Top Tax Tips

Tax Tips and News for December 2014

This issue … Autumn Statement 2014 Summary, Property Taxes, Employers, Business Taxes, Individuals, Tax Favoured Investments, Capital Taxes

Welcome to the 3rd December 2014 Autumn Statement edition of Tax Tips & News.
In this analysis we have mainly concentrated on the tax measures that will directly affect individuals, employers and small businesses.

Autumn Statement 2014 Summary

The Chancellor of the Exchequer pulled out a few surprises in his Autumn Statement. The most eye-catching is the reform of stamp duty land tax (SDLT), which is payable by purchasers of land and property. The changes should reduce the SDLT payable on 98% of transactions which complete from 4 December 2014 onwards.

Small businesses should be pleased with the £1,500 business rate discount for small high street shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants. All employers will benefit from the zero rate of employers' national insurance for workers aged under 21, which is to be extended to apprentices aged under 25 from April 2016.

People employing carers in their own homes will qualify for the employment allowance with up to £2,000 per year. Where an ISA is passed on to the surviving spouse or civil partner on death, the tax shelter for the savings will be preserved.

Further detail on all these points is given below. This newsletter is based on the documents released on 3 December 2014. It is possible that a different position will be shown by the draft legislation which will be published on 10 December 2014. We will keep you informed of any significant developments.

Property Taxes

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is paid by purchasers of land and buildings. The tax is regarded as unfair, as it is imposed in a slab system on the whole value of the property according to the highest rate applicable for the property value.

From 4 December 2014 the new rates and bands of SDLT apply (see below) and the tax is imposed in a progressive fashion such that each slice of the property value bears tax at the rate according to that band, like income tax. These changes only apply for residential properties, not for commercial properties.

Until 3 December 2014 a house which sold for £260,000 would attract SDLT at 3% on the entire value, so the purchaser would pay £7,800 (£260,000 x 3%), although SDLT for properties costing up to £250,000 was just 1%.

Where the contract for the same house at the same price completes on or after 4 December 2014 the SDLT will be calculated as:

This saves the purchaser £4,800.

Buyers who have already exchanged contracts to purchase, but have not completed the transaction before 4 December 2014 will pay SDLT at the new rates and bands which are:

The changes for SDLT will mean that purchasers of residential properties costing less than £937,500 will pay less tax, but purchasers of properties over that threshold will pay more tax, and for purchasers of properties costing over £2.1 million will pay considerably more.

Land and Building Transaction Tax

From 1 April 2015 purchasers of land or buildings in Scotland will pay Land and Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) in place of SDLT. This new Scottish tax will be imposed in a progressive fashion, like the new SDLT. However, the new progressive LBTT will apply to both residential and commercial properties at the following rates and bands:

Residential Properties

Non-residential Properties

Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings

The annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED) is paid by the owners of residential properties (dwellings), where the property is held by a non-natural person such as a company, partnership with one or more corporate members, unit trust or similar structure. A number of reliefs and exemptions are available which must be claimed on a property by property basis for dwellings that are commercially let, held as stock for development companies, used as employee accommodation or as farmhouses, or are open to the public.

This tax was introduced in April 2013 and has raised five times more than expected, so the Chancellor is putting up the annual charges to apply in 2015/16 as follows:

Business Rates

The Chancellor has ordered a full review of the future structure of business rates to report by Budget 2016. In the meantime the high level of small business rates relief (SBRR) will be extended to 31 March 2016, and the increase in business rates for that year will be capped at 2%.

High street shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes with a rateable value of less than £50,000 currently qualify for a discount on business rates of £1,000 per year. This discount will be increased to £1,500 per year for 2015/16.

Employers

Employment Allowance

The employment allowance was introduced from 6 April 2014. It is worth £2,000 per year per employer to set against the employer's national insurance liability. For 2014/15 individuals who employed people in their own home, such as nannies, housekeepers or gardeners could not claim the employment allowance. This blanket ban for domestic workers also applied to carers, but from April 2015 the employment allowance will be available to households who employ care and support workers.

National Insurance

From 6 April 2015 employers will not have to pay employers' NI on the wages of workers aged under 21, for wages up to £815 per week. From 6 April 2016 that exemption from employers NI will be extended to wages paid to apprentices aged under 25, with the same weekly cap on the amount paid.

Employee Benefits

Company Cars

Drivers of very low-emission cars may be in for a shock from 6 April 2015. Those vehicles with CO2 emissions from zero (i.e. electric) to 50g/km will be subject to tax as a benefit in kind for the first time. Tax will be payable on 5% of the vehicle's list price, or 8% for diesel cars. The benefit in kind chargeable amount for all other cars will increase by 2% of the list price, including those cars which are currently taxed on 35% of the list price, as the maximum benefit rises to 37% of the list price.

Where a company car driver receives free fuel (petrol, diesel or LPG) for private journeys, the taxable benefit is calculated as the percentage of the list price for the car applied to the fuel charge multiplier set at £22,100 for 2015/16 (£21,700 for 2014/15). The maximum taxable benefit of receiving free road fuel for private use will increase to £8,177 for 2015/16 from £7,595 for 2014/15.

Where the employer pays for the electricity to charge an electric company car there is no tax on the benefit of using that electricity on private journeys. Equally, there is no standard rate to reimburse employees when they use their own domestic electricity supply to charge an electric company car.

Company Vans

Driving from home to work in a company van is not considered to be a private journey, but it is when the vehicle is a company car.

When a company van is used for private journeys the driver is taxed on £3,090 for 2014/15. This increases to £3,150 for 2015/16. When road fuel is provided for private journeys in a company van the taxable benefit is £581 for 2014/15, rising to £594 for 2015/16.

An electric van is currently tax-free for the driver, even when it is used for private journeys. However, from 6 April 2015 the private use of an electric commercial vehicle will be a taxable benefit, calculated as £630 for 2015/16. The taxable benefit for electric vans will increase each year until it is equal to other vans from April 2020.

Business Taxes

Corporation Tax

Corporation tax rates for all sizes of company in the UK (excluding the oil and gas sectors which pay at special rates) are aligned at 20% from 1 April 2015. This removes the need for the associated companies rule that restricts the use of the small profits rate of corporation tax, so those rules are abolished from April 2015.

However, large companies must pay their corporation tax by quarterly instalments once their taxable profits exceed £10 million, and the tax due is at least £10,000. From 1 April 2015 those thresholds are divided by the number of companies in the corporate group which are related by a 51% holding.

The Chancellor has proposed the Northern Ireland Executive could take control of corporation tax rates, and directly collect corporation tax from companies based in that region. There is no indication of when this change may occur.

Creative Sector

In 2013 and 2014 the Government introduced various new tax reliefs for companies that produce high-end TV programmes, video games or theatre productions. These reliefs are all similar but not exactly the same.

A new tax relief along the same lines for companies that produce children's TV programmes will be introduced from April 2015. It will also consult on introducing a new tax relief for orchestras from April 2016.

Research and Development

Small Companies

Companies have been able to claim enhanced tax relief for expenditure on research and development (R&D) for many years. The amount spent on specific classes of costs relating to qualifying R&D projects is multiplied by a percentage, before the total is deducted from the company's taxable income for the year. Since 1 April 2012 that percentage has been 225%.

For R&D expenditure incurred from 1 April 2015 that percentage is increased to 230%. However, the costs that qualify for this deduction will be further defined to remove materials which are used in products that are sold.

Large Companies

Large companies claim R&D tax relief as an expenditure credit equal to a percentage of the R&D spend for the accounting period. That credit (known as "above the line" credit) is generally set against the company's corporation tax liability for the year. The percentage of R&D costs translated into the "above the line" credit was 10% for periods since 1 April 2012, and will be increased to 11% from 1 April 2015.

Individuals

Income Tax Allowances

The standard personal allowance will increase from £10,000 to £10,600 on 6 April 2015, but the personal allowances for those born before 6 April 1938 are frozen. From 6 April 2015 married couples and civil partners will be able to transfer £1060 of their unused personal allowance to their spouse/ partner, if the recipient is taxed at no more than the basic rate for the year (20%).

Tax Rates

The income tax rates for 2015/16 on earnings and dividends are the same as apply in 2014/15. However, the savings rate is reduced from 10% to zero and the savings rate band is increased to £5,000. The savings rates only apply if the individual's net non-savings income does not exceed the savings rate limit.

Pensions

The Chancellor announced in September 2014 that the "death tax" on undrawn pensions, set at 55% of the value of the pension fund, would be removed from 6 April 2015 where the deceased was aged under 75. Where the deceased was aged 75 or more the undrawn pension fund is taxed in the hands of the beneficiary (usually the surviving spouse) at their marginal rate of tax, or at 45% where the fund is taken as a lump sum.

Those tax changes would not apply where the pensioner had already bought an annuity with his pension fund, leaving the surviving spouse worse off. From 6 April 2015 where the pensioner dies before age 75 and had purchased a joint-life annuity or guaranteed term annuity to provide for the spouse, further payments from the annuity made after the death of the pensioner will be tax free.

Non-domiciled

The Government likes to welcome foreign-born individuals to the UK, especially if they are very wealthy. Such individuals have a special tax status, which is almost unique to the UK, called "non-domiciled". Even through the individual is resident for tax purposes in the UK their non-domiciled status allows them to keep their overseas income and gains outside of the UK tax net, such that it is only taxed when it is brought into the UK. This tax arrangement is called the remittance basis.

To take advantage of the remittance basis the non-domiciled person must elect to do so, and pay an annual charge which varies according to how long they have been living in the UK:

• 7 out of last 9 tax years: £30,000
• 12 out of last 14 tax years: £50,000 to be increased to £60,000
• 17 out of last 20 tax years: £90,000 (new charge)

Tax Favoured Investments

ISAs

For deaths on and after 3 December 2014 the surviving spouse or civil partner will inherit the deceased person's ISA including all its tax benefits. This means the survivor will be able to contribute into the ISA account that belonged to their partner, as well as into their own ISA. The income from the deceased person's ISA will continue to be tax free in the hands of the survivor.

