Please find below all the articles from December 2015.
While some might complain about Christmas paraphernalia popping up in the shops earlier and earlier each year, the tax-savvy will tell you that planning ahead for the Christmas party is vital if you want to avoid giving HMRC an unplanned and costly gift.
The annual celebration is a time to relax and to toast the successes of the year.
And it is perhaps an opportunity to get reacquainted with colleagues on a more personal basis, after a year of simply nodding to them on the way in…
Read MoreQ. Can I claim for the time I spend repairing my rental property? I own three rental properties and spend a considerable amount of time each year undertaking various necessary repairs. Can I pay myself say, an hourly rate, for the time I spend on the properties and claim a corresponding deduction in my accounts?
A. Any amounts taken from the property rental business will simply be viewed as a withdrawal of profits from the business and taxed accordingly. The HMRC Property Income Manual states ‘A landlord…
Read MoreThe Scottish Court of Session’s recent judgment in the ‘Rangers’ EBT’ case (Murray Group Holdings & Others [2015] CSIH 77) has attracted much attention in the press, with opinions of both support and criticism being voiced. It is not often that a Court both overturns the decisions of two Tribunals beneath it, and expressly declines to follow previous cases that have gained a certain acceptance.
This case concerned a scheme involving payments to various trusts set up in respect of executives and footballers employed by the former Rangers Football…
Read MoreThe government announced at the summer 2015 Budget, that a new dividend allowance of £5,000 will be introduced from 6 April 2016. Broadly, from that date, it is expected that the existing dividend tax credit will be abolished, a new annual dividend tax allowance of £5,000 will be introduced, and the rates of tax on dividend income will change. The legislation introducing the dividend tax changes has not yet been published and the rules outlined below are therefore still subject to possible change.
From April 2016, the 10% non-refundable…
Read MoreThe financial benefits of driving a company car have continued to erode over recent years, but this benefit remains one of the most popular and potent perks of a job. In general terms, less tax will be payable on ‘greener’ cars, but the tax charges on lower emissions vehicles are set to rise significantly in real terms over the next few years.
Two new appropriate percentage bands apply from 2015-16 for cars emitting between zero and 50gkm CO2, and between 51and 75gkm CO2, with the appropriate percentages set at…
Read MoreThe recent formal announcement that HMRC will be replacing local offices with thirteen large regional centres has served to alert the general public to what tax professionals and accountants have known for some time – that to meet government cost and performance targets, HMRC must cut back on frontline staff and take forward digital interactions with taxpayers and their advisers. The announcement comes at a time when HMRC are also facing criticism over customer service issues. In its report on HMRC’s performance in 2014-15, the House of Commons…
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