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Wales ready for tax changes

The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales take responsibility for some of the taxes paid in Wales in April 2018.

Three taxes in Wales are affected by the partial devolvement:

– Stamp duty land tax;
– Landfill tax; and
– Income tax.

Land transaction tax (LTT)

From 1 April 2018, Land Transaction Tax (LTT) replaces Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in Wales. LTT will be collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA). The Welsh rates and bands for LTT were published in October 2017.

The change means that HMRC will not accept SDLT…

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Finance Act 2018 changes affecting partnerships

Finance Act 2018, which received Royal Assent on 15 March 2018, enacts several changesaffecting the taxation of partnerships, most of which apply for the 2018-19 tax year onwards. The changes will be relevant to general and limited partnerships, Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) carrying on business with a view to profit, and foreign entities classified as partnerships for UK tax purposes.

Although HMRC believe there will be little impact for most partnerships, it will be important for partnership structures to review the rules and assess their likely impact.

Reporting requirements

The legislation…

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NMW and NLW increases take effect

New rates for the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) (aged 25 and over) apply from 1 April 2018, and employers must ensure that they implement them accordingly. The rates are as follows:

– 25 and over – £7.83 per hour;
– 21 – to 24-year-olds – £7.38 an hour;
– 18 – to 20-year-olds – £5.90 an hour;
– under 18s – £4.20 an hour; and
– Apprentice rate – £3.70 an hour.

Severe penalties may be imposed for failure to comply with NMW/NLW obligations. Broadly, the penalty percentage which…

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IHT: know your limit

Insurance company Canada Life’s annual survey for 2017 has revealed growing confusion over the operation of inheritance tax. According to the survey, more than two thirds of respondents did not know the current level of the inheritance tax nil rate band – among adults over the age of 45 with assets in excess of £325,000, some 70% did not know that the threshold for the standard nil rate band is currently £325,000. This is a significant increase on the 61% shown in the 2016 survey. In addition, 55% of…

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HMRC win IR35 appeal

HMRC have won a significant appeal concerning the application of employment intermediaries legislation to BBC television presenters. In Christa Ackroyd Media Ltd and the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, [2018] UKFTT 0069 TC06334, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled that the legislation (known as the ‘IR35 rules’) applied to the arrangements under which the BBC contracted one of the presenters of the regional news programme Look North.

Christa Ackroyd, whose ‘personal service company’ (Christa Ackroyd Media Ltd (CAM)), was engaged under a seven year contract with the BBC…

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Tax deductions for family members’ wages?

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…

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ISA limits update

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…

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Tax-free childcare now open to under 9s

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…

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Two million couples still missing out on Marriage Allowance

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…

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HMRC clarify VAT treatment of affiliation fees for sports clubs

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…

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