Tax-free childcare is part of the government's long-term plan to support working families and will provide up to 1.8m families across the UK with up to £2,000 of childcare support per year, per child, via a new online system. It was originally planned that the scheme would launch in Autumn 2015, but, as a result of a direct legal challenge from a small group of childcare voucher providers, development of the scheme was suspended. However, the Supreme Court has recently ruled that government proposals for delivering tax-free childcare are lawful, which means that the scheme can go ahead and is [...]

The new help-to-buy ISA, which is expected to be available from Autumn 2015, will enable first-time buyers to save up to £200 a month towards their first home. Investors will receive £50 from the government for every £200 saved, up to a maximum of £3,000. This means that the maximum that can be saved in a help-to-buy ISA is £12,000. The government bonus is added to this amount, so total savings towards the property purchase can be up to £15,000. Accounts will be limited to one per person rather than one per home, which means that those buying together can [...]

Q. I have realised that I made a mistake on my most recent VAT return. What should I do? A. You can adjust your current VAT account to correct errors on past returns if the error: was below the reporting threshold (broadly, less than £10,000, or up to 1% of your box 6 figure (up to a maximum of £50,000); was not deliberate; and relates to an accounting period that ended less than 4 years ago. When you submit your next return, add the net value to box 1 for tax due to HMRC, or to box 4 for tax [...]

When you register your business for VAT you can reclaim the VAT charge on goods you acquired within the previous four years, and on services provided to your business within the last six months. As long as the items were used for your business, and you still held the goods (as stock or business assets) at the date of the VAT registration, you can claim back the VAT on your first VAT return. However, the VAT man has recently changed his view on exactly how much VAT you can reclaim in this situation. He now says that any use of [...]

If you have received a penalty for late filing of your personal tax return it is possible to get it cancelled if all of the following conditions are met: the penalty relates to your tax return for 2013/14; you have now submitted that tax return to HMRC; your appeal against the penalty includes a reasonable excuse for the late filing. The reasonable excuses that HMRC will accept include; computer faults encountered while submitting the return, unexpected postal delays (only applicable to paper tax returns), life-changing events such as the death of a close family member, and fire or flood that [...]

HMRC has started the tax reconciliation process for the majority of taxpayers who are taxed under PAYE. This may include you or your relatives, as this reconciliation also covers those in receipt of the State Retirement Pension and private pensions. If the HMRC computer system finds there is a difference between the tax collected under PAYE and the amount due for the tax year to 5 April 2015, it will issue a form P800 which includes a tax computation. Even if we are authorised to deal with HMRC on your behalf they won't send us a copy of the P800, [...]

Summary Chancellor George Osborne has delivered the first Budget by a wholly Conservative government in almost 20 years. The March 2015 Budget provided some clues as to possible new measures and of course, the Conservative election manifesto contained a wide range of commitments to be introduced during the course of the current parliament. The Chancellor said that this is a Budget for working families in a 'one-nation society'. In 'a big Budget for a country with big ambitions', he focused on how the government will continue with its deficit-reduction plans, whilst giving the promised support to 'hard-working families'. He said [...]

Q. I personally own a number of buy-to-let residential properties. My son will attend a new school from September and it would be convenient for the family to live in one of those let properties. Can the cost of repairs made to that property while we are living there be claimed as expenses against the rental income from the whole property portfolio? A. Any expenditure on repairing the property will be incurred for the benefit of you and your family while you live there, so it can't be deducted from the profits of your property letting business. Even if the [...]

If you are involved with sales of UK residential property where the buyer or seller is tax-resident outside of the UK, you need to be aware of a new tax that came into effect on 6 April 2015: non-resident CGT (NR CGT). The NR CGT charge is applied at different rates according to whether the seller is a non-resident closely-held company, fund, individual, personal representative or trustee. It applies to gains made in the period from 6 April 2015 to the disposal date of the property, so a small amount of tax likely to be payable on property sales made [...]

The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) provides some very attractive tax incentives for investors who subscribe for shares in small companies. If you are thinking of attracting investors using the EIS you should first get an advance assurance from HMRC that your company will qualify. However, HMRC has recently changed the conditions under which it will give that advanced assurance. It will no longer grant assurance for an EIS application if the company is: over 7 years from its first sale and has not received funding under the EIS, or other tax advantaged venture capital scheme; or has received more than [...]