Charity Quiz Night Leon Thompson Appeal Leon, the son of a friend and former colleague Charlie, was born 10 and a half weeks early weighing 2lb 8oz. He suffered a brain haemorrhage, had 2 holes in his heart, chronic lung disease, and was diagnosed with Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy. The family are raising money for equipment and physiotherapy following a surgery called SDR (Selective...
Lifetime ISAs
A reminder that from 6 April 2017 Lifetime ISAs are available as an alternative tax-free investment. The lifetime Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a longer term tax-free account that receives a government bonus. Details published 17 February 2017 are: You can open a lifetime ISA if you are aged 18 or over but under 40. You must be either: resident in the UK a Crown...
Duty free limits
While we are members of the EU, it continues to be the case that there are no limits to the alcohol and cigarettes you can bring back to the UK. However, if customs officials believe you are bringing back goods to sell them in the UK they will take an interest. According to HMRC you will be more likely to...
All is fair, unless you expect HMRC to minimise your tax bill
Although HMRC refer to taxpayers as customers, and thereby suggest a degree of customer service, in the real world this rarely extends to offering “customers” pro-active tax advice. Historically, tax collectors are trained to maximise the assessment and collection of tax. Consequently, tax payers should be wary, they should check the tax statements that are delivered in brown envelopes and make...
Muras Matters: Marriage Allowance
Marriage Allowance Background Introduced on 6 April 2015, the marriage allowance gives certain taxpayers the option of transferring £1,100 of their income tax personal allowance to a higher earning spouse or civil partner. The name itself is misleading as this is not an extra allowance; it is simply a transfer of 10% of one individual’s personal allowance to the other. The benefit...
Wholly and exclusively
The title of this posting describes an important concept when considering claims for expenditure to reduce our tax bills. By and large, HMRC will accept claims that have been expended wholly and exclusively for the purposes of running a business or fulfilling your employment obligations. But what does this phrase actually mean? Certainly, if you are making claims based on your employment:...
A step closer to Making Tax Digital
We have advised readers in previous postings that HMRC seem to be intent on digitising the upload of small business accounting data from April 2018. From this date, affected self-employed traders (including landlords) will be required to upload details of their trading activities on a quarterly basis. On the 31 January, HMRC responded to the consultation with interested parties regarding the...
Muras Matters: Micro-Entrepreneurs Annual Allowance
Micro-Entrepreneurs Annual Allowance Background It was announced in the May 2016 Budget that from 5 April 2017 two new £1,000 tax-free allowances will come into effect, aimed at reducing the confusion around income reporting for micro-entrepreneurs. This will benefit very small businesses such as online traders and those receiving small amounts of rental income. Details Under current rules if a taxpayer undertakes some casual...
Are you claiming the costs that you incur on behalf of your employer
HMRC have the following advice to offer: “You may be able to claim tax relief if you have to use your own money for travel or things that you must buy for your job. You must have paid tax in the year you spent the money. How much you can claim depends on the rate you pay tax. You can only claim...
Storm damage
Costs that businesses incur to clean up after the recent storms, that affected the north and east coasts in particular, need to meet the usual qualifying criteria that they are incurred “wholly and exclusively” for business purposes in order to be a legitimate write-off for tax purposes. If the costs are covered by insurance, no tax relief would be due. If...