Archive:April 2016

Please find below all the articles from April 2016.

April Key Tax Dates

Friday, April 1, 2016

5 – End of 2015/16 tax year. Last day to use up your annual exemptions for capital gains tax, inheritance tax and ISA’s

14 – Return and payment of CT61 tax due for quarter to 31 March 2016

19 – Deadline for finial submission of the year – 19th April. Penalties for late submission.

19 – PAYE/NIC, student loan and CIS deductions due for month to 5/4/2016 or quarter 4 of 2015/16 for small employers. Interest will run on any unpaid PAYE/NIC for the tax year 2015/16

30 – Additional daily penalties…

April Questions and Answers

Friday, April 1, 2016

Q. Can I transfer my personal allowance?

I work part time and don’t earn enough to pay tax, but my wife earns £25,000 a year from her full time job. I have been told that I can transfer some of my personal allowances to her so she can save some income tax. Is this true?

A. Claiming the marriage allowance can save married couples or civil partners up to £220 in 2016/17, but many couples have not claimed it yet.

The allowance was introduced from 6 April 2015, and enables married…

Guidance on SDLT Budget reforms

Friday, April 1, 2016

Following announcements made in the 2016 Budget on 16 March, HMRC have published furtherguidance on the changes that are being made to stamp duty land tax (SDLT), and how they affect non-residential property transactions from 17 March 2016.

The changes mean that:

– on or after 17 March 2016, the SDLT rate for non-residential freehold and leasehold transactions will only be payable on the portion of the consideration which falls within each band (rather than tax being due at one rate on the entire value);
– SDLT on the rental…

National minimum wage increases announced

Friday, April 1, 2016

Following recommendations made by the Low Pay commission, the government has announced increases in the national minimum wage (NMW), which will take effect from October 2016.

The new rates will be as follows:

– The rate for 21- to 24-year-olds will rise by 3.7% to £6.95 an hour.
– The rate for 18- to 20-year-olds will rise by 4.7% to £5.55 an hour.
– The rate for 16- to 17-year-olds will rise by 3.4% to £4.00 an hour.
– The apprentice rate will rise by 3% to £3.40 an hour.

For further information, see…

Close alignment of income tax and NICS

Friday, April 1, 2016

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published its recommendations on closer alignment of income tax and national insurance contributions. The report contains some bold recommendations for what would be a major reform of the UK’s tax rules.

At summer Budget 2015, the government asked the OTS to look at options for aligning Income Tax (IT) and National Insurance Contributions (NICs). This followed on from recommendations made by the OTS as far back at 2011, and the latest report builds on earlier work of the OTS including the…

OTS recommends simplifications for small companies

Friday, April 1, 2016

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has unveiled a package of recommendations aimed at making the tax system simpler and easier to use for small companies. The report, entitled Small company taxation review contains a mix of long range structural change ideas and simpler short term administrative improvements.

The recommended administrative changes include:

– aligning filing and payment dates, e.g. VAT and PAYE, and annual returns and corporation tax;
– HMRC providing extra support at weekends and evenings when more small company owners deal with their tax affairs;
– stopping companies…