The tax free ISA investment limits will increase as follows:

Social Investment Tax Relief

Social investment tax relief (SITR) was introduced from 6 April 2014 and provides income tax and capital gains tax reliefs for individuals who invest in social enterprises. The activities the social enterprise can undertake will be expanded to include community farms and horticultural businesses, with effect from 6 April 2015.

The maximum investment each social enterprise organisation can receive is limited to about £283,000 for each three year investment period. The Government is to seek EU approval to increase this limit to £5 million per year, up to £15 million for each investment period.

Capital Taxes

Gains on UK Dwellings

Non-residents

People who are not tax-resident in the UK do not pay UK capital gains tax when they sell a property in the UK, although the gain may well be taxed in the country where the individual is tax-resident.

From 2015/16 non-resident owners of UK homes (dwellings) will have to pay UK capital gains tax on the gain that arises on the sale of their home for periods from 6 April 2015 onwards. However, the non-resident individual can elect for their UK home to be treated as free from capital gains tax, if they spend at least 90 midnights in that home in the UK during the tax year. Those 90 days may be spread over several properties if they own several homes in the UK. Spending 90 days in the UK could make the individual tax-resident in the UK for the tax year in question.

UK Residents

This 90 day rule will also apply to UK residents who own a second home outside of the UK. Currently the owner can elect for an overseas home to be treated as free of capital gains tax. From 6 April 2015, an overseas property will only be eligible to be free of UK capital gains tax if the owner spends at least 90 midnights there during the tax year, or is treated as being tax resident in the country where the property is situated. It is possible to be tax resident in more than one country concurrently.

Entrepreneurs' Relief

Entrepreneurs' relief was introduced from 6 April 2008 to apply a 10% tax rate on gains made on disposing of a business, part of a business, or shares held in a personal company.

Incorporation

Entrepreneurs' relief has always been available to apply to gains that arise on the incorporation of a business, which often involves the transfer of goodwill created by the unincorporated business into the company that takes over the trade. The Government has decided that this use of entrepreneurs' relief is unfair. From 3 December 2014 entrepreneurs' relief will not be available for gains arising on the transfer of goodwill on the incorporation of a business.

EIS or SITR Shares

Where an individual makes a gain that taxpayer can defer tax on the gain by investing in Enterprise Investment scheme (EIS) shares, or shares or loan notes issued under the social investment tax relief (SITR) scheme. Where such an investment is made any entrepreneurs' relief due on the original gain is normally lost. For investments under EIS or SITR from 3 December 2014, the entrepreneurs' relief can be retained, and may be claimed when the EIS or SITR investments are subsequently disposed of.

We are committed to ensuring none of our clients pay a penny more in tax than is necessary and they receive useful tax and business advice and support throughout the year.

If you need further assistance just let us know – we're here to help!

Contact us today on 020 8780 2349 to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for November 2014

This issue … Pensions Death Tax, Taskforce at Large, National Insurance Contributions, Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS), November Questions and Answers, November Key Tax Dates

Pensions Death Tax

Currently, if you die before you have started to draw your pension, the value of your pension fund will not usually be subject to inheritance tax (IHT) at 40%, as it is excluded from your estate. However, there can be a 55% tax charge where your pension fund is passed to someone else under your will, especially if you die aged over 75.

From 6 April 2015 the 55% tax charge will be abolished. If you die before you reach age 75 you will be able to pass on your pension fund on death to any one you choose without a tax charge. The new owner of the pension fund will have no tax to pay when he or she makes withdrawals from the fund, whether those withdrawals are in the form of a lump sum or as income drawdown.

If you die aged 75 or more the person who receives your pension fund will pay tax at their marginal income tax rate on income drawdowns they withdraw from that fund, and there will be no restriction on the amount that person can withdraw from the fund. However, if the beneficiary of the fund wants to take all the value out as a lump sum, there will be 45% tax charge, although that may change from April 2016.

If you die after you have bought an annuity with your pension savings, the value of your pension can't be passed on, unless the annuity contract provides for a lump sum to be paid on your death.

These changes mean that tax planning for older people needs to be re-thought from the bottom up to take into account the ability to pass on tax-free a significant pension pot. Talk to us about your options.

Taskforce at Large

HMRC has set up specialist tax investigation teams to concentrate on recovering unpaid tax from particular business sectors or as a result of tax fraud.

The latest HMRC taskforce teams are looking at:

• fraudulent VAT repayments in the West Midlands and Nottingham areas; and
• property tax evasion in South West England and South Wales.

The property taskforce is using data gathered about property transactions by the Valuation Office in order to target taxpayers who may have sold properties but not declared a capital gain on their tax returns. The same data set will be analysed for possible non-declaration of rental income.

Where rental income has been under-declared the taxpayer can use HMRC's Let Property Campaign to make a full disclosure, and pay a minimum amount of penalties. This involves registering with HMRC to make a disclosure then paying all the tax, penalties and interest due within three months. However, once the HMRC taskforce is at your door, it's too late to take up the generous terms offered under the Let Property Campaign.

If you receive a letter or visit from one of these HMRC taskforces, early intervention from one of our tax investigation experts could save you a considerable amount of stress, and possibly penalties.

National Insurance Contributions

It seems that HMRC is trying to gather every penny in tax and national insurance contributions (NIC), from every possible source. Recently it has been demanding payment of class 2 NICs from landlords and investors in investment partnerships. If you get a bill for back-dated class 2 NICs should you pay it?

The annual class 2 NI liability is a relatively small amount (£143 for 2014/15), but it can provide you with an entitlement to the UK state pension. At least ten full years of NI contributions will be required to receive any state pension if you reach state pension age (SPA) after 5 April 2016. Note that SPA is gradually being increased up from age 65. If you are currently aged under 54 you will not become entitled to your state pension until you reach at least 67.

If your main source of income is rents or investments, paying class 2 NICs for past tax years could provide you with some state pension entitlement. On the other hand if your main income is from an employment, you are probably paying sufficient class 1 NICs in each tax year to gain your pension entitlement. We can help you decide what is best for your circumstances.
 

Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS)

This sounds like a friendly retail outlet where you might buy a pint of milk on a Sunday evening. In fact it is short-hand for the online portal which UK businesses should use from 2015 to account for VAT they owe in respect of digital services provided to customers in other EU countries.

We mentioned this new rule in our July 2014 newsletter. "Digital services" includes a multitude of products such as:

• music downloads;
• video on demand;
• electronic books;
• online games;
• anti-virus services;
• software purchased by download;
• charges by online auction sites;
• sales of data or images online; and
• automated learning or exams.

From 1 January 2015, if you sell a digital service to someone in another EU country, who is not a business (ie an individual, Government body or perhaps a charity), you must account for VAT in the country where that customer belongs. This means you need to charge VAT on your invoice to your overseas customer at the rate that applies in the customer's country, and then pay that VAT to the tax authority of that country.

As there are 28 EU countries it would be an administrative nightmare to complete a quarterly VAT return in every country in which you have customers. Hence the need for an online portal (MOSS) to do all the VAT accounting and payment in one go.

The VAT MOSS portal is now open for businesses to register, but it's not going to solve all the admin nightmares. For instance:

• you need to know the VAT rates that apply to your products in all the countries you sell to;
• your VAT invoices to customers in other countries must comply with the local regulations - which are NOT the same across the EU;
• VAT-MOSS returns must be made for calendar quarters irrespective of the periods for which you draw up your UK VAT return;
• VAT due under MOSS must be paid electronically by the 20th of the month following the end of the quarter, but payment can't be made by direct debit;
• the tax authorities for every EU country you sell to can inspect your sales records, which must be retained for 10 years.

You also need to be VAT registered in the UK before you can use the MOSS system. Contact us and let's talk about what you need to do.
 

November Questions and Answers

Q. Last year I bought a run-down pub and converted it into a restaurant. I registered for VAT after the work was done, but before the restaurant opened. Can I reclaim any of the VAT paid on the costs of converting and fitting out the restaurant?

A. It is easy to see with hindsight, but you should have registered for VAT at the point you started the conversion work. You can claim back VAT charged on services incurred in the six month period that ends with the date you registered for VAT, which might not cover all of the conversion costs.

There is more flexibility for the assets you purchased to use in your restaurant business, such as tables and kitchen equipment. We need to look at each asset purchase individually, but if you still held the assets at the date your VAT registration took effect, the VAT on those purchases should be reclaimable.

Q. HMRC has sent me a tax calculation for 2013/14 which says I owe over £5,000. I don't understand how this much can be due as all my tax is dealt with under PAYE and I don't have any other significant income. What should I do?

A. You will have received a form P800 showing the tax deducted from your pay under PAYE, and the amount of tax due based on your total income for the year. HMRC has admitted that a large number of the P800 forms sent out in recent weeks are incorrect. In many cases part of the taxpayer's income has been double counted, but the tax deducted has not, leading to an apparent underpayment of tax.

Your first step should be to compare the P800 calculation with the P60 form given to you by your employer in May 2014. Where the total income shown on the P60 is less than your employment income shown on the form P800, there may be a problem. Also check if any of the figures on the P800 are estimated, such as rents or interest received. If the HMRC figures appear to be wrong, we can help you get the tax calculation corrected.

Q. My personal service company stopped trading on 31 August 2014, after a good run of 10 years. There is about £22,000 available to distribute to me as the only director/ shareholder. Can I claim entrepreneurs' relief on that pay-out and do I need to show it on the tax return?

A. Distributions from an informal winding-up of a company of no more than £25,000 are treated as capital gains, so you should be within that total with a final distribution of £22,000. If the total distribution from the company made in anticipation of the winding-up exceeds £25,000, then the whole distribution is taxed as income, unless the company is formally liquidated by a liquidator.

As the company has been trading for more than a year and you have held at least 5% of the shares for that time, as well as working for the company, entrepreneurs' relief should apply. This reduces the tax rate payable on the gain to 10% after deducting your annual exemption of £11,000 (for 2014/15), it doesn't eliminate the gain. You need to claim entrepreneurs' relief on your tax return and include a computation of the gain. We can help you with that.
 

