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News

Are you taking advantage of trivial benefits?
17/06/2021 - More...
The trivial benefits in kind (BiK) exemption applies to small non-cash benefits like a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers given occasionally to employees. By taking advantage of the exemption employers can simplify the treatment of BiKs whilst at the same time offering a tax efficient way to give small gifts to employees. Although

How are dividends taxed?
17/06/2021 - More...
The dividend tax allowance was first introduced back in 2016 and replaced the old dividend tax credit with an annual £5,000 dividend allowance with tax payable on dividends received over this amount. The tax-free dividend allowance was reduced to £2,000 with effect from 6 April 2018 and has remained fixed at that level. The tax rate for

Are you a landlord that owes tax to HMRC?
17/06/2021 - More...
The Let Property Campaign provides landlords who have undeclared income from residential property lettings in the UK or abroad with an opportunity to regularise their affairs by disclosing any outstanding liabilities whether due to misunderstanding the tax rules or because of deliberate tax evasion. Participation in the campaign is open

Building a new home and VAT
17/06/2021 - More...
The VAT DIY Housebuilders scheme is a special scheme that enables someone building their own home to benefit from special VAT rules that allow the qualifying construction costs of new homes and certain conversion works to be zero-rated. The scheme has been designed to effectively place DIY housebuilders in a similar VAT position to a

Self-employed NIC charges
17/06/2021 - More...
There are two types of National Insurance contributions (NICs) payable by the self-employed. These are known as Class 2 NICs and Class 4 NICs. Class 2 NICs are paid by all self-employed taxpayers unless they earn under the Small Profits Threshold (SPT), currently £6,515, which remove the necessity to pay NICs. Class 2 NICs are currently

Agent Dedicated Line relaunched
17/06/2021 - More...
HMRC has confirmed that the Agent Dedicated Line (ADL) that offers priority access to HMRC staff has been relaunched on a trial basis from 14 June 2021. HMRC has also made it clear that the ADL is not expected to be used to handle certain types of calls where digital services are available or where the pertinent information could have

Tax when you sell a business property
10/06/2021 - More...
There are various methods at your disposal to reduce or delay the amount of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when you sell a property that has been used for business purposes. For example, Business Asset Rollover Relief allows for deferral of CGT on gains made when taxpayers sell or dispose of certain assets (including property) and uses all or

Private residence relief
10/06/2021 - More...
There is usually no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to be paid when you sell your main family residence (referred to by HMRC as private residence relief) that has been used as your only or main residence. However, there are important points to consider that can affect your entitlement to full CGT relief. These include the following: Business

Changing a company accounting date
10/06/2021 - More...
There are special rules which limit the ability to change your company’s year end date. A company’s year end date is also known as its ‘accounting reference date’ and is historically set by reference to the date the company was incorporated. Under certain circumstances it is possible to make a change to the year end and for some

Bed and breakfast – the same day rule
10/06/2021 - More...
Historically, the term bed and breakfasting (sale and repurchase) of shares referred to transactions where shares were sold and then bought back the next morning. This used to have Capital Gains Tax (CGT) benefits by crystallising a gain or a loss but is no longer tax effective over such a short period. The change to the rule occurred in

Apportionment and duality
10/06/2021 - More...
When deciding whether an expense is allowed or disallowed it is important to consider that the expenditure must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of your trade or employment. Under the legislation any expenditure not incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade, profession or vocation should be

Who can use the VAT retail schemes?
10/06/2021 - More...
VAT retail schemes are a special set of schemes used by retail businesses to account for VAT. The schemes are used by businesses that sell a significant amount of low value and/or small quantity items to the public with different VAT liabilities. The use of the schemes can save businesses a significant amount of time in calculating the

Temporary trade credit insurance scheme to end
03/06/2021 - More...
Trade credit insurance is a contract bought by suppliers to make sure they get paid even if their customers default and cannot pay the bills. This gives businesses the confidence to trade with one another. Early in the pandemic, the government introduced a temporary Trade Credit Reinsurance scheme, which was agreed following extensive

The 7-year rule
03/06/2021 - More...
Most gifts made during a person’s lifetime are not subject to Inheritance Tax at the time of the gift. These lifetime transfers are known as 'potentially exempt transfers' or 'PETs'. These gifts or transfers achieve their potential of becoming exempt if the taxpayer survives for more than 7-years after making the gift. If the taxpayer

Tax when you sell an asset
03/06/2021 - More...
There are special rules that must be followed when you sell an asset on which capital allowances have been claimed. Capital allowances is the term used to describe the tax relief businesses can claim on certain capital expenditure and thereby reduce the amount of taxable profits. The sales value is usually the sales price. If you gave

What is distance selling for VAT purposes?
03/06/2021 - More...
Distance selling is the term used to describe supplies of delivered goods from one EU Member State to a customer in another member state who is not registered for VAT. The recipients of most distance sales will be private individuals, but they can also include small, unregistered businesses, businesses making only exempt supplies,

Cash basis for landlords
03/06/2021 - More...
The cash basis scheme helps sole traders and other unincorporated businesses benefit from a simpler way of managing their financial affairs. Landlords can use the cash basis when recording income and expenditure i.e., recording the flow of money from and to the business. The scheme is not open to limited companies and limited liability

Pre-trading expenditure
03/06/2021 - More...
There are special tax reliefs for pre-trading expenses that are incurred before a business starts trading. These could include expenses that are required to help a business prepare for trading such as buying stock and equipment, renting premises, taking out insurance and initial advertising expenditure. A deduction may be allowed where

How to claim tax relief on employment expenses
27/05/2021 - More...
If you are an employee that needs to buy substantial equipment to use as part of your employment you may be able to claim tax relief. In most cases you can claim tax relief on the full cost of this type of equipment. Tax relief is reduced if your employer provides a contribution towards buying the item. The way to claim tax relief

One month left to join VAT Deferral Payment Scheme
27/05/2021 - More...
Businesses that deferred VAT payments last year have until 21 June 2021 to join the new online payment scheme. This would allow them to spread the cost of repayment over a number of months. The VAT deferral scheme is open to businesses that took the option to defer the payment of their VAT liabilities between 20 March 2020 and 30 June