1 August 2014 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 October 2013. 19 August 2014 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 August 2014. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 August 2014.) 19 August 2014 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 August...
Inheritance Tax
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is due when a person’s estate (their property and possessions) is worth more than £325,000 when they die. This is called the ‘IHT threshold’. The current rate of IHT is 40% on anything above the threshold. The rate may be reduced to 36% if more than 10% of the estate is left to charity. Who pays Inheritance Tax Usually the...
Trade marks
Ever wondered how you can register a trade mark that makes your brand recognisable, for example a logo or a sound? Registering a trade mark lets you stop other people from using it without your permission. A trade mark registration lasts 10 years and is only valid in the country of registration. You can renew it every 10 years. Company names...
National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates and penalties
Last week we published details of who is, and who is not, entitled to payment at National Minimum Wage rates. This week we have listed the current rates of NMW that apply. There are currently three aged based national minimum wage rates and an apprentice rate, which are usually updated in October each year. The rates that apply from 1 October...
Exporters data to be released by Government
UK businesses should be aware that the Government are consulting on the possible release of data held by public departments, particularly, HMRC. We have reproduced extracts from a recent press release that sets out the scope of the present consultation. “The data held by the public sector is among the most useful and valuable anywhere. This is why the UK Government...
National Minimum Wage (NMW)
The National Minimum Wage is the minimum pay per hour almost all workers are entitled to by law. It doesn’t matter how small an employer is, they still have to pay the minimum wage. Who is entitled to the minimum wage? Workers must be school leaving age (last Friday in June of the school year they turn 16) or over to get...
A new look to benefits in kind regime?
HMRC are currently consulting with interested parties (the accounting profession and associated professional organisations) to re-vamp the UK’s system for taxing employee benefit in kind and expenses. Changes are planned to simplify this process in accordance with recommendations made by the Office of Tax Simplification. Consultations commenced 18 June 2014 and due to be completed 9 September 2014. The four areas of...
Tax free capital gains – private residence relief
If you dispose of a dwelling house (which can include a house, flat, houseboat or fixed caravan) which is your home, or part of a dwelling house which is your home, or• part of the garden attached to your home , you would normally have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on any gain you make. However, you will be entitled...
A new range of apprenticeships under the Trailblazer scheme.
Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock announced a new range of apprenticeships that will be developed by employers under the Trailblazer scheme on 27 June 2014. He also called for expressions of interest from groups of employers to become part of the third phase of Trailblazers. The Apprenticeship Trailblazers, launched in October 2013, have gone from strength to strength. The first...
Is my State Pension taxable or not?
The State Pension is part of a pensioner’s taxable income. The problem is, it is paid gross, without deduction of tax. If your sole source of income is the State Pension then this should cause no problem as the State Pension is usually below the annual tax-free personal allowance. What can, and does, cause a problem is if you have other...