Company Cars Changes to Advisory Fuel Rates This Bulletin is aimed at company car drivers (and their employers) who are not provided with fuel for private mileage HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have changed their advisory fuel rates for company cars with effect from 1 December 2017. The rates are intended to give guidance to employers about what is an acceptable fuel...
Company capital gains relief is frozen
Before the Autumn Budget, the capital gains tax (CGT) calculations of companies included a relief called the indexation allowance. Basically, this allowed a company to increase the acquisition cost of an asset by the annual rate of inflation. Without this relief, any CGT payable on the sale of the asset would increase. Instead of deducting the cost plus the inflation proofed...
First time buyer bonanza
HMRC have laid out the detail of their budget plans to support first-time home buyers in their quest to buy their first home. There are fears that this strategy will simply drive up prices as demand is stimulated, and that this will replace stamp duty savings with house prices that once again move beyond the reach of younger buyers. The text...
The Autumn Budget 2017
Autumn Budget 2017 Prospects for growth, especially for productivity have been downgraded, but the Chancellor was bullish in his forecasts for investment and the Government’s intention to sort out the slow pace of house building in the UK. A few non-tax comments of note were: • Unemployment at its lowest rate since 1975. • Chancellor is providing an extra £3bn to prepare for...
Muras Matters: A Budget Fit for the Future
A Budget Fit for the Future The Chancellor has just sat down from delivering his first Autumn Budget. Based on the speech, the main tax points referred to were as follows: Individuals The income tax personal allowance will increase to £11,850 from April 2018 The higher rate tax threshold will increase to £46,350 from April 2018 With effect from today stamp duty...
End of year tax planning
We are moving closer to the end of the current tax year – 2017-18 – and as we have mentioned in previous posts on this blog, the opportunity to take advantage of perfectly legal tax planning opportunities expires once the year end date passes: 5 April 2018. To capitalise on these opportunities, we need to know if your circumstances have changed...
Are your bank deposits protected
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the place to go if your bank or other regulated organisation is unable to pay claims against it. For most of us this will mean that our deposits with banks authorised to hold deposits by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will be able to recover funds up to...
Muras Matters: Administration of Company Cars
Administration of Company Cars Background Many employers provide employees with a company car. Most employees who have been provided with a car are familiar with the process of receiving a form P11D from their employer, informing HMRC of the taxable benefit via their Self-Assessment Tax Return and having the benefit included in their PAYE tax code in order to collect the tax...
January 2018 and taxes to pay
January is the month when individuals and businesses are required to pay tax. If your business is a limited company, and your tax year ends 31 March 2017, any corporation tax due for that year is payable 1 January 2018. Unlike your self-employed counterparts – see below - no payments on account are required for 2017-18. If you are a self-employed business...
Child benefit tax trap
A family claiming the weekly Child Benefit (currently, £20.70 a week for eldest or only child and £13.70 a week for additional children) may get an unwelcome tax bill if either parents’ income exceeds £50,000 during a tax year. A tax charge was introduced a number of years ago, known as the ‘High Income Child Benefit Charge’ (HICBC), if either parent...