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Inheritance Tax – don’t fall into the trap
A record amount of estates paid inheritance tax in 2016/17, according to government figures. More than 28,100 estates were liable for death duties in 2016/17 – a new high for the number of estates charged. The latest figure represented a 15% rise on the previous year’s figure of 24,500, and continued the trend of year-on-year…
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Stamp duty revenue down for HMRC
The Treasury’s take from stamp duty land tax fell by the largest amount since the start of 2008/09, government figures show. In England and Northern Ireland, HMRC collected £11.94 billion in stamp duty receipts on completed property or land purchases in 2018/19 – a 7% decline on the previous tax year. That represents the biggest…
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Are you saving into your pension plan?
A government-backed pension provider is trialling emotive messages to nudge sole traders to start retirement saving. The messages from NEST aim to persuade the self-employed to sign up for pensions through payment or accountancy platforms or trade and industry bodies. Four messages are being tested to encourage savings behaviour, including ‘could you save £2.50 a…
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Regulator slams poor standards of charity accounts audits
Most auditors and independent examiners in England and Wales failed to identify failings in charity accounts in 2017/18. The claim comes from the Charity Commission, which scrutinised 296 charity accounts with various annual incomes. The Commission found that accounts reviewed by auditors met its benchmark more regularly than independent examiners. How its benchmark is applied…
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Self-employed owe £1.6bn to HMRC in late tax payments for 2017/18
New figures show self-assessment taxpayers owe HMRC more than £1.6 billion in late payments on 2017/18 tax bills. The deadline for 2017/18 submissions came and went on 31 January 2019, with more than 11.5 million taxpayers beating the midnight cut-off – a new high. Despite a record number of tax returns submitted early this year,…
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Small employers risk losing the employment allowance in 2020
Plans to remove the employment allowance for large employers from April 2020 could impact on smaller firms. This allowance provides employers with a reduction to their national insurance contributions (NICs) bill of up to £3,000. Employers that claim the allowance can carry it forward from one tax year to the next, but that will stop…
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Making Tax Digital – Most VAT-registered businesses are signed up for Making Tax Digital
Almost three quarters (74%) of VAT-registered firms signed up for Making Tax Digital (MTD) before the second stagger deadline last month. HMRC’s figures showed that over 230,000 mandated businesses joined the scheme before the 7 September 2019 deadline. Most (94%) signed-up businesses submitted VAT returns before both the first and second stagger deadlines. Around 80,000…
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Property investment – good idea?
With low interest rates, property remains attractive. As the global financial crisis began to bite in 2008, central banks in several nations took action, attempting to shock the world economy back to life by slashing base interest rates. The idea behind this kind of stimulus is to make saving less attractive, hopefully prompting people to…
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IR35 in the private sector
Key considerations for contractors before April 2020. Large and medium-sized organisations have just six months left to prepare for changes to off-payroll working rules, which are due to extend to the private sector next spring. From 6 April 2020, firms that engage private-sector contractors will be responsible for deciding if the rules should apply and…
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Javid ‘to broaden the apprenticeship levy into a wider skills levy’
Further tweaks to the apprenticeship levy look certain to be made in the autumn, when new chancellor Savid Javid is expected to deliver his first Budget. In his final Budget speech in October 2018, former chancellor Philip Hammond halved the amount small firms taking on apprentices had to pay from 10% to 5%. But Javid…
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Retailers unite in call for business rates solution
Some of the UK’s biggest retailers have come together to demand action is taken to revamp the business rates system. Business leaders from more than 50 companies wrote to chancellor Sajid Javid to ask for four changes. These include reforming transitional relief, which limits how much a bill can change following revalution. The letter also…
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Treasury to review tapered annual allowance as dispute rumbles on
The Treasury has announced it will review the tapered annual allowance for pensions, following calls to abolish it. The amount of pension contributions that can be made tax-free in 2019/20 stands at £40,000 in most cases, but this is restricted for higher earners by the tapered annual allowance. The taper applies to people with a…
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Update to post of 2nd August – Reverse charge VAT for builders delayed for 12 months
A major change to the way VAT is collected in the building and construction industry has been delayed until 1 October 2020. The domestic reverse charge VAT for construction services was due to take effect from 1 October 2019. It will put the onus on the customer receiving a service to pay the VAT element…
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Construction industry scheme – VAT and charges
Few sectors have such an impact in the UK as the construction industry. It not only provides the fabric of our nation – the places where we live and work – but also underpins our entire economy. In 2017, construction contributed £113 billion to the UK economy, while construction output increased by 14% in 18…
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Pensions – have you got enough to retire?
Are you on track for a comfortable retirement? All of us dream of the day we can retire, saying goodbye to the alarm clock and commute, filling our days with sun-soaked beach holidays, leisurely rounds of golf, or cruising the world. As delightful as that sounds, the days when people can retire at a certain…
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The buy-to-let saga
The Government is being urged to stop its crackdown on the buy-to-let market, following evidence showing the negative effects of a string of tax changes. The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders’ Association (IMLA) said recent changes are forcing some landlords out of the private rented sector. It found that landlords with one buy-to-let property made up just…
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Are you using your Gift allowances?
Fewer people should have to pay tax on gifts made to loved ones in the years before their death, according to the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS). Under the current rules, inheritance tax of up to 40% is paid when someone dies within seven years of making a gift. The OTS called on the Treasury…
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Childcare scheme – are you eligible ?
Employers are being advised to assist employees with covering the costs of childcare, with the school holidays in full swing. Parents who earn more than £131 a week and less than £100,000 a year are eligible for tax-free childcare. The scheme offers up to £2,000 a year towards a child under the age of 12,…
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Demand for digital skills on the up and up
Businesses could be set to face an increasing talent gap in the coming years as demand for digital skills continues to rise. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said 67% of UK firms currently have unfilled digital vacancies. Its Delivering Skills for the New Economy report also expected 95% of UK businesses to see demand…
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Calls grow for delay in extending IR35 to the private sector
Extending IR35 to the private sector could introduce “a complex web of new rules and liabilities throughout supply chains”. Medium and large companies in the private sector are set to be responsible for determining the tax status of contractors from April 2020. With that date looming, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has called…
