The case of C J Palau & R C Loughran v HMRC UKFTT 0038 is an excellent example of how consulting an accountant could save you time as well as money. C J Palau and R C Loughran decided to convert a property that they owned in to flats which they would then sell on. They wished to make use of ...read more
Chancellor George Osborne is facing mounting pressure from many MPs in his own party to cut the top rate of income tax by 5p to 40p, with Liam Fox and Steve Baker becoming some of the latest names to publicly call for the change in comments made to The Telegraph. Some of the arguments put forward for cutting the ...read more
Many grandparents choose to set aside money for their grandchildren’s future by paying in to savings accounts or junior ISAs. What they may not know, however, is that there are limits on how much can be invested on their behalf before tax becomes an issue. As of June 2015, the ‘annual exemption’, which is the maximum amount that can be given ...read more
According to a new report by Hymans Robertson, the future cost of paying private pensions to the estimated 11 million people in the UK who are in defined benefit schemes is now greater than the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). In the space of just one year, the price tag has risen from £1.7trn to £2.1trn, whilst Britain’s total annual ...read more
You could be forgiven for thinking that the rules regarding reclaiming pre-registration VAT were fairly clear cut. After reading paragraph 11 of VAT Notice 700, it is wholly reasonable to assume that if a company is still using goods that were purchased up to four years before the registration date for the purposes of their business, then that company ...read more
If you missed the deadline to file your 2013/14 Self Assessment (SA) tax return, then you may have recently received some good news. In a change of tack, HMRC have confirmed that rather than thoroughly investigating each appeal against a late filing penalty, they will simply accept the excuse, providing it meets their requirements for being “reasonable”. However this revised attitude ...read more
The UK currently has one of the lowest corporation tax rates within Western Europe, at just 20%. However this could change, as Germany and France (both of whom have considerably higher rates at 30-33% and 33-36.6% respectively) push forward plans to introduce a minimum corporation tax rate across the EU. Whilst the aim of this tax harmonisation may be to target ...read more
April 2015 saw the introduction of capital gains tax charges for non-residents disposing of UK property. Gains are calculated based on the period from 6 April 2015 to the date of disposal. The new rules introduce further complication and administrative headaches for practitioners. The regime requires a NR CGT return to be submitted to HMRC within 30 days of the conveyance ...read more
The impact of auto-enrolment – the mandatory workplace pensions being phased in by the government over the next few years – will stretch to parents hiring a nanny. Many fear that the additional costs, estimated to be £350 per year on the average London nanny salary of £40,000, will tempt parents to fly under the radar - opting to pay ...read more
HMRC have been attacked for their self-assessment penalty regime, with the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) claiming that it is ‘nothing short of oppressive’. Despite the increased advertising and awareness strategies put in place by HMRC, for the year ending 5 April 2014 over 890,000 taxpayers failed to submit their returns on time (between 6 April 2014 and 31 January ...read more
