It’s safe to say Chancellor Rishi Sunak did not expect to be delivering the first official fiscal statement less than four months after his maiden Budget speech back in March, but here we are.
(more…) Read MoreTRACING LOST PENSION PLANS
Helping you plan for your retirement is one of our core services, ensuring you are prepared when the time comes to call it a day.
With medical advances enabling more people to live for longer, the average person who retires at 65 lives for another 20 years.
(more…) Read MoreTAX IMPLICATIONS OF PROVIDING COMPANY CARS
Offering a company car as a benefit can be a valuable and attractive perk to any valued employee.
Unfortunately, it is not necessarily a tax-free perk and it may be liable for PAYE because HMRC considers the private use of a company car to be a benefit-in-kind.
(more…) Read MoreINHERITANCE TAX PLANNING IN 2020/21
Coronavirus has many people reflecting on their own mortality. So if you have more time on your hands during the lockdown, planning your estate may be a wise way to spend it.
(more…) Read MoreTax Insider 2020
Included in this month’s article:
- RELIEF AS SUNAK EXTENDS FURLOUGH SCHEME UNTIL THE END OF OCTOBER
- BUSINESSES CLAIM BILLIONS IN STATE SUPPORT TO EASE CASHFLOW FEARS
- CORONAVIRUS IMPACT PLACES THE UK ECONOMY INTO ‘SIGNIFICANT RECESSION’
- HMRC RELAXES STANCE ON HOME OFFICE EQUIPMENT UNTIL 2021/22
PLANNING FOR REDUNDANCIES IN 2020/21
With redundancies on the rise due to the coronavirus, is it time you understood how termination payments work in 2020?
Beyond the human tragedy of COVID-19 is an economic one.
(more…) Read MoreTHE CAPITAL GOODS SCHEME FOR VAT
The VAT capital goods scheme affects input VAT recovery
relating to high-value capital assets. Input VAT is a tax incurred
on most purchases made by VAT-registered firms, and they can
usually reclaim it from HMRC in full.
The Rules for Flexible Furlough
Print off and sit down to read.
(more…) Read MoreMind matters: mental health for small business owners
With massive pressure on owner-managers, how should they protect their mental health? What are the warning signs something is wrong? And what practical techniques can be used to protect the mental health of small business owners? Dave Howell reports
(more…) Read MoreHMRC RESUMES INVESTIGATIONS AFTER COVID-19
After temporarily pausing tax investigations as COVID-19
business support measures rolled out earlier this year, HMRC
has restarted probes into businesses and individuals’ tax affairs.
The Revenue has also started to direct its attention towards the
misuse of coronavirus support schemes, such as the furlough
scheme and the self-employed income support scheme.
TRUSTS AND PASSING ON WEALTH
There are many ways to reduce or eliminate the inheritance tax
payable on your estate without using trusts.
But for some, especially if you are very wealthy, they may not be
enough. For others, the control that trusts give over who benefits
from your wealth, and how, is vital for estate planning.
July 2020 Tax Insider
Included in this month’s issue:
- UK ECONOMY SLUMPS INTO RECESSION AFTER RECORD CONTRACTION IN APRIL
- BUILDERS’ CASHFLOW CHAOS PROMPTS FURTHER REVERSE CHARGE VAT DELAY
- GOVERNMENT CLARIFIES FURLOUGH SCHEME STANCE FOR EMPLOYERS
- SELF-EMPLOYED GRANTS ‘ARE LIABLE FOR TAX AND NATIONAL INSURANCE’
2020 Budget Report
We are pleased to enclose out 2020 budget for your attention. Some of the more interesting/concerning points are:
· The lifetime limit on qualifying disposals eligible for the 10% tax rate is reduced from £10m to £1m for disposals made on or after 11 March 2020.
· Cash grants for businesses with a rateable value of less than £15,000
· A temporary loan scheme for SMEs
· A 30-day window for paying capital gains tax on property sales kicks in from 6 April – you will need to prepare your calculations before you sell any property.
· Corporation tax to stay at 19%
· Firms with rateable values of less than £51,000 in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors won’t have to pay business rates from April 2020 for a full year
· A 6.2% increase in National living wages to £8.72 from 6 April 2020
· Principal private residence relief to fall to 9 months in the final period (originally the last 3 years)
· Reverse charge VAT in the construction industry confirmed to start the 1 October 2020
· A significant increase in the pensions taper relief
· Class 1 & Class 4 National Insurance threshold will rise to £9500 from April 2020
· Employment Allowance will rise to £4,000pa from April 2020
Enjoy your read and please contact us to discuss any points – clearly there is a lot of new information here and it will take a few weeks for the Government to filter down how everything will work.
