Enterprise Management Incentive Scheme Renewed Following our recent Muras Matters article on the expiry of EU State Aid approval for the Enterprise Management Incentive (“EMI”) scheme on 6 April 2018 (muras-matters-enterprise-management-incentive-schemes-put-on-hold), it has recently been announced that the EU State Aid approval has been renewed. Whilst details of the actual EU decision are still awaited, and HMRC have yet to issue a formal...
Are you due a tax refund
There is something uniquely satisfying about a tax refund. Of course, you must first overpay tax before it can be refunded, but there is a universal joy in receiving a cheque or direct payment to your bank account from HMRC. Occasionally, HMRC will volunteer the information, they may even send you a formal assessment and advise you that a refund can...
Stop the Loan Sharks
We have all heard of individuals who have been affected by the nefarious antics of loan sharks, lenders that breach the normal fiscal rules by taking advantage of needy persons who do not qualify for support from mainstream banking sources. The government has announced additional funding to crack down on this activity. Their announcement, published 25 April, is worth a mention. Loan...
Location is everything
Now that Wales and Scotland have devolved powers for taxation purposes, residents that live and work in the border areas with England have more planning options. Wales have their own stamp duty regime from April 2018, the Land Transaction Tax (LTT), and Scotland, from April 2015, the Land & Building Transaction Tax (LBTT). Scotland have devolved powers to set their own...
Payments in lieu of notice
Up to 5 April 2018, certain payments in lieu of notice were not taxable, primarily, those not contractually required to be made. This is no longer the case. Employers will now need to pay Income Tax and Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) on an element of all termination payments from 6 April 2018, whether or not they are contractual payments. The element...
Who qualifies for the minimum wage
As you would expect there are a range of conditions that affect the answer to this question. We have reproduced below a summary of the main conditions to be observed. Workers must be at least school leaving age to get the National Minimum Wage. They must be 25 or over to get the National Living Wage. Contracts for payments below the minimum...
Why tax credit payments can change
If you are claiming tax credits make sure that you keep an eye on changes that may affect the amount you receive. Your payments can go up if: your income goes down by more than £2,500 your benefits stop or go down you start getting personal independence payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or other disability benefits for yourself or a child you have a...
Tax Diary May/June 2018
1 May 2018 - Due date for corporation tax due for the year ended 30 July 2017. 19 May 2018 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 May 2018. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 May 2018) 19 May 2018 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 May...
When child benefit becomes a liability
A typical two parent, two child family can claim £34.40 per week in Child Benefit (CB). In a tax year this would amount to £1,789. Often, this becomes part of the family housekeeping and is spent. Consider Mary and John and their two children. John collects the CB, it is paid into his current account and used to fund the household budget....
Cheques to clear in one day
Legislation has been introduced to reduce the present maximum six-day clearance process, to just one day. Banks presently send the payer’s cheque to the clearing banks to facilitate clearance. Under new rules, that will apply from October 2018, this will be reduced to one-day by sending a digital image of the cheque for clearance. To do this, banks will use a...