HMRC have published revised Advance Assurance guidance for the Venture Capital Schemes. The guidance is now contained in VCM60000+ and introduces a Checklist which must be completed and submitted alongside any advance assurance requests to the Venture Capital reliefs Team.
HMRC have told EISA that although they are approving AA applications with in 10 working days in 70% of cases, they are aware some are taking up to 30/35 working days. With just 14 inspectors their workload is very high and they believe that if applications received were able to be assessed more quickly then they can improve turnaround times. To this end, they hope the new checklist will allow them to find relevant information much quicker.
HMRC have also revised guidance in VCM140000+ and VCM35000+, taking out all the chapters relating to advance assurance guidance.
HMRC have confirmed to EISA that the new checklists will be phased in gradually. Existing applications will be processed as normal for the time being and HMRC won’t be rejecting applications received without them until they are sure that they are fit for purpose and users can find and access them.