What has not changed since the Budget?

   Entrepreneurs’ Relief  As long as the ownership of your business is structured correctly, and for a minimum time period, then lifetime disposals not exceeding £10m will only be taxed at 10% for Capital Gains Tax purposes.   Cap on tax reliefs  Don’t forget that certain tax reliefs are capped at £50,000 or 25% of your income. The reliefs affected are predominantly tax losses. There...

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HMRC is changing the way they charge interest on late paid PAYE

Employers should note that HMRC is changing the way they charge interest on unpaid PAYE from 6 April 2014. We have reproduced below HMRC’s recent Helpsheet:  For the tax year 2014-15 onwards:  HMRC will charge in-year, rather than annual, interest on all unpaid: PAYE tax and Class 1 National Insurance, including specified charges (estimates HMRC makes in the absence of a PAYE submission) Construction...

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State Pension and tax

If you have recently started to receive your State Pension, you may, or may not, have noticed that it is paid without deduction of tax. This can have a number of unforeseen tax consequences: If your total income including your State Pension is less than your personal tax allowance then there is no tax to pay and you can spend your...

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Tax Diary April/May 2014

  1 April 2014 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 June 2013.  19 April 2014 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 April 2014. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 April 2014.) 19 April 2014 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 April...

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Investing in plant and equipment?

If expenditure on plant and equipment qualifies for the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) 100% of the cost can be written off against taxable profits. The amount that can be written off as AIA expenditure has changed a number of times in the past few years. Immediately before 31 December 2012 the (AIA) was set at a maximum spend of £25,000. From 1 January...

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Budget highlights

We have reproduced two of the more surprising changes announced in the Budget notes published immediately following George Osborne’s presentation last week. HMRC to be given powers to raid bank accounts:  “The government will modernise and strengthen HMRC’s debt collection powers to recover financial assets from the bank accounts of debtors who owe over £1,000 of tax or tax credit debts, have...

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Budget Statement 19 March 2014

Personal Tax, Stamp Duty Land Tax and miscellaneous matters    Personal Tax allowance  The personal allowance for those born after 5 April 1948 will be: For 2014-15 - £10,000 For 2015-16 - £10,500  Income Tax rate bands There was significant press commentary prior to the Budget announcements lobbying for an increase in the threshold at which tax payers are liable to the 40% Income Tax rate. The...

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HMRC to use Mr Bean film makers

In a bizarre attempt to create positive PR for HMRC, Channel 4 has been given unprecedented access to HM Revenue and Customs as they pursue tax evaders and collect unpaid tax. Tiger Aspect Productions, the production company behind Mr Bean, will be filming HMRC staff as they target the so-called high risk sectors: the building trade, health sector, off-shore bank account...

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Treasury hungry for ideas

George Osborne is delivering his Budget speech Wednesday of this week. It will be interesting to see if his plea for ideas to help smaller businesses has received a sympathetic ear. Here’s what a number of organisations have requested: British Chambers of Commerce The BCC have made three recommendations: A £100m scheme to pay businesses £1,000 if they hire long term unemployed young...

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Reducing tax evasion and avoidance

Just in case you have missed the news – that HMRC are stepping up their campaigns to stop tax avoidance and evasion – you may be interested to read the following quotes from HMRC and the Treasury:  “Issue The difference between the revenues that in HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) view should come in, and the total actually collected by HMRC, is...

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