PERSONAL TAX PLANNING FOR 2020/21
The Government left it to the very last minute to announce its tax plans for 2020/21. Fortunately, Chancellor Rishi Sunak had few surprises up his sleeve in last month’s Spring Budget.
(more…) Read MoreCORONAVIRUS SUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES
It’s hard to believe Rishi Sunak has only been the Chancellor since Valentine’s Day, given what he’s had to deal with in a matter of weeks since.
(more…) Read MoreApril 2020 Tax Insider
INCLUDED IN THIS ARTICLE:
– COVID-19 POSTPONES OFF-PAYROLL EXTENSION TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR
– CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC PROMPTS ONE-YEAR BUSINESS RATES HOLIDAY
– CHANCELLOR UPS ANNUAL PENSION ALLOWANCE THRESHOLDS BY £90,000
– ENTREPRENEURS’ RELIEF LIFETIME LIMIT SLASHED FROM £10M TO £1M
2019-20 Year End Tax Guide
The last few months of the tax year are the ideal time to pause and reflect, and to make sure you’ve organised your finances as efficiently as possible before the new tax year begins on 6 April 2020.
(more…) Read MoreHR EXPERT: NEW NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE RATES
My client is aware that new national minimum wage rates will be introduced in April and want to know what they need to do from an HR perspective to prepare for this?
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: LOANS TO EMPLOYEES
Many of my small company clients often have overdrawn director loan accounts. When considering minimising the beneficial loan charge, what interest can be taken into account to reduce or cancel the benefit charge?
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: TRAINING COSTS
My client is a surgeon who is currently employed by the NHS. During the year, he has attended various training courses to enable him to keep up to date with changes in the profession and gain new qualifications to further his career. Can he deduct the cost of attending these courses from his employment income?
(more…) Read MoreHR EXPERT: FINING LATE EMPLOYEES
My client wants to introduce fines for employees that are late to work, are they legally allowed to do this?
(more…) Read MoreVQOTW: RECOVERY OF VAT INCURRED PRIOR TO VAT REGISTRATION
My client ran his decorating business for three years as a sole trader and is now going to incorporate. As a sole trader his turnover never quite reached the registration threshold but he will VAT register when he incorporates as a lot of his customers are now contractors. Will he be able to recover VAT on his limited company registration on the van, tools, and equipment he bought as a sole trader and will still use in the company?
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: DEFERRED STATE PENSION
Anne (aged 66) and Brian (aged 68) are a couple who could have started to draw their state pension a few years ago but they chose instead to keep on running their own trading company and defer taking it. From a look at their records for 2018/19, it’s clear that they both started to draw on their state pension in the year but with different effects on their income tax calculations for the year because Brian has received a lump sum but Anne hasn’t.
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: JOINT RENTAL INCOME
My husband and I jointly own a rental property, the income of which we declare 50:50 on our Tax Returns. I have been promoted and will be a higher rate taxpayer going forward. Is it possible for my husband to be taxed on a greater proportion of the rental income as he is a basic rate taxpayer?
(more…) Read MoreJanuary 2020 Tax Insider
CONTAINED IN THIS MONTH’S ARTICLE:
– QUARTER OF SMALL BUSINESSES IN THE UK EXPECT TO GO BUST BY 2024
– EXTENSION OF OFF-PAYROLL RULES INTO THE PRIVATE SECTOR COULD FACE DELAY
R&D TAX CREDITS IN PRACTICE
The UK tax system is complicated but research and development
(R&D) tax credits can be especially tricky to understand.
That’s partly because what counts as R&D, and what amounts
to true innovation, is judged on a case-by-case basis against
criteria that can seem almost abstract.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUSINESS STRUCTURES
You’ve got a business idea, you’ve got the skills, the concept,
the motivation and maybe even someone that’s keen to pay for
your services, but where do you start? What will you call your
business? What business structure will suit it best?
It may be that as your business grows you run through several
different structures, but most firms will set up one way and
remain just that, even as their turnover grows or falls.
TQOTW: RESIDENCE NIL RATE BAND
My client has left their main residence to their children through a discretionary trust in their will. If a deed of variation is done within 2 years of the date of death would the residence nil rate band still be available?
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: ANNUAL INVESTMENT ALLOWANCE (AIA)
My client company has a year-end of 31st May 2019 and throughout the year the company incurred capital expenditure that qualifies for the annual investment allowance (AIA). How do we determine the amount of AIA available and how do we allocate the AIA to the qualifying expenditure given that the amount of AIA went up from £200,000 to £1m in January 2019?
