Topical tax planning ideas

With the reduction in employees National Insurance (NI) through the Autumn Statement, to 10% and the drop in the dividend allowance to only £500 from April 2024. Alongside the previously announced rise in Corporation Tax rates. The question directors will ask again is, am I better paying myself a higher salary rather than dividends?  …

From 1 April 2023 the rules changed so that the rate of corporation tax that a company pays, and when, is dependent on the level of its profits as well as the number of its associated companies.     Rate Of Corporation Tax Standalone companies from 1 April 2023 with profits exceeding £250,000 will be…

Businesses and their staff will be looking forward to their annual Christmas party in the upcoming festive months. Providing all of the following criteria are met, the annual event becomes free of PAYE tax and National Insurance contributions for the employee, and is treated as a non-taxable benefit in kind:   The party or similar…

HMRC has amended guidance on the tax treatment of electric charging of company cars and vans at residential properties.   Many business owners will have purchased an electric car or van, owned within a company, over the last few years, attracted by the generous business and personal tax treatments. Where this Electric Vehicle (EV) has…

The ‘gifts out of surplus income’ exemption is a powerful, yet often forgotten about, Inheritance Tax (IHT) exemption. As the name suggests lifetime gifts made from surplus income are immediately exempt from IHT, provided that certain conditions are met.   To qualify for this valuable relief, the following conditions need to be satisfied: The gifts…

As today is GCSE results day, parents whose child is staying in education or training have only until 31 August to re-register with HMRC if they wish to continue receiving child benefit. Such re-registration will continue entitlement to receive this benefit until the child reaches 18.   If relevant to you, you should have already…

As we approach another tax year end our thoughts turn to any tax planning that can be undertaken. You can find a link to our tax planning guide as a reminder of the basic planning opportunities to be considered each year. But with a Budget looming on 15 March 2023, it would be prudent to…

Divorce and CGT Under current legislation, married couples and civil partners can transfer chargeable assets between them without incurring CGT under the ‘no gain, no loss’ principle. However, for separating couples, this only applies until the end of the tax year of separation.   A couple who separated in February 2022 could therefore only transfer…

For those clients that prepare self-assessment personal tax returns, 31 January is usually tax payment day. This tax will primarily be based on your personal income for the tax year ended 5 April 2022, potentially made up of 2 components: The balancing payment for 2021/22 (total 2021/22 tax less 31-Jan-22 and 31-Jul-22 payments on account).…

With the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement scheduled for 17 November, a lot of Sunday papers today have pieces on what changes we might expect. With a predicted £50bn hole in the Country’s current annual finances (caused by growth downgrades and higher interest rates on debt repaymemts), any such changes are likely to be material. So what…