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Common Tax Errors Landlords Make

  HMRC have a Let Property Campaign to try to encourage landlords who have not previously declared their taxable income and gains to come forward as soon as possible, in order to bring their tax affairs up to date. The let property campaign is aimed at individual landlords with residential property in the UK or…

Charities bound by new Fundraising Preference Service

  A new service is now available for individuals who want to limit the contact they receive from charities. The Fundraising Preference Service (FPS) should give individuals greater control over how and when charities can contact them. The FPS, which launched on 6 July, allows individuals to select charities that they no longer want to…

ICO warning as business fined £60,000 following cyber attack

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is warning SMEs to take care or face a fine. The warning comes after a company which suffered a cyber attack was fined £60,000. The investigation by the ICO found Boomerang Video Ltd based in Berkshire failed to take basic steps to stop its website being attacked. Sally Anne Poole,…

mm Jeannette Hume
Land Transaction Tax

From April 2018, Land Transaction Tax (LTT) will replace Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in Wales. Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) already applies in Scotland. Like SDLT (and LBTT), LTT will generally be payable on the purchase or lease of a building or land. The new tax may therefore be relevant to house buyers and…

mm Jeannette Hume
Pros and cons of using limited companies for buy to let properties

Following the announcement to cut tax relief for landlords from April 2017, setting up a limited company to purchase investment properties has been suggested as one way to ease the burden of tax. Whilst the legal transaction is essentially the same whether an individual or a company is purchasing the buy- to- let properties, there…

mm Ben Beech
Non-Resident Capital Gains Tax Returns – penalties eased

Since April 2015 non-residents selling UK residential property have been required to report the disposals within a Non-resident Capital Gains Tax return within 30 days of the conveyance.  You can view HMRC’s guidance here The timeframe is very tight – some may think unreasonably so, especially since many individuals are unaware of this requirement until…

mm Jeannette Hume
Brexit: The end of UK audits?

Audit thresholds are linked to the small company limits, which are currently set by the EU. The UK can choose to impose a lower threshold than the small company limits, but not a higher one. As a result of Brexit, power will return to the UK, and as a result the cap on audit thresholds…

Brexit

Post Brexit: What cutting of red tape might SME’s expect? After almost a full year of foreplay, formal Brexit negotiations with the EU will eventually commence next week. Looking ahead one step further, what can SME’s expect post Brexit? And will the UK Government use this opportunity to further advance their stated policy of reducing…

Ransomware advice for charities

Many organisations across 150 countries, including our own NHS, have been hit by a recent ransomware attack. The vulnerabilities  exploited by the hackers are the same for charities, individuals and public or private sector businesses. The Charity Commission is encouraging charities to follow protection advice released by the City of London Police and the National…

R&D Claims: Is HMRC advance assurance a good idea?

In a bid to give companies more certainty over whether or not their R&D claim will be successful, HMRC introduced an advance assurance process in November 2015. If you pass this new test, HMRC will agree not to enquire into your R&D claims for the first 3 accounting periods of claiming this relief. So is…