Using your vehicle for business purposes
As a general rule, if you use your private transport for trips related to your employment, you may be able to claim tax relief if you are not reimbursed for this business use by your employers. Exceptionally, any normal travel between your home and your place of work will always be excluded from this calculation […]
Do not fall for the fraudsters
We are fast approaching the deadline for filing self-assessment tax returns in the UK for 2018-19. As readers will be aware, this deadline is 31 January 2020. Unfortunately, this coincides with a pick-up in scamming activity by fraudsters pretending to be the tax office. HMRC have recently posted an alert for taxpayers and this is […]
When trivial can be significant
The following extracts from HMRC’s website explain how certain benefits to employees can be tax-free. Surprisingly, HMRC describe these as “trivial” benefits. You don’t have to pay tax on a benefit for your employee if all of the following apply: it cost you £50 or less to provide it isn’t cash or a cash voucher […]
Do you know?
We are approaching the end of the calendar year, goodbye 2019, and the end of the of the current tax year, 2019-20, will draw to a close 5 April 2020. Add to this self-assessment deadlines, Brexit changes, election results and will we – won’t we – have a budget speech any time soon, and it’s […]
The benefits of Furnished Holiday Lets
Most buy-to-let property is let on short leases to a single tenant. The income from rents is treated as a property business, but a number of reliefs available to other trading businesses are not available to buy-to-let landlords. However, if these same properties were let as Furnished Holiday Let (FHLs) property, more advantageous tax benefits […]
Higher National Living Wage rates
Businesses that have a significant number of workers who are paid at the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (NLW) rates should probably read the recent independent report that suggests rates of NLW could rise, as internationally, there is evident that realistic rises have little impact on employment levels but do have a positive […]
Employing someone at home
Believe it or not, HMRC will consider you are the employer of a nanny, housekeeper, gardener or anyone else who works in your home if both the following criteria apply: you hire them, and they are not self-employed or paid through an agency. If these criteria do apply this means you have certain responsibilities, like […]
Negligible value claims
Occasionally, the tax system in the UK throws up an issue that does not make sense. For example, how can you create a tax loss for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes without disposing of the asset? After all, CGT applies when an asset subject to CGT is sold or otherwise disposed. If you sell an […]
Taxing aspects of electric cars for your business
This article does not cover the risks of owning an electric car, depreciation rates etc. Instead it discusses the tax implications if you buy an electric car for business purposes. As electric cars have zero carbon emissions for tax purposes it should be possible to claim what is called a “first year allowance” when the […]
Gifts and Inheritance Tax
When you make a gift to third parties you are potentially transferring part of your estate and a life-time charge to IHT may be applied. However, in most cases you will not need to open your cheque book as there are a number of exemptions that may cover your intended gifts. The current gift exemptions […]