November Key Tax Dates

2 - Last day for car change notifications in the quarter to 5 October - Use P46 Car

19/22 - PAYE/NIC, student loan and CIS deductions due for month to 5/11/2014

We are committed to ensuring none of our clients pay a penny more in tax than is necessary and they receive useful tax and business advice and support throughout the year.

If you need further assistance just let us know – we're here to help!

Contact us today on 020 8780 2349 to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for October 2014

This issue … Creating Extra Cash-flow, Understanding the CIS, VAT on International Services, Scottish Taxes, October Questions and Answers, October Key Tax Dates

Creating Extra Cash-flow

Could your creative company benefit from a boost to its cash flow? If it produces computer games, films, high-end TV or animation programmes, it may qualify for a new payable tax credit.

All of these products can qualify for extra tax relief if they can be certified as culturally British, and at least a quarter of the core production costs are incurred in the UK. There are some other conditions:

• only businesses trading as companies can qualify for the tax relief, not individuals or partnerships; and
• the product must be intended for release to, or to be broadcast to the general public, not produced for training or advertising purposes.

High-end TV programmes are essentially quality drama; not news, current affairs or quiz shows. Unfortunately producing original music doesn't qualify as a creative product for these tax reliefs.

There are separate tax relief schemes for the different categories of products, so it is important to look at the detail for your particular sector. However, they all work in broadly the same way: the company can claim an extra 100% deduction for up to 80% of the core production costs. Say the company spends £100,000 in the UK on producing a TV animation programme, if the tax relief applies it would claim an enhanced deduction for those core costs of £180,000.

If your company makes a loss after this deduction, that loss can be surrendered for a payable tax credit. Our tax experts can guide you through the detail of these new tax reliefs.

Understanding the CIS

If you are a contractor in the construction industry it is essential that you deduct the right amount of Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) tax from payments you make to subcontractors.

A common misunderstanding about the CIS is that deductions of CIS tax only have to be made from labour costs. This is not the case, but it may work out like that in practice.

HMRC's instructions are clear, the contractor must deduct the following cost items as listed on the subcontractor's invoice before applying the appropriate rate of CIS tax (20% or 30%) to the net amount:

• VAT charged;
• CITB levy paid;
• materials;
• consumable stores;
• fuel used - except for travelling;
• plant hire; and
• manufacturing or prefabricating materials.

If the contractor does not deduct the right amount of CIS tax they remain liable for that tax to HMRC, unless the contractor can persuade HMRC to demand the CIS tax directly from the subcontractor.

In a recent case the judge was very critical of the company directors and internal accountant for not taking the trouble to read the CIS regulations and taking care to apply them. This is a bit harsh, as the regulations are not easy to understand. However, you should at least make sure that anyone who operates the CIS within your company reads the guidance concerning CIS on the HMRC website. If you are unsure about any aspect of the CIS ask us for clarification.

VAT on International Services

When you sell services to businesses in other countries, the sale will generally be outside the scope of UK VAT. You don't charge VAT on your invoice, but you need to report the value of that sale as part of the total in box 6 on your VAT return. There are exceptions to this general rule for services connected to land, live performances, catering or passenger transport.

If the sale is to a VAT registered business in another EU country the sale must also be reported on your EC Sales list. If your customer is not a business, or is not VAT registered, the sale should not be included on the EC sales list. However, from 2015 sales of various electronic services, broadcasting or telecoms to non-business customers could affect your liability to register for VAT in the customer's country.

If your customer is located outside of the EU, you don't report the sale on the EC sales list, but the value of the sale must still be added to the total to be declared in box 6 on your VAT return.

These distinctions are easy to get wrong, so do ask us if you have any doubts about how to report international sales.

Scottish Taxes

The Scottish people have spoken and the majority have decided they want Scotland to remain part of the UK. However, that doesn't mean everything will remain the same. We already know there will be two new taxes in Scotland from 1 April 2015, and a variation to income tax rates for Scottish taxpayers from 6 April 2016.

If you are planning to buy land or buildings in Scotland, you should be aware that the tax you will pay on top of the purchase price is currently uncertain for completion dates on or after 1 April 2015. This is because Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) will be replaced by Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) for sales of land and buildings in Scotland from that date.

The LBTT will have different rules to the SDLT, which will continue to apply to land transactions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For example, LBTT will have a nil rate band as well as at least two other bands, but probably different bands and rates for residential and non-residential property. The rates and thresholds for the new LBTT are expected to be revealed as part of the Scottish Government's budget in October 2014.

The other new tax from 1 April 2015 is a Scottish replacement for landfill tax. The rates and thresholds for the Scottish landfill tax will also be announced as part of the Scottish Government's Budget for 2015/16 in October 2014.

From 6 April 2016 the Scottish Government will be able to replace 10p out of each tax band with the Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT). This will apply to all individuals resident in Scotland including pensioners, who fall into a new definition of "Scottish taxpayer". However, the SRIT will have to apply within the tax bands imposed by the UK Government, and the personal allowances will not change.

As currently agreed (and this could change following negotiation for further powers) the rate of the SRIT must be the same for all the tax bands. For example, if the SRIT is set at 10p, the total tax rates will remain where they currently stand for the whole of the UK: 20%, 40%, and 45%. If the SRIT is set at say 15p, Scottish taxpayers will pay income tax at 25%, 45% and 50%.

A new tax authority: Revenue Scotland, has been set up to administer the new Scottish taxes, and any other devolved taxes that may follow. Income tax, including SRIT, will continue to be administered by HMRC.

October Questions and Answers

Q. My consulting company holds a significant amount of cash and I would like it to buy a piece of artwork as an investment, what are the tax implications?

A. If the artwork is kept at your home there will be a taxable benefit in kind, which needs to be declared on the annual form P11D.
Say the artwork cost £30,000:
You will pay income tax on 20% x £30,000 = £6,000 at your marginal rate, each year. The company must also pay class 1A NICs of 13.8% x £6,000 = £828 per year.

If the artwork is to be kept in a bank vault as a pure investment, there won't be a benefit in kind charge for you. However, the business must pay the insurance and storage costs, for which there will be no tax deduction. There is also no tax deduction for the cost of buying the artwork as it is not an item used for the business.

If the company closes, any creditors will be able to access the value of that art, just as if it was cash. If the business is solvent when it closes holding significant investments, it may not qualify for entrepreneurs' relief, which would otherwise reduce the tax you pay on any gain made on the liquidated asset of the company down to 10%.

Q. I am currently aged 57 and while I have been out of the country, I have paid voluntary national insurance contributions to allow me to qualify for the state pension. I recently asked the Pensions Service whether I need to carry on paying voluntary NICs but I'm very confused about the answer. Do I need 10, 30 or 35 qualifying years, to get the full state pension?

A. The rules for qualifying for the State Pension will change for anyone who reaches state pension age after 5 April 2016, so that includes you. A person currently needs 30 years of NICs to achieve full entitlement to the state pension, but that is to increase to 35 years for people who reach state pension age from April 2016. You will need a minimum of 10 qualifying years to get any of the new state pension, which will be paid at a flat rate.

Q. How can I easily calculate a total amount to claim for the self-employed business I run from my home, for example, the total amount of usage for rent, gas, insurance, council tax, internet usage and broadband?

A. There is an easy way to calculate the deductible amount of your home expenses, you simply record how many hours you work at home each month and claim the appropriate flat rate:

• Working 25 to 50 hours at home allows a £10 claim for the month
• Working 51 to 100 hours at home allows a £18 claim for the month
• Working 101 or more hours at home allows a £26 claim for the month

This rate covers the cost of power, telephone, internet access, but it doesn't cover council tax, insurance, rent or mortgage interest. Those other costs should be apportioned according to the space you use for your business in the property, and how many hours you use that space. We can help you with the calculation.

October Key Tax Dates

1 - Due date for payment of Corporation Tax for the year ended 31 December 2013

5 - If a Tax Return has not been received, individuals and trustees must notify HMRC of new sources of income and chargeability in 2013/14

14 - Return and payment of CT61 tax due for quarter to 30 September 2014

19 - Tax and Class 1B national insurance due on PAYE settlements for 2013/14

19/22 - PAYE/NIC, student loan and CIS deductions due for month to 5/10/2014 or quarter 2 of 2014/15 for small employers

31 - Deadline for 2013/14 self-assessment paper returns to be filed for HMRC to do the tax calculation. If a paper return is being filed also the deadline for tax underpaid to be collected by adjustment to your 2015/16 PAYE code (for underpayments of up to £3000 only)

We are committed to ensuring none of our clients pay a penny more in tax than is necessary and they receive useful tax and business advice and support throughout the year.

If you need further assistance just let us know – we're here to help!

Contact us today on 020 8780 2349 to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for September 2014

This issue … Late Filing Penalties, Redress Payments, VAT On Multi-products, Travel Question, September Questions and Answers, September Key Tax Dates

Late Filing Penalties

From 6 October 2014 the HMRC computer will automatically issue you with a penalty if you submit your full payment submission (FPS) under RTI "late", or don't submit it at all for a month in which you paid your employees.

So what makes the FPS "late"? HMRC say the FPS must be submitted on or before the day the employer pays the employees (the "payment date"). But is that the day the funds leave the employer's bank account or the day the employee receives the money?

In fact the "payment date" for RTI purposes is neither of these dates. It is the date contractually agreed between the employer and the employee to be the date on which the employee is to be paid. If the funds happen to be passed to the employee on an earlier or later date, perhaps due to a bank holiday, that doesn't change the "payment date". This is explained in HMRC's RTI guidance on non-banking days.

So whatever the payment date is in your employee's contract (verbal or written), that is the date that you should enter in the payroll software as the regular payment date. As long as the FPS is submitted before that regular payment date, you should be able to avoid any late filing penalty.

In fact you will be allowed one late filing per tax year without incurring a penalty. The HMRC computer will warn you that you have submitted your FPS late by sending an electronic notice sent through HMRC's PAYE online service. You may have already received some of these electronic warning messages, but at present no penalties have been issued. If you receive any more late filing warnings do let us know as the late filing penalties can be up to £400 per month for large payrolls.

