The 2020/21 tax year comes to an end on 5 April 2021. As this date approaches, it is prudent to review your pension contributions and consider whether it would be beneficial to top up your pension before the end of the tax year. Is there a limit on tax-relieved contributions? Yes -- tax relief is only available on contributions to registered pension...
Muras Matters: Year End Tax Tips
With the end of the tax year fast approaching most pre year-end tax planning will have been completed or should be well under way. Of course there are still some measures which can be undertaken to improve your tax position particularly in view of the recent Budget announcement that many allowances are to be frozen for the next few years. Here...
SEISS – the net widens
One aspect of the recent budget will please self-employed business owners that have previously been unable to claim under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) as they commenced trading after 5 April 2019. As long as you submitted your self-assessment tax return for 2019-20 before midnight 2 March 2021, and you meet the other qualifying criteria – basically that you have...
Stealth Tax
You may have noticed that a certain phrase came up more than once in the Chancellor’s Budget speech last week. The phrase went something like this: Allowances/rates will be frozen at this level until April 2026. That’s four years of flat-lining rates and allowances and it applies to income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and pension tax relief. At first glance this may...
Tax breaks working from home
Employed persons If your employer requires that you work from home, this will apply to many employees during the various COVID lock-down periods, HMRC will allow you to claim for any extra costs associated with working from home. To save you calculating what these extra costs might be, HMRC has agreed a claim based on their estimate of the average extra costs...
Marriage Allowance claim
HMRC published the following press release on Valentine’s Day 2021. HMRC is encouraging married couples and people in civil partnerships to sign up for a tax break this year. Marriage Allowance offers individuals the chance to transfer part of their Personal Allowance to their husband, wife or civil partner, which could reduce their tax by up to £250 a year. For some...
Exporters – simplified declarations
You can make a simplified declaration before you export your goods. This is called ‘presenting’ your goods to customs. The first part of your declaration does not need as much information as a full declaration. When it’s approved, you can export your goods or move them from your premises. You will still need to give customs more information, but you send it...
Minimum Wage levels from April 2021
From April 2021, the National Living Wage (NLW) will be the statutory minimum wage for workers aged 23 and over. It currently applies to workers aged 25 and over. The reduction in the NLW age threshold follows a review of the structure of the National Minimum Wage youth rates and recommendations made by the Low Paid Commission in autumn 2019....
Tax Diary March/April 2021
1 March 2021 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 May 2020. 2 March 2021 – Self-assessment tax for 2019/20 paid after this date will incur a 5% surcharge. 19 March 2021 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 March 2021. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 March 2021) 19...
Muras Matters: Budget 2021 – Reliefs for Businesses And Corporation Tax Increases
Background Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his second full Budget on 3 March 2021 announcing the extension of many of the Covid-19 support schemes and freezing the personal allowance, and others, from April 2022. Some of the more significant changes the Chancellor announced, which we will look at in Muras Matters this week, centred around businesses with a range of measures designed to...