunteers were
trained by the organisations to
answer people’s questions on tax
credits, benefits and tax issues.
As a result, HMRC customers also
took up an additional £29.9 million
of credits and benefits.
Exchequer
Secretary
David
Gauke said: “These results show
that HMRC’s grants to the voluntary sector continue to provide a
cost-effective way of ensuring that
vulnerable people on low incomes
get the help they need with their
tax affairs from an independent,
trusted source.
Migrants to face charges for A&E
O
verseas visitors
and
migrants
who
require
accident
and
emergency treatment from
the NHS in England are to
be charged, the Government has announced.
The move forms part of
an extension of the NHS
charging regime in England
intended to deter so-called
“health tourism” while recouping up to £500 milliona-year for the taxpayer.
Under
the
proposed
changes,
migrants
and
overseas visitors will have
to pay for primary care services such as minor surgery
carried out by GPs, while
prescription charges will be
extended.
There will also be higher
charges for services which
are subsidised for patients
entitled to free NHS treatment - such as optical and
dental care.
Ministers say that no one
will be turned away from
an A&E department in an
emergency, but there will
be a bill to pay afterwards
for those from overseas.
Consultations with GPs
and nurses will remain
free of charge, to ensure
initial access remains to
prevent
public
health
risks such as TB, HIV and
sexually transmitted infections.
Details of the scheme are
still being worked out, and
ministers have said they
will publish a full implementation plan in March.
Health Minister Lord
Howe said: “Having a universal health service free
at the point of use rightly
makes us the envy of the
world, but we must make
sure the system is fair to
the hard-working British
taxpayers who fund it.
“We know that we need
to make changes across
the NHS to better identify
and charge visitors and migrants. Introducing charging at primary care is the
first step to achieving this.
“We are already looking
at taking action and next
year we will set out our detailed plans to clamp down
on the abuse of our NHS.”
The
announcement
comes amid fears among
many Tory MPs that the
ending of restrictions on
migrants from Bulgaria
and Romania on January
1 will see a major influx of
immigrants, putting additional strain on the NHS
and other public services.
Doctors’ leaders warned
the
proposed
changes
could cost more to administer than they would actually raise for the NHS while
deterring some people des-
perately in need of treatment from seeking care.
Dr Mark Porter, the chair
of British Medical Association council, said it would
cause confusion among patients while requiring GPs
and hospital doctors to
spend more time on paperwork and bureaucracy.
“This could mean the
system of administering
the new charging system
will end up actually costing
more to run than it collects
in revenue,” he said.
“There remains a real
risk that some migrants
and short term visitors
who desperately need care
could be discouraged from
approaching the NHS if
they cannot pay the proposed charges.
“There is particular confusion over access entitlements to emergency care
services, given the proposals introduce charging for
A&E visits yet say no patient will be turned away if
they need care.”
Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, spokeswoman for the
Royal College of General
Practitioners,
welcomed
the decision not to extend
charging to GP appointments, but said that they
still had concerns.
“We still need reassurances that GPs are not going to be pressed into acting as an arm of the Border
Agency and we remain
unconvinced that the proposals will work across the
NHS,” she said.
“GPs have a duty of
care to all people seeking
healthcare and cannot be
expected to police the system or prevent people from
getting medical help when
they are at their most vulnerable.
“We must be allowed to
get on with our proper job
of caring for patients, not
form-filling and acting as a
quasi form of immigration
control.”
For
Labour,
shadow
health minister Lord Hunt
of Kings Heath accused
ministers of putting “ spin
before substance” in an
attempt to grab the headlines.
“Labour is in favour of
improving the recovery of
costs from people with no
entitlement to NHS treatment,” he said.
“Rather
than
more
grandstanding, the Government needs to deliver practical, thoughtthrough changes to make
that happen. Instead this
out-oftouch
Government is left asking doctors and nurses to act as
surrogate immigration officials.”