Have your Shares Got a Tail? – How to Maximise CGT Taper Relief
The amount of capital gains tax (“CGT”) you will pay when you sell an asset depends on a number of factors, but one of the most important is “Taper Relief”. This relief was int...
Further Clarification of the Treatment of Foreign Exchange Transactions (FOREX) and Transactions in Other Financial Instruments
Further to BB 21/05 issued in light of the Tribunal decision in Willis Pension Fund Trustees Ltd (VTD 19,183), HMRC has issued more guidance on when forex transactions are supplies for VAT purposes. H...
A Question Of Consideration: Disposals Of Land And Property
In most cases, as long as the main residence exemption is available in full, there will be no capital gains tax (CGT) to pay when you sell your own home. However, there are plenty of situations in wh...
(H)ATED! Further Problems For Limited Companies
This article provides a timely reminder about the recently introduced ‘property tax’ (or the ‘annual tax on enveloped dwellings’ (ATED), to be precise) for those who own prope...
They Think It’s All Over! Tax, Separation And Divorce
Separation and divorce or the dissolution of a civil partnership is a difficult time, without unexpected tax bills adding to the pressure. While tax is unlikely to be at the forefront of the separati...
HMRC Enquiries: Survival Tips (Part 2)
Mark McLaughlin offers some practical tips for individual taxpayers who are subject to an enquiry by HM Revenue & Customs into their tax returns. When a tax return enquiry by HM Revenue & Cust...
Capital Gains Tax – Watch Out For Connected Persons!
Capital gains tax (CGT) is a tax levied on capital gains, broadly, gains arising on a disposal of many, but not all, assets (e.g. shares, antique furniture, jewellery). Example 1 – Sale of shar...
Succession Planning - Do You Need A ‘Corporate Will’?
Failure to plan properly could have dire consequences for the family business or business where you are a shareholder/director, partner, LLP member or a sole trader. Unfortunate outcomes These are so...
Share And Share Alike With Dividends?
Dividends are treated as if they have 10% tax deducted before you receive them, so if you draw £9,000, that is equivalent to £10,000, the standard personal allowance, but even though the ...
VAT: Disbursement Or Recharge – An Important Difference!
You often hear the term ‘disbursements’, but what exactly are they, and what is the correct VAT treatment? What are disbursements? A disbursement is a sum of money, paid on behalf of some...
Choose Your Accounting Date Carefully
Choosing the right date for an accounting year-end may help a business with taxation and cash flow issues. The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April and most businesses use the tax year for their acc...
Sorry, my mistake! – Claims for Relief for Error or Mistake
Generally speaking, the time limit for correcting mistakes in a personal Self Assessment Tax Return is one year after the filing date. For example, the SA return for the tax year ending on 5 April 200...
What Does It Mean? Interpreting Tax Legislation
Occasionally, tax involves the exact meaning of certain words. I was recently looking at some legislation that referred to two companies being ‘under common control’ if they were controll...
HMRC Enquiries – Survival Tips
Mark McLaughlin offers some practical tips for individual taxpayers who are subject to an enquiry by HM Revenue & Customs into their tax returns. A tax return enquiry by HM Revenue and Customs (HM...
Salary Sacrifice (Part 1) – Worth The Effort
Lee Sharpe considers how ‘Salary Sacrifice’ can benefit both employer and employee.This is a two-part article which will look at how ‘salary sacrifice’ works. In this part, we ...
Heading For The Exit – Business Succession
Jennifer Adams points out some important issues for owners seeking to pass on their business interest to family members.On commencement of a business, it is recommended that the owner prepares a busin...
When Is A Dividend Not A Dividend? When It’s A Salary!
Mark McLaughlin highlights a recent case concerning a company’s claim that directors’ remuneration payments were actually meant to be dividends. Many director shareholders of family and ow...
Whistling In The Dark! Compensation And The £30,000 Tax Exemption
James Bailey examines HMRC’s position on termination and the tax exemption that they regularly seem to challenge.There is a tax exemption of up to £30,000 for payments made in connection w...
Tax Relief For Home Office Fixed Costs
Sarah Bradford considers how tax relief can be obtained for the fixed costs of running a business from home.Many small businesses are run from home and a proportion of the costs of running and maintai...
HMRC’s Class 2 NIC Attack On Property Rentals
Julie Butler highlights HMRC’s campaign to seek Class 2 National Insurance contributions on rental business profits.It’s official - there appears to be an ongoing campaign by HMRC to impos...