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: LOANS TO EMPLOYEES
Many of my small company clients often have overdrawn director loan accounts. When considering minimising the beneficial loan charge, what interest can be taken into account to reduce or cancel the benefit charge?
(more…) Read MoreHR EXPERT: IVF TREATMENT
My client has been informed by an employee that they are planning to undergo IVF treatment, do they have to make any special accommodations for them at work?
(more…) Read MoreHR EXPERT: LAY OFF & SHORT TIME WORKING
My client has asked about the prospect of placing their staff on lay off or short-time working whilst business is slow. What should they know about this?
(more…) Read MoreVQOTW: AMAZON SELLERS
My client is a recently retired police dog handler. He has decided to start up a business selling dog-training and pet accessories online through Amazon. Do you have some pointers for what we need to think about in terms of VAT compliance obligations?
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: RENTAL INCOME ALLOCATION
My Client owns 100% of an investment property and wishes to transfer a beneficial interest in the property to his wife. I have just read an article on the internet that states he can do this by passing on a 99% entitlement to the income from the property but only a 1% interest in the capital proceeds. The author claims that HMRC Manual PIM1030 supports this view.
(more…) Read MoreDecember 2019 Tax Insider
CONTAINED IN THIS MONTH’S ARTICLE:
– DELAY TO CONTROVERSIAL LOAN CHARGE REVIEW LEAVES THOUSANDS IN LIMBO
– MINISTRY OF JUSTICE FINALLY ABANDONS PLANS TO INCREASE PROBATE FEES
LOW-RISK WAYS TO START A BUSINESS
So you’ve got a business idea, and you think it might be a runner.
But then again, just as you’ve geared yourself up to commit, all
sorts of midnight worries start to creep in.
Is now the time? Are people spending money? What about the
sluggish housing market? What about Brexit? And the state of
the local high street – does anyone even go there anymore?
GEARING UP FOR SELF-ASSESSMENT
With only two months left until the 31 January deadline for online returns, self-assessment is very much on our minds.
There’s a first flurry of activity around the deadline for paper
filing at the end of October, now far behind us, but December
and January are when things really get hectic.
Australia’s ‘backpacker tax’ ruled illegal by court
Australia has used a so-called “backpacker tax” to illegally tax foreign workers from eight countries, according to a landmark ruling.
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: EMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE REFORM
How will the Employment Allowance reform coming into play from April 2020 affect my business?
(more…) Read MoreTQOTW: FEE PROTECTION INSURANCE
A business has started paying fee protection insurance. The business has taken out the cover directly with the insurance company. Will it be allowable for tax?
(more…) Read MoreVQOTW: USE AND ENJOYMENT
We have been approached by a new client who is VAT registered, and their business activity is the hire of audio visual equipment. They are looking to invoice a Canadian music company for the hire of sound and lighting equipment.
(more…) Read MoreVQOTW: VAT MYTHS
Client is adamant that their car dealer has advised them that VAT incurred on the purchase of an electric car is recoverable in full.
(more…) Read MoreVQOTW: ACCOUNTING FOR SALES AS AN AGENT
My client has a gift shop with a gallery selling artworks on behalf of local artists, some of whom are registered for VAT. We charge commission on sales; on what values do we declare VAT?
(more…) Read MoreVQOTW: DIRECT AND INDIRECT EXPORTS
My client has been asked to supply footballs for use by a youth team in Kenya. They will deliver direct to the shipper, but will invoice a UK charity. Please could you confirm whether they can zero-rate the sale under the export rules?
(more…) Read MoreHR EXPERT: TIME OFF WORK TO VOTE
Does my client need to give staff time off work to vote in the upcoming general election?
(more…) Read MoreHR EXPERT: EMPLOYEE REFERENCE
Does my client have to provide a reference for a former employee?
(more…) Read MoreHR EXPERT: VEGAN EMPLOYEES
My client wants to know if they need to do anything, in particular, to support vegan employees at work?
(more…) Read MoreHR EXPERT: EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION PROGRAMME
My client wants to introduce an employee recognition programme, what sort of things do they need to think about?
(more…) Read MorePROTECTING A BUSINESS FROM FRAUD
Fraud costs the UK around £190 billion a year, with businesses bearing almost three quarters – £140bn – of those losses.
(more…) Read MoreCAPITAL GAINS TAX PLANNING
From 6 April 2020, HMRC is proposing three significant changes which will potentially increase the capital gains tax paid on the disposal of any residential property by an individual.
(more…) Read More