Following an earlier period of consultation, HMRC have published draft legislation along- side a further technical consultation document, setting out proposals for the main features, processes and requirements of the new Help-to-Save accounts scheme, which is set to commence in 2018. Help-to-Save will be targeted at working families on low incomes to help them build up their savings. The scheme will be open to around 4 million individuals who either receive universal credit and have minimum weekly household earnings equivalent to 16 hours at the national living wage, or receive Working Tax Credit (WTC). Help-to-Save will work by providing a [...]

In July, the Government confirmed that the Summer Finance Bill would be published in September, with the measures dropped from the pre-election Finance Bill being reintroduced in more or less the same form, from the initially planned commencement dates. Clauses dropped from the pre-election bill and expected to be brought back include those on Making Tax Digital (MTD), although the implementation date for income tax is being postponed. There is widespread agreement that Making Tax Digital for Business is the right approach for the future. However a number of concerns about the pace and scale of change have been raised. As a [...]

Employment status tax cases often make the headlines in the professional press and the June 2017 case of Tomlinson was no exception. In this case, the First-tier Tribunal found that a double glazing salesman (Mr Malcolm Tomlinson) was self-employed and not an employee as he had claimed. As with most employment status cases, this case focused on the details of the terms on which Mr Tomlinson was engaged with the company. Many facts of the case pointed towards a self-employed status, including the fact that there was no written contract in place and Mr Tomlinson was not required to give notice of [...]

Whether or not Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) can be paid depends on whether an individual falls within the definition of a 'self-employed earner' for NIC purposes, and if so, whether profits are in excess of the existing small profits threshold (£6,025 for 2017/18). The definition of a self-employed earner is defined as someone 'who is gainfully employed in Great Britain otherwise than in employed earner's employment (whether or not he is also employed in such employment)' (SSCBA 1992, s 2(1)(b)). A person who is regarded as self-employed for income tax purposes, and who is taxed on the profits [...]

The questions surrounding the issue of how best to extract profits from a company in a tax-efficient manner remain as popular as ever. Despite the introduction of the dividend allowance, and the personal savings allowance, extraction by remuneration and by way of dividend remain the two most widely used methods. The tax effects of these methods may be broadly contrasted as follows: Provided the amount is justifiable, remuneration is generally allowed as a deduction in arriving at the taxable profits of the company. The recipient is taxed on the remuneration through the PAYE system at the date of payment including [...]