The Treasury has announced that Chancellor Phillip Hammond is going back on a promise made by his predecessor, George Osborne, to scrap Class 2 NI Contributions. The abolition which was originally planned to come into effect this year, had already been put on ice by the Chancellor citing concerns that it would actually increase the […]
Over 20,000 freelancers and contractors that used offshore-based umbrella schemes to disguise their income over the last 20 years will have to repay an average of £50,000 in unpaid taxes, HMRC says. Responding to a deadline of 31st May to register earnings held or managed in these trusts, almost 21,000 people had declared their involvement […]
Amid much talk of further tax rises in the pipeline, to help offset the impact of Brexit and to support the Governments planned spending increase on the NHS, HMRC has announced that it had a record tax take in the 17/18 tax year. The total take of just over £605 billion is up 5.4% on […]
If you have multiple VAT registered businesses, it is worth checking that you are claiming the right VAT in each instance to avoid HMRC disallowing claims for input/output tax. When reviewing returns from each business, HMRC will not only want to see a clear line of documentation relating to each transaction but will also seek […]
Having identified that they are responsible for almost 50% of the £34billion of uncollected tax in 2015-16, HMRC has confirmed that it is focusing its efforts on around half-a-million small businesses at any time. There are some 5 million small businesses in the UK and the move by the tax man has been criticised by […]
With just 12 months until it was meant to be fully launched and having already suffered delays to what was an ambitious roll out plan, HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) strategy has now been put on hold, indefinitely. In a statement to tax professionals in April, HMRC made it clear that the impact of preparations […]
In his first Spring Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond launched a consultation on a proposed review of the UK’s VAT scheme. The Chancellor had been tipped to announce wholesale changes to VAT thresholds last November as part of the budget, but because of representations from business organisations he swapped hard and fast plans for change in […]
Want to know what you can earn and save this year following the recent changes to personal tax free allowances? Here are the key elements: Personal Allowance With a new tax year comes the now usual change to the personal allowance. The Government looks set to continue with creeping increments to the amount that can […]
Despite the Government’s long-term ambition to rid the world of tax returns through the introduction of the Making Tax Digital initiative, January 2018 was another record year for the number processed. Like all necessary evils, no one wants to think about tax returns until it is imperative to do so, but the flip side of […]
Recent HMRC cases against individuals and businesses have once again shone a light on the use and payment of family members in the business. In one case, a tribunal judged that payments to a son had been made out of parental love and affection and were not wholly for the purposes of the trade. In […]
In 2016 dividend tax was introduced as a way of levelling up the tax system between employees, the self-employed and business directors/owners. The view of the then chancellor and his successor is that however you are employed and however much you earn, the tax system should be even handed. It was felt that whilst personal […]
The continued push towards more automated statutory reporting to HMRC will see the Government’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative rolling out from 2019 onwards. The first phase of MTD requires companies to keep ‘digital’ records and, in particular, digital VAT records. This means that businesses who currently use manual books and spreadsheets will need to […]