Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
You will shortly be able to go online and submit a claim for furloughed wages. Here we look at what information will be needed to enable that claim to be made.
Autumn newsletter 2019
For some of us the state pension age is fast approaching. Where that is the case you should receive a letter from the Pension Service, certainly no later than 2 months before you reach that milestone. You do have to actually claim the state pension to receive it and how you do so is laid out in the correspondence. In the vast majority of cases you will make the claim and the pension will be paid across, usually within 5 weeks of reaching state pension age.
Dividend Complexities
The dividend allowance, which was originally introduced from 6 April 2016, was cut from £5,000 a year to £2,000 from 6 April 2018. The cut is likely to have a significant impact on employees and directors of small businesses who receive both salary and dividend payments. Many family-owned companies allocate dividends towards the end of […]
Summer newsletter 2019
If you are looking at buying your first home or know somebody else who is considering doing so, such as your children or grandchildren, then this Government backed savings scheme might be an option. This has been available since December 2015 and is aimed at first time buyers aged 16 or over who are looking to save up a deposit for the purchase of their first home. The Government adds a bonus of 25% to your savings up to a maximum of £3,000. This is per person. It can be used as a purchase of a first time buyer’s home worth up to £450,000 in London or £250,000 in the rest of the UK.
Spring Newsletter 2019
Spring is in the air and traditionally this is the time of year when couples marry.
Possibly the most important item on the wedding shopping list is the bride’s gown. According to Bride Magazine the average cost of a wedding dress in the UK in 2018 was £1,378, with a particular royal wedding dress reported to be in the £100,000 price range.
Budget 2018 Newsletter
What was your most interesting part of yesterday’s budget? For us it was the clear focus on business and the support to help businesses grow. With new allowances for electric vehicle charging facilities, for building new commercial structures and buildings and an increase in the level of tax relief designed to encourage businesses to spend […]
Paying Family Members
Many small businesses, whether incorporated or not, pay family members for working for the business. However, as a recent case shows, it is easy to make mistakes which can prove costly.
Tax on Termination Payments set to Change
MORE TAX The tax and NI treatment of termination payments currently depend on whether or not they are classed as earnings. This has often not been clear cut and factors such as whether the payments were provided for contractual reasons have had to be considered. For instance, the treatment of payments in lieu of notice […]
Van Benefits in Kind Rules
Driving a van as your company vehicle has tax advantages over a car. The tax charge is generally low compared with a car, and can even be zero in circumstances where a car would be taxable. What conditions must be met for tax-free use? Van tax rates In his Autumn Budget 2017 the Chancellor announced an increase in the taxable benefit in kind for employees (including directors) […]
Further Changes to Taxation of UK Property
The 2017 Budget introduced further changes to the taxation of UK property income for non-resident, corporate and private landlords. A summary of those changes are as follows: Non-residents Since 6 April 2015, non-resident landlords of UK residential property have had to account for capital gains tax on the gains they make on the sale of […]
HMRC Changes Rules on Mortgage Interest?
HMRC appears to have changed its long held views on the availability of tax relief on interest charged on new borrowings by property business owners who re-mortgage their property to withdraw capital from their business. If this is a genuine change it may well impact on thousands of buy-to-let owners. It is unclear whether this […]
National Insurance and the self-employed
Change is on the horizon – from April next year, the self-employed will only pay one Class of National Insurance rather than the two currently payable. Current position Depending on the level of their profits, the self-employed may currently be liable for two Classes of National Insurance contribution – Class 2 and Class 4.
HMRC updates NRCGT guidance
Until April 2015, a client could avoid UK capital gains tax (CGT) on the sale of their UK properties by becoming non-resident in the UK and staying non-resident for five full tax years. However, from 6 April 2015, a non-resident capital gains tax (NRCGT) charge has been introduced for non-residents that sell UK residential property. […]
Buy to let Landlords – Relief for Interest
With rising property costs and low interest rates, many people took out a mortgage to invest in a buy to let property. As long as property prices continued to rise and the tenants paid their rent, investors could make money from the rising market while the rent from the tenant paid off the mortgage – […]
A Quick Overview of Capital Gains Tax
Capital gains tax is payable on net gains to the extent that they exceed the annual exempt amount. Capital gains tax is a tax on the profit that is made on the disposal of an asset. Normally, this will apply when an asset is sold, but a taxable gain may also arise when an asset […]
Making Tax Digital – 5 Myths Busted!
