Budget 2014 for individuals not businesses
The 2014 Budget had a few highlights but there was very little for business (certainly the SME market), but a number of small positives for individuals which is not unexpected in the year before an election. In summary: For individuals Personal allowance will reach...
£2000 employment allowance from April 2014
As was mentioned in our post on the 2013 Budget from April 2014 most employers will be able to claim a £2,000 annual allowance to set against the employer's class 1 NICs due on their employees' wages and so reduce the payroll cost of being an employer. It is...
NI rates for directors, employees and self employed 2014/15
The NI rates for next tax year were announced in the autumn and have increased by the usual inflationary amount, the attempt to consolidate the tax and NI systems seems to be on hold as tax and NI thresholds remain different: The personal tax free allowance is now...
Getting Principal Private Residence Relief when selling your house
As the housing market improves so does the opportunity to improve your home and trade it up for a gain. HMRC are not tolerant of people using this relief unfairly and the rules while simple must be followed to benefit from this relief. In summary no capital gains...
VAT Penalties and Default surcharges
Clients sometimes call me to say they are late with their VAT return and my usual response is to say do not worry as provided you get the next 12 months returns in on time there is not an issue. But what happens if you are late again? The first time you pay your VAT...
Changes to LLP taxation following the autumn statement
Since the introduction of LLPs in 2001 there has been some aggresive tax planning to make the best use of this structure but these have been dealt a blow in the Autumn statement. LLPs benefit from the same freedom of a traditional partnership so that profits can be...
Highlights of the Autumn Statement 2013
The Autumn statement has historically been the time when little is announced except confirming NI rates and benefits for the following year. In common with the Budget there is very little new material as so much has been announced in advance. There were a few...
Seasonal, long service and other gifts to employees
With the season of goodwill on us, it is worth looking at what gifts can be made to employees, and the tax implications of them. Sadly the employer is very restricted in what they can offer, but most gifts will be tax allowable for the employer: Small gifts upto say...
Tax considerations for parents of 16+ year old children
Parents should be aware of a number of factors that will affect them as their children turn 16, and they may be out of pocket if they do not take action: From September 2013 children who live in England are required by law to remain in education or training until the...
A case study on IR35
In a recent meeting I asked my client whether he had considered IR35 as a lot of the work carried out was for one customer. While an IR35 proof contract may appear to offer a degree of security it needs to represent what actually happens in reality. I asked a little...