If your competitor is a company, there is quite a lot of information you can obtain free of charge. For example, from the Gov.uk website you can obtain the following details: company information, for example registered address and date of incorporation current and resigned officers document images mortgage charge data previous company names insolvency information You can also set up free email alerts to tell you when...
The new State Pension
Prior to April 2016, men born before 6 April 1951 and women born before 6 April 1953, qualified for a basic State Pension and an Additional State Pension. If you were born after these dates you will qualify for the New State Pension and will no longer be eligible for the Additional State Pension (unless you inherit the Additional State Pension...
Tax-free gains 2019-20
There are still a number of sales (disposals) that a UK taxpayer can make that will not incur a charge to the UK’s Capital Gains Tax. For most of us they are limited in extent, after all legislators have had plenty of time to close any favourable loop-holes. For most of us, the major tax-free gain remains the sale of our...
HMRC and the National Minimum Wage rates
Readers are reminded that from 1 April 2019, the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) hourly rates increased to: 25 and over - £8.21 21 to 24 - £7.70 18-20 - £6.15 Under 18 £4.35 Apprentices £3.90 Workers who are entitled to receive these rates as a minimum include: part-time casual labourers, for example someone hired for one day agency workers workers and homeworkers paid by the...
Landlords faced with another tax hit next year
From April 2020, HMRC are changing two important tax concessions that apply to landlords letting property that they as owners have previously occupied at some point as their home (Principal Private Residence (PPR)). The first is the reduction of the present rule that exempts the final 18 months of ownership from any Capital Gains Tax (CGT) charge. From April 2020 it...
Employers what is Class 1a NIC?
If you have employees, and if one or more of those employees benefit from the use of facilities that you provide, cheap loans, a company car for example, it is well known that you as their employer will need to inform HMRC of the amount of these benefits following the end of the tax year. Employers new to this situation would...
Tax Diary May/June 2019
1 May 2019 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 July 2018. 19 May 2019 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 May 2019. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 May 2019) 19 May 2019 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 May...
Do not forget the payslips
If you are an employer, you have a statutory duty to provide your employees with a copy of their P60 (pay and tax details for 2018-19) on or before the end of May 2019. If you distribute P60s and then discover that changes need to be made you will need to give employees a replacement P60 – a paper or electronic...
Income Tax – regional differences
You will pay Scottish Income Tax if you live in Scotland, Income Tax if you live in England or Northern Ireland and the Welsh Income Tax if you live in Wales. At present, the only regional variations under the control of the Scottish or Welsh governments are the rates of Income Tax charged. For 2019-20, the rates set by the Welsh Government...
Can you change a will after death?
On the face of it, this sounds implausible. How can you change your will if you have died? In reality, as long as any beneficiaries left worse off after any change, agree, you can change a person’s will after their death. Any change must be completed within two years of the death. The circumstances that such a change can be agreed are to: Reduce...