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Tax deductions for family members’ wages?

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Many adults are likely to embrace the offer of help with technology from the younger generation! So where a child is employed in a family business to work on, say, website creation, management and social media, how can the owner make sure that their wages will be tax deductible? The recent case of Nicholson v HMRC (TC06293), in which the first tier tax tribunal examined a deduction made in sole trader’s accounts for his university student son, gives us some pointers.

In this case, Mr Nicholson claimed that his…

ISA limits update

Thursday, March 1, 2018

The maximum annual investment limit for Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) will remain at £20,000 for 2018/19 (of which, for eligible investors, £4,000 may be saved in a Lifetime ISA). Although the investment limit is not rising in the new tax year, a couple will still be able to add up to £40,000 to their ISA accounts during the year – a substantial investment limit – and the interest received will be tax-free.

The maximum investment limit for Junior ISAs will rise from 6 April 2018 to £4,260, so there…

Tax-free childcare now open to under 9s

Thursday, February 1, 2018

In April 2017 HMRC started rolling out tax-free childcare, a scheme designed to help working parents with the cost of childcare with up to £2,000 of support per child per year, or £4,000 for disabled children. The scheme is now open (from 15 January 2018) to parents whose youngest child is under 9, or who turned 9 on that date. All remaining eligible families with children under 12 can apply from 14 February 2018. This means that all eligible parents will have the opportunity to apply for tax-free childcare before…

Two million couples still missing out on Marriage Allowance

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Recent government statistics indicate that out of four million eligible couples, around half are still not benefiting from the income tax Marriage Allowance (MA). The allowance was first introduced in April 2015, which means that a backdated claim made in 2017/18 could be worth up to £662. It’s worth checking to make sure claims are made, where appropriate.

In brief, Marriage Allowance is a way for couples to transfer a proportion of their individual Personal Allowance between them in a tax-efficient manner. Where a couple satisfies the following criteria, it…

HMRC clarify VAT treatment of affiliation fees for sports clubs

Thursday, February 1, 2018

HMRC recently published a reminder that the concession enabling clubs to treat affiliation fees as exempt from VAT, will be withdrawn with effect from 1 April 2018.

A sport’s governing body, or similar umbrella organisation, often charges an affiliation fee to individual clubs who make an onward charge to their members. Where the clubs are non-profit making, the supply of this affiliation fee to their individual members is exempt from VAT. However, if the club is a profit-making commercial club, then the supply to their individual member is standard…

Latest MTD progress

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Draft regulations, together with a draft explanatory memorandum and a draft VAT Notice, covering required changes to the VAT regime under the Making Tax Digital (MTD) project were published for consultation in December 2017. The consultation runs until 9 February 2018, and it is expected that live pilot testing will then begin in spring 2018.

With this in mind, the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) has recently been urging software houses and HMRC to identify MTD-compliant software packages urgently to allow businesses to make an informed decision on which…

New Budget timetable and Spring Statement date confirmed

Monday, January 1, 2018

HM Treasury has confirmed that the Spring Statement will take place on Tuesday 13 March 2018.

At Autumn Statement 2016, the Chancellor announced that in future there will be a single fiscal event each year – the annual Budget statement, which will be delivered in the autumn. Autumn Budget 2017 was the first Budget in this new cycle. From Spring 2018, an annual Spring Statement will accompany an updated economic and fiscal forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The Chancellor has said that he will not make significant tax…

Fulfillment House Due Diligence Scheme

Monday, January 1, 2018

The new Fulfillment House Due Diligence Scheme will open for online applications on 1 April 2018. From that date, businesses in the UK that store any goods imported from outside the European Union (EU) owned by, or on behalf of, someone established outside the EU, will need to apply for HMRC approval if those goods are offered for sale. The deadline for applications from existing businesses falling within the scope of the scheme is 30 June 2018, and there are penalties for late applications. For businesses that commence…

Consider a partnership

Monday, January 1, 2018

Whilst forming a partnership can be an extremely flexible way for two or more people to own and run a business together, it is important to appreciate that under this type of trading vehicle, the partners themselves do not have individual protection. If one of the partners resigns, dies, or goes bankrupt, the partnership has to be dissolved, even though the business itself may not need to cease. Although there is no legal requirement to do so, it is highly recommended that, on forming a partnership, a formal partnership…

New tax bands announced in Scottish Budget

Monday, January 1, 2018

In the Scottish Budget, which took place on 14 December 2017, Scotland’s Financial Secretary, Derek Mackay, announced that two thirds of income taxpayers will pay less next year on their current income. However, new bands of income tax were also announced, which will see taxes rise for Scottish taxpayers in the middle income bracket.

The Draft Budget 2018/19 proposes a progressive income tax policy which protects low earning taxpayers through the introduction of a new Starter Rate of tax.

It was also confirmed that a new intermediate rate of tax of 21%…