Redress Payments

Was your business mis-sold an interest rate hedging product (IRHP) by its bank? The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has required the banks concerned to make redress payments to the wronged businesses, and some of those payments are coming through now.

If you receive an IRHP redress payment it will be made up of:

• consequential losses and basic redress; and
• interest is paid at 8%.

The bank may deduct tax at 20% from the interest element, where it is paid to an unincorporated business. Look out for such tax deductions declared in the documentation supplied by the bank. The interest and any tax deducted needs to be shown on the business tax return. However, if you trade as a company the interest should be shown as loan relationship income not as trading income.

If the original IRHP payments were treated as trading deductions for your business, the redress payment should be included as trading income in your accounts. It should be included in the accounts for the period in which it is received. If the redress is paid by instalments, each instalment should be included in the business accounts for the period in which it is received.

If the original IRHP payments were not treated as taxable deductions (perhaps because the product was treated as a hedging asset in your company accounts) the redress payment may be treated as a capital receipt. We can advise you on the correct accounting and tax treatment.

VAT On Multi-products

Most products and services are subject to standard rate VAT at 20%, but some products are zero-rated (VAT applied at 0%), while others, e.g. rent for certain buildings, are exempt from VAT. There is a limited range of products and services that attract 5% VAT.

If you supply a package which is made up of products and services which carry different rates of VAT, you need to be sure of the split to charge the right amount of VAT to your customers. The VAT man may insist that you charge VAT at the highest rate if he thinks the lower-rated product is only incidental to the total package the customer is buying. For example, a printed leaflet (zero rate) sold with a DVD (standard rate).

Say you own a large retail building and let out space within it as shops and in it are shops for antique dealers. The rent is exempt from VAT if you have not "opted to tax" your whole building. Each dealer can ask you to sell stock on their behalf if he is not present when a customer arrives. This selling service should be standard rated as an agency service.

In a similar case to this the VAT man argued that the whole charge to the dealers (rent and selling service) should be charged at 20% VAT. Fortunately, the Tax Tribunal disagreed and ruled there were two elements which should have separate VAT charges, as this is how the antique dealers viewed the arrangement.

If your products have several elements with different VAT treatments, talk to us about how your customers view the mix, and how you should split the VAT charges.

Travel Question

If you contract through your own personal service company (PSC), you will be an employee of that company and you have to obey the strict tax rules that apply to employees' travel deductions when claiming expenses from your PSC.

The first rule is that the cost of ordinary commuting cannot be claimed. This is defined as travel to a permanent workplace, which is somewhere attended regularly to perform the duties of the employment. Travel costs to a temporary workplace can be claimed, but the conditions that make a workplace 'temporary' must be met.

A place is not a temporary workplace if the employee attends for a continuous period of more than 24 months, or the attendance is expected to last more than 24 months. If your PSC takes on a contract that is expected to last say 36 months at one location, you can't claim travel costs to that location, as your workplace is not a temporary workplace from the start of the contract.

Another definition of 'temporary workplace' is one which the worker attends to perform a task of limited duration or for some other temporary purpose. HMRC has a rule of thumb that if the worker is attending a place for 40% or more of his working time, that is a permanent workplace and travel costs to the location can't be claimed.

If you work at your client's office for say 15 hours per week out of a 40-hour normal working week, your client's office is a temporary location even if the contract exceeds 24 months. Please discuss the matter of travel expenses with us before you take on a long contract, as the deductibility of the travel costs may tip the balance on whether the contract is worthwhile.

September Questions and Answers

Q. Private school fees are so expensive, can I get my company to pay the fees directly and save myself a bit of tax?

A. If the company pays a bill, such as the school fees, which you are personally liable to pay, the payment is treated for national insurance (NI) purposes, as if the company had paid it to you so the company must pay employers NI on top of the amount of the fee. However, it is a benefit in kind so it must be reported on the form P11D and the income tax you are due to pay will be included in your PAYE code for the next year. In the long run you don't save any tax or NI.

If your company contracts directly with the school to be the person responsible for paying the school fees, the tax position is slightly different. The payment must be treated as a benefit in kind and reported on your form P11D, and the company must pay class 1A NICs on the amount paid. You pay tax on the payment to the school, but not NICs.

Q. I was travelling abroad on business last month when I got terrible tooth ache. I sought emergency treatment at a local dentist and paid the bill using my company's debit card. Will I be taxed on the dentist's fee as a benefit in kind?

A. If the dental cost had been incurred while you were in the UK, it would have been a taxable benefit for you. But as you were working outside the UK at the time, your company can pick up the bill with no tax cost to you. The dental bill is also a valid deduction for the company as it forms part of the cost of sending you to work abroad for a short period.

Q. I own several properties which I let out unfurnished, but they do contain carpets, curtains and white goods. I've been told I can no longer claim the cost of replacing those items against my rental income. Is that true?

A. For periods before 6 April 2013 HMRC permitted a deduction for the cost of renewing carpets, curtains and white goods in all let residential properties on a concessionary basis. That concession was withdrawn with effect from 6 April 2013. The new rules now state that a wear and tear allowance (10% of the net rents) that covers furnishings and similar items, can only be claimed for fully furnished properties.

Your properties don't count as fully furnished, even though they contain some white goods and carpets. HMRC will not accept claims for the cost of free-standing white goods in unfurnished residential properties. It will allow a deduction for the cost of replacing fixtures such as baths, toilets, integrated fitted ovens and hobs, as those costs can be classified as repairs. If you replace part of the fitted carpet you could claim that as a repair, but not the cost of putting new carpet down in the entire property.

September Key Tax Dates

19/22 - PAYE/NIC and CIS deductions due for month to 5/09/2014

30 - Closing date to claim Small Business Rate Relief for 2013/14 in England

We are committed to ensuring none of our clients pay a penny more in tax than is necessary and they receive useful tax and business advice and support throughout the year.

If you need further assistance just let us know – we're here to help!

Contact us today on 020 8780 2349 to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for August 2014

This issue … Accelerated Payments, Maximising Statutory Maternity Pay, Commission Refunds, EC Sales Lists, August Questions and Answers, August Key Tax Dates

Accelerated Payments

The Taxman now has the power to demand tax from you if you have used a registered tax avoidance scheme, or if he thinks the tax scheme you have used is similar to one that has been judged to fail by a Court or Tribunal.

For some years most tax avoidance schemes have been registered under the Disclosure Of Tax Avoidance Scheme (DOTAS) rules. Each scheme was issued with a DOTAS reference number, known as a "DOTAS number" or SRN, which had to be shown on tax returns of taxpayers who used the scheme.

If you were advised to include a DOTAS number on your tax return, and HMRC has already opened an enquiry into that tax return you should watch the post for a tax demand headed "Accelerated Payment Notice". This could arrive at anytime from now until April 2016.

If you receive an accelerated payment notice you can't appeal against it, but you can ask HMRC to reconsider the amount demanded within 90 days. We can help you with this.

You may also want to consider some other options such as:

• negotiating a settlement with HMRC to resolve the dispute over the tax scheme you used - there may well be interest and penalties to pay.
• asking the Tax Tribunal to close the enquiry into your tax return - this is an option if you really believe the tax you avoided is not due, i.e., the scheme works; or
• asking for a payment arrangement in which you agree to pay the tax demanded by instalments.

We should discuss the consequences of paying the accelerated tax demand on the rest of your tax affairs; will you be able to meet your other tax liabilities when they are due?

Maximising Statutory Maternity Pay

Paying statutory maternity pay (SMP) is not optional. It must be paid if your employee qualifies, but the good news is that a small business can recover 103% of the SMP paid from HMRC. A business that pays less than £45,000 of class 1 NICs in one tax year is defined as "small" for this purpose.

In a family business there may be scope for maximising the SMP payable for the first six weeks of maternity leave, and hence getting the Government to refund that SMP with a bit extra to cover the employer's NICs due. Let's see how this could work.

Where the employee earns at least £111 per week the employer must pay SMP at these rates for the following periods:

• for the first 6 weeks - 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings (AWE);
• the remaining 33 weeks - the lower of £138.18 or 90% of their AWE.

If a bonus is paid in the crucial "relevant period" - which is used to calculate the employee's "average weekly earnings" - the SMP payable for the first six weeks automatically increases. The remaining 33 weeks of SMP are not affected as that period is paid at a flat rate where earnings exceed £153.53 per week.

The relevant period is a period of at least 8 weeks ending on the pay day before the "qualifying week". The qualifying week falls 15 weeks before the expected birth date, so you need to know the expected date of birth before timing the bonus payment.

Say the expectant mother normally earns £520 per week, she will receive £468 per week in gross SMP for the first six weeks. Her employer will pay class 1 NICS of £260.82 on top of this SMP and will be able to recover: £468 x 1.03% = £2,892.24. If the class 1 NICs on the SMP are covered by the employment allowance of £2,000 for the business, the employer effectively recovers £2892.24 against an SMP cost of £2808.

However, paying a large bonus won't necessarily be tax effective; it depends on how much NICs can be covered by the employment allowance.

Say the employee receives a bonus payment of £2,000 in the relevant period, this bonus generates an employer's NICs bill of £276, and increases her AWE and hence her SMP for the first six weeks to £675 per week. Her employer can recover £675 x 1.03% for six weeks = £4171.50.

But this is a marginal increase from £2892.24 which was recovered without the bonus; an increase of £1279.26 for paying out £2447.40 (bonus + NICs on the bonus and SMP).

There is a calculator on the GOV.UK website that can help you work out the SMP that will be due, and you can change the answers to each question to see how difference in pay will change the SMP. We can also help you crunch the numbers.

Commission Refunds

If you invest through a firm of financial advisers, you may well receive a repayment of commission from that firm each year. In previous years any refunded commission was rolled into the earnings from your investments or set against charges, so you may not have been aware of it. However, from 6 April 2013 the financial adviser must deduct interest from any refunded commission and show the amounts paid and deducted separately on your annual statement.

You should look out for these refunded amounts on your investment statement for 2013/14, as it must be declared on your 2013/14 tax return. However, don't add it into your interest, or dividend income. The correct place to declare the refunded commission is in box 16 on your self-assessment tax return under "other taxable income", with an explanation of the income in box 20.

