Guidance on the use of a British passport to travel abroad after 29 March 2019, if there is a “no-deal” Brexit, was issued by government last month. The pertinent facts are reproduced below: After 29 March 2019, if you’re a British passport holder (including passports issued by the Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar), you’ll be considered a third country national and under...
Tax Diary September/October 2019
1 October 2018 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 December 2017. 19 October 2018 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 October 2018. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 October 2018.) 19 October 2018 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 October...
Powers of attorney
As we will possibly live on until our 80s and beyond, and as that may involve coping with disability of one form or another, the need for consideration of support as we get older is ever more pertinent. Readers will no doubt have heard the term “power of attorney”, but not many, we suspect, will have made the investment and appointed...
Cash is king
If the present wrangling over the terms of our exit from the EU result in terms that disadvantage UK businesses, what can we do now to protect our hard-earned business assets? It is difficult to make this call as negotiations could drift in either direction: a continuing trade agreement or a so-called “hard-Brexit”. No-one can say what trading conditions will be like...
Selling the garden shed?
When you are selling your home, you are likely to be selling a range of fixtures and fittings. For example: • White goods, washing machines, fridges, cookers etc, • Furniture, • Carpets, • Curtains, • Garden equipment, • Leisure or fitness equipment, jacuzzi etc, • And the garden shed. If identified in the sale contract, any value attributed to these personal assets, or chattels, will not attract a...
Evidence or assertion?
In a recent tax case, three taxpayers asserted that cleaning costs of work clothes amounted to £2,200 a year and HMRC disagreed. The facts were compelling. Each of the appellants worked in the drainage or sewage industry and to maintain personal hygiene they washed work clothing on a daily basis. Why shouldn’t they claim for the costs of keeping their work...
Self employed liability
If you are a sole trader, or in a basic partnership, and if your business gets into financial difficulties, any liabilities that cannot be covered by the disposal of business assets may have to settled out of personal assets. In accountancy speak, you have unlimited liability; there is no protection for your personal assets. You have options. The Office for Tax Simplification has...
Planning or regretting?
As we have outlined in recent posts, change is upon us and come the end of March next year, the combination of Brexit and the advent of Making Tax Digital (MTD) will change much that we have taken for granted. Apart from the cross-border considerations (import VAT, customs duties and the like) MTD will require all affected businesses to link with...
Protect your home
A government think-tank, the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS), was briefed to consider a non-tax issue, a restricted form of limited liability for sole traders. At present, a sole trader’s personal assets (including their home) are vulnerable to a claim by business creditors if the sole trader business becomes insolvent. The principle behind this Sole Enterprise with Protected Assets (SEPA) scheme is...
What is side-ways loss relief?
If a business owner makes a loss as a self-employed person, they can set off the losses against any other earnings of the same year. In effect, the business losses are moved side-ways against other earnings. However, in order for loss relief to be allowed, the loss making business must be able to demonstrate that it was managed on a commercial...