IR20, DOM1, RIP

In an announcement covering extensive operational changes connected with residence, domicile and the remittance basis, 6 April sees the demise of IR20. Whilst the latest, and now the last, version of IR20 was decidedly ropey and of limited use, it is a shame that the Revenue have not seen fit to replace it with a new version. Instead, we will have yet more of the increasingly unsatisfactory website based guidance.

The DOM1 is also no more, with it already now having been withdrawn. With the DOM1 having been unchanged for what must be 25 years or more, we will lose something which has resisted the ravages of the Revenue urges for constant updating, change and reinvention, but the form didn't belong in the self assessment era. Quite logically, an individual is now to self determine their domicile. That much is fine, and it might, hopefully, serve to dispel the common misunderstanding that domicile is either a tax concept or one over which the Revenue is the sole, or final, arbiter. That the unrepresented taxpayer is now expected to refer to Revenue website guidance when making their self assessments is, however, far from satisfactory. With the law of domicile being not only complex but also not prone to frequent change, a well written downloadable guidance book would have far more to recommend it.