We will do this for you when we complete your tax return, but please remember to provide us a copy of your investment statement that shows the refunded commission.

EC Sales Lists

If your business is VAT registered and you sell goods or services into other European countries you must generally also submit an additional form to the Government called an EC Sales List (ESL also known as form VAT101). There are no payments to be made or reclaimed with the ESL, as you do on your quarterly VAT return form, but you must submit the ESL on time or HMRC will charge a penalty for late submission.

If you export goods worth more than £35,000 per year you will need to complete a monthly ESL, otherwise it's a quarterly task. However, where your total turnover is less than £106,500 and you export less than £11,000 you can ask HMRC for permission to submit just one ESL per year.

HMRC should send you an ESL form to complete if you have filled in box 8 on your VAT return. Don't ignore it, as the deadline for returning the form is just 14 days from the end of the quarter. If you chose to complete an online version of the ESL you have 21 days from the end of the quarter. These deadlines are much shorter than that for your quarterly VAT return.

We can complete and submit the ESL online on your behalf.

August Questions and Answers

Q. In July 2011 I sold a property which had been used for my business. I planned to reinvest the proceeds in another property, but that acquisition never happened. I know I should now pay Capital Gains Tax on the gain made in July 2011. How do I go about doing that?

A. The period in which you should have reinvested the proceeds ran out in July 2014, so you do need to pay the CGT due for 2011/12 unless you get the tax inspector to agree to extend the period for reinvestment. He will only agree to an extension if you were prevented from reinvesting by circumstances beyond your control.

The disposal made in July 2011 should have been reported on your 2011/12 tax return as part of your provisional claim for roll-over relief. You should now write to the tax office to withdraw that provisional claim and declare the full taxable gain. The tax will be payable immediately and interest will run from 31 January 2013.

Q. I work as a self-employed courier for a large courier company who operates self-billing for VAT purposes and pays me monthly. I have just registered for VAT which has been back-dated to 1 May 2014. What should I do to collect the VAT due for May, June and July?

A. You should ask your customer if it is acceptable for you to issue a VAT only invoice to them. Calculate the VAT due as if the total amounts you have received in May to July under self-billing are the net amount of your fees for the period. You should also supply your customer with a copy of your VAT registration certificate, so the company knows to add VAT to your self-billing invoices in the future.

Q. My personal service company is about take on an IT servicing contract in Belgium. The customer will pay me a rate for every day I attend their premises, on top of my fee for the whole contract. This 'per diem' rate is less than HMRC's benchmark rate for expenses when working in Belgium. Can it be paid directly to me personally or should it be paid to my personal service company?

A. The 'per diem' rate should be paid to your company and be included in its turnover for VAT purposes, so treat it as a gross receipt including VAT. Your company can pay you expenses for working abroad, at or below the HMRC agreed benchmark rates. Do not short circuit this by accepting the per diem rate straight into your personal bank account as this will create a VAT mess.

August Key Tax Dates

2 - Last day for car change notifications in the quarter to 5 July - Use P46 Car

19/22 - PAYE/NIC, student loan and CIS deductions due for month to 5/8/2014

We are committed to ensuring none of our clients pay a penny more in tax than is necessary and they receive useful tax and business advice and support throughout the year.

If you need further assistance just let us know – we're here to help!

Contact us today on 020 8780 2349 to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for July 2014

This issue … RTI Penalty Notices; VAT on Digital Services; PAYE Reconciliations; Scary Letters; July Questions and Answers; July Key Tax Dates

Real Time Information (RTI) Penalty Notices

As an employer you may have received an RTI penalty warning letter accusing you of not submitting all of the RTI returns required for 2013/14. However, that letter may be incorrect.

HMRC has admitted that its computer has churned out inappropriate penalty warning letters to employers who have submitted employer payment summaries (EPS) during 2013/14. If you have submitted all the required RTI returns for the tax year you can ignore the warning letter, as a penalty will not be charged.

This "cry wolf" by HMRC sets a dangerous precedent, as you may be inclined to ignore further RTI penalty warning letters that could be issued later this year.

From October 2014 new penalties come into effect where the monthly full payment submission (FPS) is submitted late, or an EPS is not submitted where an FPS is not required as no payments are made. If or when those new penalties arrive you will be able to appeal against the penalty online. Note this online appeal system is not up and running yet.

From October 2014 the FPS will contain a new box that allows you to tell HMRC why the FPS is apparently late, perhaps because you are taking advantage of the concession for payrolls with nine or fewer employees.

The EPS will also be changed in October so it will relate to a particular tax month. This will avoid the need to file the EPS in the window of 20th of the current month to 19th of the following month to ensure it is applied by HMRC to the appropriate tax month.

VAT on Digital Services

Do you sell digital services such as: music or software downloads, e-books or online videos? If so, do you know where your customers are, and whether they are businesses or individuals?

From 1st January 2015, when you sell digital services across international borders you will have to collect information about your customers to determine if they are businesses or not, and where they are based. Where your international sale is to a non-business customer, from 2015 you will have to charge that customer VAT of the country where he or she is located (if that's in the EU). You will also have to register for VAT in your customer's country. This is because the VAT threshold for traders selling into other EU countries is zero.

Many music and software creators are suspicious of the large online stores such as iTunes, and want to sell their tunes or games directly to their customers. If you sell through a large online store, that store sorts out the VAT so you don't have to worry about it. However, if you sell your digital product directly to non-business customers who are located in other EU countries from 1st January 2015, you must deal with the VAT consequences.

The easiest way to do this will be through the HMRC website under a system called VAT-MOSS. This system goes live from October 2014, and it will allow you to account for VAT in all the EU countries you sell services to.

However, in order to use VAT-MOSS you must first be registered for VAT in the UK. If you are not already VAT registered, perhaps because your turnover does not exceed the UK VAT threshold of £81,000, you need to pick one of these options:

1. register for VAT in the UK;
2. stop selling digital services to non-business customers outside the UK; or
3. sell only through online stores or other businesses.

We can help you make this choice and do the necessary registrations.

PAYE Reconciliations

If most of your income is taxed under PAYE (Pay As You Earn) you may soon receive a reconciliation of the income tax you have paid compared to the amount that was due to be paid for 2013/14. This calculation arrives on a form P800, which should be checked very carefully for errors and omissions. If mistakes are missed they can be carried forward for several years, resulting in escalating amounts of tax over or under-paid.

For example, the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) may be due where you earn over £50,000 and your family receives child benefit. But the HICBC will not be reflected in the P800 calculation, as HMRC can't accurately match child benefit claimants with the high earners in those families. If you believe you are due to pay the HICBC to claw-back the child benefit received, you need to register for a self-assessment and complete a tax return. We can help you with that.

Other common errors on the P800 arise from the changing value of taxable benefits, varying pension contributions, and estimated amounts of other income included in your PAYE code such as rents or interest.

If you have paid the right amount of tax under PAYE for 2013/14 you won't receive a communication from HMRC. If you have overpaid tax you should receive a cheque from HMRC within two weeks of the issue of the P800. Don't respond to emails promising a tax repayment - those are scams.

If the P800 shows you owe tax, that amount will normally be collected through your PAYE code for 2015/16. We can help you challenge the calculation if you think it's wrong, but we will need to see the P800 you have received, as HMRC don't send us a copy.

Scary Letters

Have you received a scary letter from HMRC lately? Perhaps all HMRC letters are scary, but this latest nudge-letter really takes the biscuit.

In it HMRC says the taxpayer's effective rate of income tax is lower than the average for taxpayers with similar levels of income. It goes on to suggest that there could be something wrong with the self-assessment tax return for 2011/12 and the taxpayer should check what they submitted for that year. Penalties and interest are mentioned, which would worry anyone - even those with nothing to hide.

Bear in mind the period in which the 2011/12 tax return can be investigated closed for most taxpayers on 31st January 2014. This means HMRC can't open an enquiry into your tax return for that year unless it discovers new information which was previously not disclosed.

HMRC sent these letters as part of a pilot to nudge non-compliant taxpayers into paying the right amount of tax. However, in this case HMRC made no attempt to screen out those taxpayers who have good reasons for paying a low proportion of their income in tax - for example because of a loss claim, gift aid donation, or pension contribution. HMRC did not read the disclosures on the tax return before pressing the send button.

If you receive a scary letter from HMRC, call us immediately. It may be another "test" by HMRC trying to squeeze more tax and penalties out of innocent taxpayers, but it could be more serious.

July Questions and Answers

Q. Our company's board has decided it needs some expert input to help with the next stage of expansion. We have approached an individual to act as a non-executive director. He wants to invoice us from his personal service company for that work, but I would rather pay him via our company's payroll. Which is the correct approach?

A. The work that individual performs through his personal service as an officer holder (i.e. director or non-executive director) is now subject to IR35, which means his company must apply PAYE and NIC to that income earned as a non-exec. The tax and NI the individual ultimately bears will be the same; whether his company invoices your company, or if your company pays him via its payroll. There is no "correct" approach.

Q. I am thinking of selling a flat that has been let since I acquired it in 2012. I do not own another property. My tenant is moving out soon, after which I will either stay in it myself or sell it. Will I get lettings relief to reduce the capital gains tax (CGT) payable?

A. Lettings relief only applies if you have lived in the property as your main home for some period. So if your tenant moves out and you sell the property immediately you will not get lettings relief, or any relief from CGT, other than the annual exemption.

However, if you move into the property and make it your own home, the gain relating to your period of occupation will be free of CGT. The last 18 months of ownership will also be free of CGT even if you are not living in the property during that period. The total gain on sale can also be reduced by lettings relief, which is limited to the lowest of these three amounts:

• the part of the gain which is exempt because the property was your main home;
• the gain attributed to the period it was let; and
• £40,000.

There are thus large tax savings to be made by occupying the property as your main home, but you must show that you intended the property to be a permanent residence, not a temporary occupation while the property was on the market. It is the quality of occupation not the length of time that demonstrates the property was your main home.

Q. I do some educational consultancy work in Africa for a business based in Ireland. My UK-based company will issue the invoice for that work, but it's in the flat rate scheme for VAT. Should that invoice be included in the turnover I apply the flat rate to?

