Latest News
June 2023 – New VAT late payment penalties
The old system of VAT default surcharges could be quite harsh, as a penalty of up to 15% of the late paid VAT could be levied for paying just one day late. The new system, that applies for VAT periods beginning on or after 1 ...
June 2023 – MTD for income tax is delayed again
Sole traders and individual landlords have an additional two years to prepare for the new reporting requirements under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (MTD ITSA), which is now due to come into effect from 6 April 2026. Those with small levels of sales ...
June 2023 – National Minimum Wage rises
The annual increase in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates are linked to the rate of inflation, which for the past few months has been hovering around 10%. Hence the NMW rates that must be paid for pay periods starting on and after 1 April ...
June 2023 – Realise those capital losses
If you are planning to sell any property or your business in the near future, be aware that the annual exemption for capital gains tax will be cut from £12,300 to £6,000 on 6 April 2023. That exemption will reduce again on 6 April 2024 ...
May 2023 – Relief for excess mortgage interest
Since 2020/21, the deduction of mortgage interest and other finance costs (e.g. arrangement fees) from residential rents is completely blocked for tax purposes for individual landlords (not companies). Instead, the landlord receives tax relief at the basic rate (20%) as a tax credit against the ...
May 2023 – Separation to become less taxing
The government is planning to change the CGT rules for separating spouses. Currently, transfers can be made between couples on a tax neutral basis only up until the end of the tax year of separation (not divorce). This is a tight deadline! Inter-spousal transfers after ...
May 2023 – Paying up your NICs
If you haven’t already retired, you need to rack up 35 full years of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in order to receive the maximum state retirement pension. To receive any amount of state retirement pension, you need at least 10 full years of NICs contributions ...
May 2023 – Taking your profits as dividends
If you are a company owner, you will be used to taking funds you need from your company in the form of a small salary, with anything extra paid as dividends, or perhaps as rent or interest. For some years the first £2,000 of dividends ...
April 2023 – Dealing with PAYE K codes
A PAYE K code reduces your personal allowance to zero and adds a notional amount of income on to your salary to be taxed. The imposition of a K code will result in a significant amount of tax being deducted from your earnings. HMRC will ...
April 2023 – HMRC chases gig economy workers
HMRC is writing to online sellers, gig economy workers and influencers, asking for tax to be paid up for earlier years. People who make money from the online content they create may not realise that they need to declare that income for tax purposes, where ...
April 2023 – Addressing overdue Tax Bills
Many people are struggling to pay their bills right now, as tax is pushed down the list behind heating and food. If you still have tax outstanding for 2021/22, there are some things you can do. Firstly, review your payments on account for 2022/23, which ...
April 2023 – Tax Changes Ahead
The new tax year starting in April will see personal allowances frozen, as well as cuts to tax exemptions that could increase your tax bills. Your tax-free personal allowance will be frozen for the third year running at £12,570 and the basic rate band also ...
