Now that Scotland and Wales have their very own stamp duty taxes buying a house in the border areas between Wales and England, and Scotland and England, raise some interesting planning options. Consider Llanymynech, a village that straddles the border between Powys (Wales) and Shropshire (England). The amount of stamp duty payable on an identically priced house, say £179,000, would cost the buyer £1,080 in Stamp Duty Land Tax if bought in the English side of the village, but no Land Transaction Tax would be payable for an equivalently priced house in the Welsh side of the village. A definite [...]

The Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2018 paves the way for full-fibre broadband and future 5G communications by enabling 100% business rates relief for operators who install new fibre on their networks. In other words, the Act incentivises operators to invest in the broadband network. Apparently, the secondary legislation has been laid, firing the starting gun on the scheme which will see communications providers exempt from business rates on new fibre for 5 years, backdated to 1 April 2017. Local Government Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: From the country’s most rural locations, to our big cities, we want everyone to benefit from fast, affordable and [...]

HMRC posted the following reminder on their website at the start of the new tax year: Employers need to report all Benefits in Kind (BiKs), including those under the Optional Remuneration Arrangements (OpRAs), to HMRC on form P11D from today (6 April 2018), unless they are registered to voluntarily payroll benefits. They further explained, for those of us who had missed the import of the last Finance Act, that: OpRAs are where an employee gives up the right to an amount of earnings in return for a Benefit in Kind (BiK) and includes flexible benefit packages with a cash option, [...]

Imagine that you have no interest in computers or computing. That Facebook and Twitter sound like racehorses running in the 2.30 at Haydock Park. Further, imagine that the thought of having to deal with computers pushed you into a severe anxiety state. Ms Naylor, the Company Secretary of a flooring company, fitted this profile. For many years she had filed paper monthly contractor’s returns to HMRC and had never missed a deadline. When the returns were converted to an online filing version from April 2016, she was thrown into the computer age and with unfortunate consequences. For months she tried [...]

And no, this is no April fool… Over 2 million people will get a pay rise from 1 April 2018 thanks to an above-inflation rise in the National Living Wage (NLW). The National Living Wage will go up by 4.4%, from £7.50 to £7.83, meaning a full-time minimum wage worker will be over £2,000 better off since the introduction of the National Living Wage in April 2016. From April 2018, the tax-free personal allowance will also increase from £11,500 to £11,850. Almost 400,000 young workers are expected to benefit from the increases in the National Minimum Wage. From 1 April [...]

Fulfilment houses are being drawn into government endeavours to deal with the loss of revenue by the activities of traders based outside the EU. From 1 April 2019, approved fulfilment businesses will be required to complete due diligence checks on their overseas customers and maintain records about the goods they store. HMRC have announced that if you run a business in the UK, such as a warehouse, that stores goods imported from outside the EU that are owned by, or on behalf of, someone established outside the EU, you will need to apply to register for the Fulfilment House Due Diligence Scheme (FHDDS). [...]

The UK tax code, the laws that govern how much tax we pay, is one of the largest in the developed global economies. Unless you have a reasonable grasp of the multitude of tax rules and regulations, attempting to manage your own tax affairs is like driving with a blind-fold over your eyes. HMRC are keen to befriend you, you are referred to as their “customer”. Whilst this is laudable, you will likely receive more flack from HMRC based on what is wrong with your tax affairs, rather than strategic options available to reduce your tax and NIC liabilities. For [...]

HMRC have asserted that charities are missing out on up to £600m a year of funding due to donations not being confirmed under the Gift Aid rules. They said: The research, published today by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), shows that a third of eligible donations made to many of the UK’s 200,000 charities did not add Gift Aid when they could have done. This means that charities are losing out on extra funding worth nearly £600 million a year.  Gift Aid allows charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASC) to claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated. To [...]

Firstly, the Chancellor’s announcement to Parliament last week was not a budget speech. There were no tax changes announced, in fact, the only change that was announced was to bring forward the expected business rates rebasing exercise one year, to April 2021. He described his announcements as the first Spring Statement updating Parliament on the economy and other fiscal matters. Which means that the speech was full of the good news: increasing employment, rising GDP growth and manufacturing output, and falling inflation and government borrowing. Although there were no formal changes to tax announced, the Chancellor did reveal several new [...]

According to recent press commentary, Ken Dodd married his long-time partner, Anne Jones, just two days before he died. With an estate estimated to be £7m, the executors were facing an Inheritance Tax bill of over £2m, but tying the knot means that assets transferred to Anne can now be made tax-free. Many years ago, Ken brushed off tax evasion accusations by HMRC. He was accused of numerous counts of tax fraud, and although he settled tax arrears in full, including penalties, he was cleared by the jury in the court case of fraud. Ken and Anne’s recent actions highlight [...]