Since the Making Tax Digital (MTD) consultation response came out in January, HMRC has provided very little in the way of additional clarity or information. Inevitably, this has led to rumours about the initiative spreading thick and fast. So here are 5 of the key Myths about Making Tax Digital with our take on them, […]
The Taxation of Company Cars in 2017/18
Company cars are a popular benefit and are often something of a status symbol. But, they have also been an easy target for the taxman. Where a company car is available for private use, the employee is taxed on the associated benefit that this provides. The amount that is charged to tax – the cash […]
Relevant goods and the VAT flat rate scheme
The VAT flat rate scheme is a simplified VAT scheme, which allows small traders (turnover of less than £150,000 excluding VAT) to account for the VAT that they pay to HMRC by reference to a percentage of their VAT-inclusive turnover. Prior to 1 April 2017, the flat rate percentage depended only on the business sector […]
Employment allowance – can you benefit?
The National Insurance employment allowance can reduce an employer’s National Insurance bill by up to £3,000 – but not all businesses can benefit. Nature of the allowance Where available, the allowance is set against the employer’s secondary Class 1 National Insurance bill. The allowance, set at £3,000, reduces the National Insurance payable by the employer […]
New Rules for Cash Basis Accounting for Small Businesses
Cash basis threshold increased The cash basis is a simpler way for smaller businesses to work out their taxable profit. Under the cash basis, profit is calculated by reference to cash in and cash out, rather than by reference to income earned in the period and expenditure incurred, as is the case under the traditional […]
The New Inhertiance Tax Relief for Your Home
The Summer Budget included a new tax break for homeowners whose estates are worth enough to be liable to inheritance tax. So how will the new tax allowance work and is there any planning you should be doing to take advantage? Election promise During the run up to the general election the government made promises […]
Changes to Mortgage Interest Relief
Higher rate tax relief will be restricted for buy-to-let landlords on the costs of finance, including mortgage interest, from 6 April 2017 onwards. The change is being phased in over three years. All finance costs (not just loan interest) will no longer be an allowable expense when calculating your taxable rental profits. Finance costs include […]
VAT Tips for Your New Business
VAT isn’t usually the first thing you think about when you are considering starting up a new business, but there are a few simple things you should keep in mind to make sure you don’t miss out, even if you don’t intend to register for a few years until your turnover breaches the registration limit. […]
Tax Relief for Pre-Trading Expenditure
Before any business can start to trade, there is a certain amount of expenditure that is inevitably incurred. For example market research; kitting out of business premises; financial advice in preparing business plans; travel costs; supplies; advertising etc. Although the business bank account doesn’t exist yet, you can still get tax relief on these vital business costs […]
Dividend Etiquette
How much can you withdraw as a Dividend? Dividends are not meant to be another form of remuneration, but are the format in which you can distribute surplus profits to shareholders. It is therefore important to ensure that you do have excess profits before any dividend is approved. This may sound obvious, but smaller businesses […]
The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)
HMRC have a particular distrust for the construction industry and as such no other industry has such tough systems to navigate to demonstrate that they are operating within the tax guidelines. There is often confusion over elements of the scheme, and it certainly adds a whole new level of admin that most other businesses would […]
Tax Free Childcare Account or Childcare Vouchers
Parents with children in childcare have an important decision to make in 2017. The Government will launch the new Tax Free Childcare Account (Childcare Account) and for the self-employed parents this will mean that they have access to tax incentivised childcare for the first time. But for employed parents (including company directors) the decision to […]
What’s Appropriate?
One of the tax changes which gained a nanosecond in the budget speech was the TCGA 92 s161(1) rule about appropriations to and from stock. Philip Hammond called this “converting capital losses into trading losses”. Why is this relevant or being tackled at this time? As part of general anti-avoidance the option to convert losses […]