A. The invoice your UK Company sends to Ireland for your work in Africa is outside the scope of VAT. You should not add VAT to that invoice, and you should exclude that invoice from the turnover used to calculate your flat rate payment of VAT for the quarter.

July Key Tax Dates

5 - Deadline for PAYE settlement agreement for 2013/14

6 - Deadline for 2013/14 forms P11Db, P11D and P9D to be submitted and copies of P11D and P9D to be issued to relevant employees

Deadline for employers to report share incentives for 2013/14 - form 42

14 - Return and Payment of CT61 tax due for quarter to 30 June 2014

19/22 - PAYE/NIC, student loan and CIS deductions due for month to 5/7/2014 or quarter 1 of 2014/15 for small employers

31 - Second self-assessment payment on account due for 2013/14

Second 5% penalty surcharge on any 2012/13 outstanding tax due on 31 January 2014 still unpaid

Deadline for Tax Credits to finalise claims for 2013/14 and renew claims for 2014/15

Half yearly Class 2 NIC payment due

Penalty of 5% of tax due or £300, whichever is greater for 2012/13 personal tax returns still not filed

We are committed to ensuring none of our clients pay a penny more in tax than is necessary and they receive useful tax and business advice and support throughout the year.

If you need further assistance just let us know – we're here to help!

Contact us today on 020 8780 2349 to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for June 2014

This issue … Marginal Tax Rates, Real Time Information (RTI) Interest, VAT and Discounts, Auto-enrolment, June Questions and Answers, June Key Tax Dates

Marginal Tax Rates

What rate of tax would you pay on an additional £1 of earnings? If your annual income is between £41,865 and £150,000 you may think the tax rate would be 40%, but the peculiarities of the UK tax system mean you could pay much more.

To start with earned income above the 40% threshold carries a national insurance charge (NICs) of 2% so for every £1 you earn above £41,865 (for 2014/15) you will pay 42% in tax and NICs.

Child benefit is withdrawn from the highest earner in the family at the rate of 1% of the benefit for each £100 of income exceeding £50,000 per year. This translates into an effective marginal tax rate of 60% on income between £50,000 and £60,000.

When your income exceeds £100,000 your personal allowance is withdrawn at the rate of £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000. This is an effective tax rate of 62% including NICs.

From 6 April 2015 married couples will be able to transfer up to 10% of their personal allowance between them. This will allow up to £1,050 of the allowance to be transferred from the person who earns less than £10,500, to their spouse who earns up to the 40% threshold. Thus £1 of additional income that takes you over the 40% threshold will mean you lose the whole of that transferable allowance - an infinite marginal tax rate.

If you are able to control the level of your taxable income, perhaps because you run your own business, it makes sense to adjust your income to avoid those high marginal tax rates. Perhaps you could employ other members of your family, or take them into business with you as partners, to spread the business income.

Payments of pension contributions and Gift Aid donations can stretch your 40% threshold, so the higher earner in the family should making those charitable donations and pay pension contributions. We can help you plan to avoid the highest tax rates and make the best use of all allowances available.

Real Time Information (RTI) Interest

In the past some employers would play the PAYE system, holding on to the PAYE deductions until the last payment date of the year, and then paying the balance due before interest was charged. That is no longer possible under real-time information (RTI), as interest is now charged on late paid PAYE and CIS deductions on a monthly basis throughout the tax year.

The interest is applied to payments which fall due on and after 19 May 2014, which are paid late. If you check your business tax dashboard on the HMRC website, you may see interest accrued from 19th of the month. Where you pay the PAYE due electronically the payment is due by 22nd of the month. In the case of an electronic payment the interest charged from 19th to 22nd should be cancelled.

However, there is a known problem which HMRC are working to fix. If your business made no full payment submissions (FPS) for a tax month (perhaps because no wages were paid), HMRC may have estimated the PAYE due and added that estimated amount to your PAYE account. The estimated PAYE debt is called a "specified charge". Interest accrues on the specified charge as if it was real PAYE due.

The way to get rid of a specified charge is to submit a nil Employer Payment Summary (EPS) for each of the tax months for which the specified charge has been raised for. This should also remove the interest accrued on the specified charge, but currently it doesn't. HMRC say this interest will not be pursued, and it will be removed from the PAYE account when the software is fixed.

VAT and Discounts

Do you offer prompt payment discounts to your customers - known as PPDs?

Under UK law VAT is payable on the net amount after deducting the discount, whether or not the customer takes advantage of the discount.

Say you sell a carpet for £1,000 + VAT, and offer 3% discount if the customer pays with 10 days. VAT is charged at 20% on £970 ie £194, rather than as 20% of £1,000 which is £200. Even if the customer takes two weeks to pay and thus doesn't qualify for the PPD, the amount due will be £1194.

This is a ripe loophole ready for blocking, and that is exactly what the Government is going to do from 1 April 2015. From that date it is proposed that VAT will be due to the amount the customer actually pays. So in the example above where the customer doesn't take up the PPD he pays the full £1000 plus VAT of £200.

The PPD VAT-dodge has been widely exploited by suppliers of telecommunications and broadcasting services, so the use of PPDs to reduce VAT due has already been blocked in those sectors from 1 May 2014, where the customer can't recover the VAT charged. Those will be non-business customers.

If you offer PPDs you may need to change your sales software. We will keep you informed of the details of the changes, when they are announced nearer the time.

Auto-enrolment

Auto-enrolment is the term for the law that requires all employers to register their employees into a qualifying workplace pension scheme. This requirement is being rolled-out to the largest employers first and will eventually apply to the smallest employers from June 2015 onwards.

For example if you have 62 to 89 employees you have to apply auto-enrolment from 1 July 2014. Those with larger payrolls should already have auto-enrolment in place.

There are let-outs; auto-enrolment only applies to employees working in the UK who are aged 22 to state pension age, and who earn more than the personal allowance (£10,000 for 2014/15). After being enrolled in to a pension scheme, each employee has an opt-out period of one month whereby they can receive a full refund of any contributions already made. Another opt-out opportunity must be offered every three years.

Once the workplace pension scheme is running both the employee and the employer must make contributions, which will start at 1% of qualifying earnings rising to a total of 8%. Qualifying earnings consist of pensionable pay in the range £5,772 to £41,865 (for 2014/15). The employee's employment contract will define what "pensionable pay" is.

We can help you work out what auto-enrolment may cost you, and which employees will be covered. There is a lot to think about, and if you haven't already got a suitable pension scheme in place you will need to set one up. There are significant penalties for employers who fail to enrol employees on time, so don't let the auto-enrolment timetable overtake you.

June Questions and Answers

Q. My father resigned as a director of our family business in March, and started to draw his pension, but he retained 15% of the shares in the company. It seems likely that company will be sold later this year. Will my father get entrepreneurs' relief on any the gain he makes on his shares?

A. Unfortunately not. To qualify for entrepreneurs' relief the shareholder must be an employee or officer (director or company secretary) for the full 12 months that ends with the sale of the shares, or the date the company ceases to trade. If you reappoint your father as a director (he doesn't have to get paid for that role) and then wait for 12 months before the sale, he should qualify for entrepreneurs' relief.

Q. I have just received my renewal pack for claiming working tax credits, but the income figure for 2013/14 doesn't agree with my P60 form and payslips from my employer - by a wide margin. What's gone wrong and what should I do?

A. The difference between the figures could be due to any of the following;

• Where you have more than one source of income (perhaps a redundancy payment from a previous employment) your tax credits renewal notice will show the total from all the sources that you received inc ome from in 2013/14.
• Your pay shown on the P60 may have been corrected at a late stage after the Tax Credits Office extracted the figures used for the renewal notice.
• Your income counted for tax credits includes the value of certain benefits in kind such as the provision of a company car, which isn't included in the amounts reported on the form P60 or on payslips. The value of those benefits will be reported on a form P11D which you should receive by 6 July.

If you believe the tax credits income figure for 2013/14 is wrong ring the number given in the renewal pack and report the correct figure.

Q. I run a small independent chemist which has three employees. I was told that my business would not qualify for the employment allowance as a good deal of our work involves dispensing NHS prescriptions. Is that true?

A. The initial guidance from HMRC appeared to indicate that pharmacies would not qualify for the employment allowance, which is worth up to £2000 per year. However, revised guidance from HMRC confirms that independent pharmacies that are conducting a business, including over the counter sales as well as dispensing NHS prescriptions, are entitled to claim the employment allowance.

June Key Tax Dates

19/22 - PAYE/NIC and CIS deductions due for month to 5/6/2014

We are committed to ensuring none of our clients pay a penny more in tax than is necessary and they receive useful tax and business advice and support throughout the year.

If you need further assistance just let us know – we're here to help!

Contact us today on 020 8780 2349 to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for April 2014

This issue ... Salary and Dividend Strategy 2014, Salaried Members of LLPs, Cross-border Services, Search for Landlords, April Question and Answer Section & April Key Tax Dates

Salary and Dividend Strategy 2014

As a director and shareholder of your own company you can decide how much salary to pay yourself each month in order to use your tax-free personal allowance in the most tax-efficient way. Any further funds you need can be extracted as a dividend if the company is making a profit.

If you are a director of your company and you don't have a contract that sets out terms of employment with the company, you don't have to pay yourself the national minimum wage. So how much should you pay yourself?

For 2014/15 if you were born after 5 April 1948 you have a tax free personal allowance of £833 per month (£10,000 per year). You could take a salary at that level and pay no income tax, assuming you have no other taxable benefits from the company such as a car.

However, you will pay national insurance (NICs) on that salary as the NICs threshold is only £663 per month. From a gross salary of £833 the company must deduct NI of £20.40 and set-aside employer's NI of £23.46 on top. The company will have an employment allowance of £2,000 for the year to set against its employer's NI due on all its employees, so it won't have to pay over employer's NI until that £2000 is used up.

If you take a salary of just above the NI lower earnings threshold of £481 per month, you will get an NI credit towards your state pension, but you don't pay any tax or NI. However, at that annual salary level (£5,772) you will be "wasting" £4,228 of your tax-free personal allowance, unless you have other income to cover it.

