One of the questions that we are asked most often by those entering the world of self employment is “what costs can I claim as an expense?” Well, with the deadline for filing Self Assessment personal tax returns edging that little bit closer with each passing week, we thought now would be a good time to recap the answer to ...read more
A restriction on the amount of tax relief that landlords can claim on finance costs (e.g. mortgage interest payments) began to be phased in from 6 April 2017. It is the latest change to target beleaguered Buy-To-Let landlords, who have also seen the lending market halve in the last year (figures from Nationwide Building Society). It is therefore no ...read more
Some employers have reportedly been caught out after spending £58 on ‘Certificates of Auto Enrolment Exemption’ that are actually a scam. The appeal of the certificates is that, for a relatively small fee, the employer is told they will be exempt from any and all Auto Enrolment duties. However, such an exemption does not exist for (almost) all employers. Therefore as ...read more
A new tax-free childcare scheme has been introduced this year allowing around 2 million households to reduce the cost of childcare, including self-employed parents. How does the new scheme work? Parents with children under 12 years old can open an online account and pay in the amounts they would like for childcare provided by a registered childcare provider. For every 80p that is ...read more
Remember the last time you had an interesting conversation about tax? No, us neither – and we’re accountants! But once in a blue moon even taxes can raise a chuckle. In an attempt to prove taxes can – very occasionally – be fun, we’ve put together a list of the 80 weirdest taxes past and present from around the world. From a ...read more
Update: As of 21st April 2017, these changes have been cancelled, as the government will not be able to introduce them before the General Election 2017. We expect that, in the event of a Conservative government being elected, these changes would be reintroduced soon after the election. The Government has announced broad changes in probate fees depending on the ...read more
Enterprise Management Incentives (EMIs) are an approved tax-advantaged employee share scheme allowing employers to grant share options to employees, most of the time as a reward for their efforts. It is designed for small companies and is not to be confused with the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), where investors receive tax relief on their investment to small companies. What are the ...read more
As a child I often struggled to fall asleep on Christmas Eve owing to the excitement of the day that followed. As an accountant, that night was last night, the day before the new Budget was to be delivered… ok, so that last part may not be true, but a new Budget often yields some interesting changes to the UK ...read more
Is your foreign income taxable in the UK? Whether or not you should declare and pay UK tax on your income earned abroad depends not only on which country you have ‘residence’ status in but also on your ‘domicile’ status. If you are unsure of your UK residence status – that is, whether you are a UK resident or not ...read more
Taxpayers are being warned about the latest scam email to target them, which takes advantage of the deadline at the end of this month for the 2015-16 Self Assessment tax returns to try and trick taxpayers into thinking they’re due a tax rebate. The email – titled “#Refund Payment Confirmation Number” and an 11-digit number – tells customers that “we ...read more
