Q1. My mother died last year and left my brother and me a commercial business unit. Probate is nearly complete now. If we sell the property in the future, what are the capital gains tax implications on the sale?

A: I presume that you and your brother are inheriting equal shares in the property. Your acquisition value, for future capital gains tax computation purposes, is the market value at the date of death – known as the ‘probate value’. Capital gains tax will be calculated under the normal rules…

HMRC have launched a consultation on the government’s proposed ‘Help-to-Save’ scheme, which is designed to encourage people on low incomes to build up their savings.

Broadly, the scheme will be open to some 3.5 million adults in receipt of universal credit with minimum weekly household earnings equivalent to 16 hours at the National Living Wage, or those in receipt of working tax credit. It will work by providing a 50% government bonus on up to £50 of monthly savings into a Help-to-Save account. The bonus will be paid after…

Employers will be aware that various changes have been made to the reporting requirements for employee benefits and expenses from April 2016, which mean that some employers will no longer have to complete annual return forms P11D. The three main changes are:

– The dispensations regime has been replaced with an expenses exemption – broadly, where an employee would have been entitled to tax relief in full for a benefit or expense, the employer does not need to deduct tax or NICs, and they do not need to report…

Q1. I am thinking of purchasing a new house that I will use as my main residence, but I will still own other properties. Will I be liable to the new 3% stamp duty land tax (SDLT) change?

A: HMRC guidance on the new higher rates of SDLT for purchase of additional residential properties explains that if a previous main residence is replaced within three years, then you will not be liable to the additional 3% SDLT charge, even though you own other residential properties.

Q2. I commenced trading…

Gov.uk Verify, the online service taxpayers will need to use to prove their identity before accessing HMRC’s digital services and other government online services, is now live. The central government platform for online identity assurance has been under development for some time by the government digital service (GDS) and has been available in a beta version. It has now passed its service assessment.

It should take around ten minutes for an individual to verify their identity the first time they use gov.uk Verify, and a couple of minutes any…