Talk to us about the best salary level for you, which takes into account all your other sources of income.

Salaried Members of LLPs

Do you operate your business as an LLP? If you do, you need to be aware of the change in tax treatment of certain LLP members from 6 April 2014. Members who meet all of these conditions will be taxed as employees:

A. works for the LLP as an LLP member and at least 80% of the amounts paid to him for that work are disguised salary;
B. does not have significant influence over the affairs of the whole of the LLP; and
C. is not required to contribute funds to the LLP (a capital contribution), or if he does contribute funds that contribution is less than 25% of his disguised salary for the current tax year.

From the member's perspective the easiest of the conditions to break is C - provide capital to the LLP (aka: partner's loan). Current members of the LLP will have until 6 July 2014 to contribute the required level of capital, but they must make a firm commitment to do this by 6 April 2014. Members who join the LLP on or after 6 April 2014 will have two months in which to raise the required level of capital to break condition C.

If you are caught by these new rules and become a deemed employee of the LLP on 6 April 2014, you will cease being self-employed on 5 April 2014. Depending on the accounts year-end of the LLP, you could be taxed on up to 23 months of profit in 2013/14, subject to any overlap relief. The on-account tax payment you made on 31 January 2014 will almost certainly be incorrect. Talk to us about recalculating your tax payments for 2013/14 and 2014/15.

The LLP business that has members caught by these new rules will have to set up a PAYE scheme if it doesn't already have one. We can help you with that.

ross-border Services

You may have heard that the price of electronic books and music may rise on 1 January 2015. This is because electronic services (including e-books and music), will be subject to VAT in the country where the customer lives from 2015. Currently, large suppliers of electronic services tend base themselves in the EU country with the lowest rate of VAT, so they can sell their services with that low rate attached.

This change in the law could affect your business if you sell electronic services to non-business customers in other EU countries. "Electronic services" includes a wide range of things including the provision of software online, writing or supporting websites.

Say you design a website for someone in France (who is not a business). From 2015 that sale will be subject to French VAT rates and you will probably have to register for VAT in France, as the French VAT registration threshold is very low. Similarly, you may have to register for VAT in other EU countries where you sell electronic services to non-business customers.

Fortunately, there will be a "mini one-stop shop" (MOSS) on the HMRC website that will allow you to register for VAT in all the EU countries in which you sell electronic services, and make a single VAT return for all those countries. The MOSS will be open to start the registration process from October 2014.

In the meantime you need to check which of your products will come within the definition of "electronic services" for these new rules. We can help you with that.

If you are selling across EU borders you also need to think about the following:

• How to identify the location of your customers, and store that information.
• How to determine if your customer is in business or not, and what evidence will you need to support this decision.
• If you sell through an agency, check what the contract says about who takes responsibility for VAT registration.

Search for Landlords

In our March newsletter we told you about HMRC's let property campaign (LPC) which aims to nudge landlords into confessing undeclared rental income. We also warned that HMRC is actively looking for errant landlords. We now know how those landlords will be found.

HMRC is writing to letting agents in the UK, asking them to provide details of the properties they have let in 2012/13, including the amount collected per property and the addresses of the let property and the landlord. The letting agent is given just 60 days to provide the information, or face a penalty of £300, and further penalties of £60 per day for additional delays.

The agent also can't refuse to provide its customers' details on the grounds that such personal information is protected by Data Protection Act 1998, as the tax law overrules the Data Protection Act in these circumstances.

If you have received such a request from HMRC we can help you compile the information in the form demanded - which must be on a pre-defined spreadsheet.

If you think your overseas property will never be found by the Taxman, think again. HMRC is using its "connect" programme to search holiday rental websites for UK residents who are letting overseas properties. If you live in the UK your overseas rents should be declared in the UK, as well as to the local tax authorities. Even if you make no profit from the property, you still need to show all the income and expenses on your tax return.

April Question and Answer Section

Q. I've recently made a gain of £62,000 by selling the shares I acquired through EMI options issued by my employer. Does that big gain push me into a higher tax bracket for income tax? What tax should I expect to pay on the gain?

A. The gain made in 2013/14 by selling the shares you acquired through the EMI share option scheme may qualify for entrepreneurs' relief and thus be taxable at 10% after deducting your annual exemption of £10,900. However, entrepreneurs' relief will only apply if you were still employed by the company at the time you sold the shares, and the period between the grant of the share options and the date you sold the shares was at least 12 months.

The amount of the gain in 2013/14 will not affect the top rate of income tax you pay for that tax year.

Q. I am a member of the APM (Association for Project Management) and my company pays my membership fees to the APM on my behalf. Does this payment have to be reported on the form P11D? If so, do I pay tax on the membership fee?

AIf your company does not already have a "dispensation" from reporting P11D business expenses for 2013/14 it could apply for one by 5 April 2014 using form P11DX or on the HMRC website. That dispensation will cover payment of the APM fees as the APM is on HMRC's approved list of professional bodies.

If the dispensation for 2013/14 is not acquired the APM fee should be reported on the form P11D for that tax year. You should then enter the P11D figures on your 2013/14 tax return and make a claim on the same return to set the APM membership fee against your taxable earnings. As a consequence of that claim on your tax return you should not pay tax on the membership fee.

Q. Can my company make regular donations to charity and receive tax relief for those gifts?

A. Yes, if your company is making a profit it can make charitable donations and get relief against corporation tax. It should claim the total donations made in the accounting period on the corporation tax return for that period. However, the deduction of donations cannot change a taxable profit into a loss, or increase a taxable loss. In those cases there is no tax relief for the donations. Although, if your company is part of a group of companies, the relief for the excess donations may be passed to another member of the group.

The recipient charity cannot claim gift aid relief on the company's donation.

April Key Tax Dates

April Key Tax Dates

05 - End of 2013/14 tax year. Last day to use up your annual exemptions for capital gains tax, inheritance tax and ISA's

14 - Return and payment of CT61 tax due for quarter to 31 March 2014

19 - PAYE/NIC, student loan and CIS deductions due for month to 5/4/2014 or quarter 4 of 2013/14 for small employers. Interest will run on any unpaid PAYE/NIC for the tax year 2013/14

30 - Additional daily penalties of £10 per day up to a maximum of £900 for failing to file self-assessment tax return due on 31 January 2014

To speak with a professional to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances, contact us today on 020 8780 2349 or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for March 2014

This issue ... Budget News, Business Journeys, RTI Penalties, Let Property Campaign, VAT on Books and Leaflets, March Question and Answer Section, March Key Tax Dates

2014 Budget News

Summary

This was a Budget for bingo-playing baby-boomers who have not started to draw their private pensions. George Osborne announced some sweeping reforms to the taxation of pensions and halved bingo duty.

The traditional "sin taxes" on booze and fuel have largely been frozen or even reduced, although tobacco suffers a 2% above inflation tax rise. The new "sins" appear to be; owning a valuable home through a company and operating a high-stakes gaming machine.

Most individuals aged under 67 will feel the benefit of an increase in personal allowance from £10,000 to £10,500 in 2015. A transferable married couples' allowance of £1,050 will also help basic rate taxpayers from April 2015. Savers will enjoy higher tax-free limits for ISAs and premium bonds later this year, plus a cut in tax on savings income from 2015.

Businesses are encouraged to invest in equipment by an increase in the annual investment allowance to £500,000 from April 2014, and reliefs for investing in small trading companies and social enterprises are enhanced. Small and medium sized companies who undertake R&D are also given additional tax relief.

The losers are those who use tax avoidance schemes, as those sinners will have to pay the tax avoided up front. Several other tax loopholes used by groups of companies are blocked, and the rules for VCT schemes are tightened-up to deter abuse.

This newsletter is a summary of some of the key points form the Budget, based on the documents released on 19 March 2014. It is possible that a different position will be shown by the draft legislation which will be published on 27 March 2014. We will keep you informed of any significant developments.

Business Taxes

Capital Allowances

The rates and thresholds of the main capital allowances will apply as follows:

Expenditure within the AIA qualifies for 100% allowance in the year of purchase. The AIA cap was increased to £250,000 on 1 January 2013, and is doubled to £500,000 on 1 April 2014 for companies (6 April 2014 for unincorporated businesses).

This increase in the AIA cap will help businesses invest in equipment and fixtures (cars and buildings don't qualify), with 100% tax relief in the year of purchase. However, great care is needed to calculate the available AIA for accounting periods which straddle the various changes. The AIA cap is due to revert to £25,000 on 1 January 2016.

Corporation Tax

Rates

The corporation tax rates for small and large companies will be aligned at 20% from April 2015. This will remove the need for the associated companies rule and the marginal rate of corporation tax will disappear. The rates for the three financial to 31 March 2016 have been announced as:

Different rates apply to profits from North Sea oil and gas.

Banks pay a special bank levy in addition to these rates of corporation tax.

Research and Development (R&D)

Companies can claim enhanced deductions for expenditure on R&D projects at rates broadly dependent on the size of the company as follows:

• Small and medium(SME): 225% of qualifying expenditure
• Large: 130% of qualifying expenditure

Where the SME deduction for R&D is claimed and the company makes a loss, it can claim a cash credit from HMRC of 11% of that loss. This rate is increased to 14.5% where the R&D expenditure is incurred from 1 April 2014.

Enterprise Zones

Around 46 enterprise zones have been formed around the country to encourage investment and job formation. Businesses in some of those zones can claim 100% capital allowances on the equipment they use within the zone. The period for which those 100% allowance are available has been extended by three years to 31 March 2020.

National Insurance

Employees

The rates and thresholds for National Insurance Contributions for 2014/15 are:

*only available for women who made a valid married woman's election before 11 May 1977.

Self-employed

From April 2016 class 2 NICs will be collected through self-assessment, rather than been paid as a separate direct debit on a monthly or six-monthly basis.

Individuals

Personal Allowances

The standard personal allowance will rise to £10,500 from 6 April 2015. The age-related allowances are gradually falling in line with age-related allowances given to taxpayers born since April 1948.

