Accountancy Blog

Capital gains tax planning

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How can you reduce your capital gains tax bill in 2018/19?

Whether you’re a buy-to-let landlord, a shareholder, an art dealer or you fall somewhere in between, the chances are you will be familiar with paying capital gains tax (CGT).

CGT is payable when you ‘dispose’ of a certain item and make money from the sale, with the amount you’re liable for depending on your income and the asset in question.

These could be personal items worth more than £6,000, a second home or even shares you own in a limited company.

CGT is due when you sell or give these assets away, classed as ‘disposing’ of an asset in the eyes of HMRC. More…

The marriage allowance explained

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How to make this tax break work for you.

Millions of married couples and civil partners in the UK are eligible for the marriage allowance, but take-up has remained subdued since the tax break came into force on 6 April 2015.

Almost half of the UK’s eligible couples failed to claim their slice of £1.3 billion in marriage allowance cash in 2016/17, with many couples either unaware of the tax break or forgetting to claim it.

It’s designed for couples where one partner pays the basic rate of income tax and the other is a non-taxpayer. More…

‘Tax over-40s to pay for elderly care costs’, say MPs

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Over-40s in England should pay a new tax to help cover the costs of providing care for the elderly, MPs have said.

Two influential House of Commons’ committees called for the introduction of a social care premium, which would also see retirees made to pay if they have lucrative pensions or investments.

The money generated through the proposed premium would be used to ensure everyone gets the support they need in their old age. More…

BCC calls for further delay to digital accounts rollout

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The government’s flagship Making Tax Digital (MTD) scheme should be delayed until 2020/21 for all taxpayers, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

VAT-registered businesses with annual turnover of more than £85,000 are due to be the first to go through the transition to digital accounts for reporting VAT only from April 2019.

But the BCC is calling on the government to push that date back after discovering that only one in ten UK businesses are fully aware of MTD.

The BCC polled 1,073 small firms and found 24% of business owners had never heard of MTD, while 66% had only heard of it by name and know little else. More…

Landlords welcome tax incentives for long-term tenancies

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The government is considering introducing tax incentives for landlords who offer longer tenancies, as part of a new consultation.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation on implementing a three-year tenancy model.

This is intended to support the increasing number of private tenants seeking long-term security, as more families and older people plan to stay in privately rented property.

The report put forward a number of options, including introducing a financial incentive for landlords in the form of tax relief or cash payments. More…

Contractors criticise ‘flawed’ IR35 test

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A contractor group has slammed HMRC for omitting mutuality of obligation in an online tool designed to assess an individual’s employment status.

Mutuality of obligation requires employers to provide ongoing work for an employee, who then has an obligation to perform that work.

In a self-employed relationship, there is no continuing obligation on either side to offer work or perform the tasks.

This is one of several factors which determine whether an individual is employed or self-employed when it comes to applying IR35 legislation. More…