People planning their retirement will be able to withdraw up to £1,500 from their pension pots tax-free to pay for financial advice, under recent plans unveiled by the government.
The new Pension Advice Allowance, first announced at Autumn Statement 2016, will enable people to withdraw £500 up to three occasions from their pension pots tax-free to...
Buy-to-let property owners have been singled out in recent budgets for some quite draconian tax changes.
One of the most pervasive starts 6 April 2017. From this date, tax relief for the cost of borrowing – predominately interest charges – will be progressively withdrawn and replaced with a basic rate tax credit.
Between now and the 6...
A reminder that from 6 April 2017 Lifetime ISAs are available as an alternative tax-free investment.
The lifetime Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a longer term tax-free account that receives a government bonus.
Details published 17 February 2017 are:
You can open a lifetime ISA if you are aged 18 or over but under 40. You must be...
While we are members of the EU, it continues to be the case that there are no limits to the alcohol and cigarettes you can bring back to the UK. However, if customs officials believe you are bringing back goods to sell them in the UK they will take an interest. According to HMRC you...
Although HMRC refer to taxpayers as customers, and thereby suggest a degree of customer service, in the real world this rarely extends to offering “customers” pro-active tax advice.
Historically, tax collectors are trained to maximise the assessment and collection of tax. Consequently, tax payers should be wary, they should check the tax statements that are delivered...
The title of this posting describes an important concept when considering claims for expenditure to reduce our tax bills.
By and large, HMRC will accept claims that have been expended wholly and exclusively for the purposes of running a business or fulfilling your employment obligations. But what does this phrase actually mean?
Certainly, if you are making...
We have advised readers in previous postings that HMRC seem to be intent on digitising the upload of small business accounting data from April 2018. From this date, affected self-employed traders (including landlords) will be required to upload details of their trading activities on a quarterly basis.
On the 31 January, HMRC responded to the consultation...
HMRC have the following advice to offer:
“You may be able to claim tax relief if you have to use your own money for travel or things that you must buy for your job. You must have paid tax in the year you spent the money. How much you can claim depends on the rate you...
1 February 2017 - Due date for corporation tax payable for the year ended 30 April 2016.
19 February 2017 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 February 2017. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 February 2017)
19 February 2017 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for...
The end of January, self-assessment filing deadline, and the approaching tax year end seem to stimulate fraudulent activity focussing on tax issues.
In particular, increasingly convincing attempts are made to get tax payers to part with their personal bank details or other personal information for nefarious purposes.
HMRC will never ask for your personal details, particularly your...