Latest Private Client Tax

Transferring Second Property into Joint Names: Beware SDLT trap! We commonly advise married clients who are considering a transfer of rental property from one spouse into joint names. Where the owner spouse is a higher rate taxpayer, there is often a potential to make use of the other spouse’s basic rate tax band. The potential income…

Budget 2016: New CGT planning opportunities. George Osborne’s latest Budget heralded an unexpected reduction in CGT, lopping 8% off both the 18% and 28% rates. But not for residential property- George continued his attack on residential landlords. However, it may well be that sales of other assets are now best deferred until post 5 April…

PAYE Codes: Starting to reflect new dividend tax rules. Ahead of the start of the 2016/17 tax year, HMRC have recently begun issuing updated PAYE coding notices, which will determine how much tax is deducted at source on income paid through the PAYE system. They have provided some general guidance here : https://www.gov.uk/tax-codes/what-your-paye-coding-notice-means In addition…

Property Investors: Chancellor announces further tax changes. In his Autumn Statement George Osborne has announced two significant further tax changes for residential property investors: Firstly, Stamp Duty Land Tax rates will be increased by3% on purchases of residential properties, such as buy to let properties and second homes. This measure takes effect from 1 April…

New Dividend Tax Rules: Planning opportunities during transition. In his 2015 Summer Budget George Osborne rewrote the rules for calculating the income tax that individuals and trusts pay on their dividend income: Abolished the tax credit, Introduced a £5k tax free dividend allowance, Increased all of the tax rates on dividend income by +7.5%. As these…

Start-ups: Make use of your spouse’s tax allowances. There are a lot of costs surrounding setting up your own business, so saving tax is a big concern for most clients. This can be done in a number of ways, through ensuring you are claiming all your business expenses. However there is also the consideration of…

EMI Share Options: the tax advantages. Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) are a tax advantaged share option scheme that can be used to provide an incentive to key staff. The key tax advantage of EMI options in most cases is that no income tax or national insurance will be payable on the exercise of the option. The…

EIS Relief: HMRC publish new procedures. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is introducing new processes to help manage applications for advance assurance and EIS compliance statements from companies for investments made on or after 6 April 2015 that fall outside certain limits. With immediate effect, HMRC will not process advance assurance applications in respect of…

As long as we both shall live: I promise to share my personal allowance with you.. From April 2015, Finance Act 2014 allows spouses and civil partners who cannot claim the married couples allowance (therefore those born on or after 6 April 1935) to transfer a fixed amount of their personal allowance to each other to…

Use Lifetime Trusts to Save Inheritance Tax. With the government confirming in the last Budget that the current inheritance tax nil rate band of £325,000 will be frozen until 2018, more and more people will find the taxman taking a sizeable slice of their estate on death. Making gifts during your lifetime is one solution…