The transferrable allowance will apply from 6 April 2015 to couples (married or civil partners) where neither person pays tax at the 40% or 45% rates. The spouse who cannot use all their personal allowance against their own income will be able to opt to transfer 10% of their personal allowance to their spouse or civil partner.

The personal allowance is tapered away for individuals who have income over £100,000, at the rate of £1 for every £2 of income above that threshold.

The allowances have been announced as follows:

* given as 10% reduction in tax liability, where one partner was born before 6 April 1935.

Income Tax Rates and Bands

Income tax rates are to remain the same to 5 April 2016, with the exception of the savings rate. This will be cut to 0% from 6 April 2015. However, the savings rate only applies if individual's net non-savings taxable income does not exceed the savings rate limit.

The income tax rates and bands have been announced as:

When the personal allowance is taken into account an individual will start to pay tax at 40% when their total income exceeds £41,865 in 2014/15 and £42,285 in 2015/16. This is compared to a 40% threshold of £41,450 in 2013/14. This threshold (and the 45% threshold) can be increased if the taxpayer pays personal pension contributions or makes gift aid donations.

Pensions

The following changes will be introduced from 27 March 2014:

• A person who wishes to take their pension as "draw-down" instead of buying an annuity will have to prove they have £12,000 of other income in retirement, rather than £20,000.
• The capped drawdown withdrawal limit will increase from 120% to 150% of an equivalent annuity.
• The total pension savings which can be taken as a lump sum will increase from £18,000 to £30,000.
• The maximum size of a small pension pot which can be taken as a lump sum (regardless of total pension wealth) will increase from £2,000 to £10,000; and
• The number of personal pots that can be taken under these small pot rules will increase from two to three.

In addition the chancellor proposes to change the rules for defined contribution pension schemes from 2015 so that:

• individuals will have complete freedom in how they access their pension savings;
• buying an annuity will not be a requirement on retirement;
• the 55% tax charge on withdrawing too much from a pension fund will be removed; and
• everyone will be offered free and impartial advice on how to best use their pension savings.

Capital Taxes

Enveloped Dwellings

The annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED) applies where a residential property located in the UK is owned by a non-natural person such as; a company, partnership with a corporate member or a collective investment scheme. There are a large number of reliefs and exemptions from the charge, but where such a relief does not apply the ATED charge must be paid by 30 April within the year at the following rates:

From 1 April 2015 the ATED charge is to be extended to properties with value of £1m to £2m. Then from 1 April 2016 the ATED charge will be extended to properties worth £500,001 to £1 million. The 15% rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax on such properties worth over £500,000 comes into effect from 20 March 2014 -; see below.

Capital Gains Tax

The rates and annual exemption for capital gains tax are as follows:

Private Residences

As announced in December 2013 the 36 month tax free period when a person's main home is sold, is reduced to 18 months for most disposals made after 5 April 2014. Where the home owner or their spouse is disabled or has moved into a residential care-home, the 36 month tax free period will still apply.

The Government will consult on how to charge capital gains tax on disposal of UK homes by individuals who are not tax resident in this country.

Rollover Relief

Disposals of payment entitlements by farmers under the EU Basic Payment Scheme will qualify for business asset rollover relief with retrospective effect from 20 December 2013.

Inheritance Tax

The inheritance tax (IHT) nil rate band will remain frozen at £325,000 until 2017/18, and the rates of IHT payable on death remain unchanged at 40% or 36% where at least 10% of the net estate is left to charity.

The government will consult on extending the existing IHT exemption for the estates of members of the armed forces, whose death is caused or hastened by injury while on active service, to members of the emergency services.

Investments

Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS)

The SEIS was introduced for a limited five year period from 1 April 2012. The SEIS has now been made permanent, with the income tax and capital gains tax reliefs applying as shown below for all future years.

Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs)

Investing in VCT shares gives the taxpayer 30% income tax relief on up to £200,000 invested per tax year, and the shares are generally exempt from capital gains tax when sold. However, the Government thinks that VCTs have been abused, so the following changes will be made from 6 April 2014:

• tax relief is withdrawn if the shares are disposed of within five years;
• the VCT will not be permitted to return capital to its members within three years of the shares being subscribed for; and
• VCT investments that are linked to share buy-backs will be denied tax relief.

ISAs

The ISA investment limits for 2014/15 were announced in December 2013 as:

However, this Budget includes the announcement that from 1 July 2014 the ISA rules will be reformed to extend the investment limits to:

ISAs will also be permitted to hold peer to peer loans as investments, and possibly other debt securities.

Premium Bonds

Individuals have been limited to the amount they hold in premium bonds to £30,000 per person since 2003. This cap will now be raised as follows:

• From 1 June 2014 : £40,000
• From 2015/16: £50,000

There will also be two tax free prizes at the maximum level of £1 million awarded each month from August 2014.

VAT

Rates

The VAT rates and thresholds are as follows:

Changes from 2014

• VAT treatment of prompt payment discounts given by suppliers

Changes from 2015

The Government will consult on changes to the VAT rules in the following areas:

• Zero-rating of work to adapt cars for use by disabled persons
• VAT avoidance scheme disclosures
• Reverse charge for buyers of gas and electricity - not domestic customers

Duties

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

This duty applies to the sale of land or buildings in the UK as follows:

From 20 March 2014 the residential properties in bands marked * are subject to SDLT at the rate of 15% where the property is acquired by a non-natural person such as a company, partnership or collective investment scheme. For sales in the period: 22 March 2012 to 19 March 2014 the 15% rate of SDLT only applied to properties sold for £2 million or more where the buyer was a non-natural person.

Bingo Duty

The percentage of bingo promotion profits paid in duty is cut from 20% to 10% with effect from 30 June 2014.

Machine Games Duty (MGD)

This duty was introduced from 1 February 2013, and must be collected by the owner of the premises where the game machine is provided for play.

MGD applies at two rates:

• 5% when the fee for playing a game is not more than 20p, and
• 20% for other machines.

From 1 March 2015 MGD will apply at 25% for games which may cost £5 or more to play.

Air Passenger Duty (APD)

This duty currently applies at three rates (reduced, standard and higher) over four bands (A, B, C & D), according to the distance travelled.

From 1 April 2015 the bands will be reduced to two:

• journeys up to 2000 miles
• journey over 2000 miles

The rates will also be reduced except for the higher rate which applies to aircraft with fewer than 19 seats - generally luxury jets.

Business Journeys

A number of self-employed businesses have been waiting for a tax case to be decided which turned on the question of "what is a business journey?" The test case concerned a doctor who was both employed by the NHS and self-employed as a private consultant.

The Upper Tax Tribunal decided that the doctor's self-employed work started when he arrived at his private clinic, so the travel between his home and the clinic was not a business journey. This was in spite of the fact the doctor had an office at his home where he prepared his treatment plans.

So what does this mean for you as a self-employed person who travels to various sites to work? The taxman will argue that your work only starts when you reach your customer's site and any business activity performed at your home-office is irrelevant. This would restrict your allowable travel costs to journeys between customers and deny a deduction for travelling from your home to the first customer of the day.

The key is determining where your "place of business" is located, and whether the activity undertaken at the home-office is wholly and exclusively undertaken for the purpose of your business. As ever it will come down to the evidence you can produce.

Can you show that the activities you perform at your home must be performed at that location? For example: contacting suppliers, drawing up quotes, or scrutinising plans. Also can you provide evidence of the time you spend working exclusively on your business at your home, perhaps by records in your business diary?

We can help you record the details the taxman will want to see in order to prove you do start work at home, and not when you reach your first customer of the day.

Real Time Information (RTI) Penalties

HMRC has experienced significant problems in reconciling amounts of PAYE due from employers, to the amounts reported under real-time information (RTI). As a result some of the automatic RTI penalties which were to apply from 6 April 2014, will now apply from:

• October 2014 for late filing of in-year RTI reports; and
• April 2015 for late payment of in-year PAYE due.

However, interest for late paid PAYE will still apply from 6 April 2014. To keep on top of what PAYE you have paid and what HMRC thinks is due, you should view the business tax dashboard facility on the HMRC website at regular intervals. Unfortunately we cannot access the business tax dashboard on your behalf.

If you are late with filing your last RTI report (known as the final submission for the year) for 2013/14, a £100 penalty will apply. This penalty continues to mount-up at £100 per month, or part month, for each batch of 50 employees on the payroll, until the final submission is received by HMRC.

The full payment summary (FPS) for the last tax month will normally be your final submission for the tax year. This FPS should be submitted on or before the last pay day in the tax year, or by 5 April 2014 where you take advantage of the concession for small businesses.

You should not submit forms P35 or P14 for 2013/14 as the information on those forms is included on the final FPS or EPS submitted for the tax year.

If no employees are paid in the final tax month of the year you should submit an employer payment summary (EPS) as the final submission for the year. This EPS should reach HMRC by 19 April 2014. The EPS can also be used as the final submission if the last FPS for the year was not marked as the final submission for the year.

We can help you with the end of year payroll procedures if you are uncertain about what you need to do.

Let Property Campaign

The taxman has launched another "confess your tax sins" campaign aimed at individuals who have failed to declare rental income they have received from residential properties. This let property campaign (LPC) can't be used by companies that let property or by landlords who let commercial rather than residential properties.

Like other tax disclosure campaigns the taxman promises that you will pay a lower amount of penalties if you disclose under the LPC, but the tax due and interest on late paid tax will have to be paid in full.

If you want to use the LPC to declare income and gains from your let properties, you need to complete a notification form on the HMRC website, or phone the property campaign helpline on 03000 514 479. We can help you with this.

There is no set deadline for asking to use the LPC, but the Taxman is running a taskforce in parallel to the LPC which is targeting tax evasion by residential landlords. So it's a case of "confess before we catch you."

Once you have notified HMRC that you want to use the LPC, you will be given a reference number and be told to make a full disclosure of the previously un-declared income and gains within three months. You will also need to pay all the tax due within the same three month period. If you can't pay all the tax in that time period you must ask HMRC for a "time to pay" arrangement before the deadline arrives. We can help you with this as well.

VAT on Books and Leaflets

There is no VAT on printed books, booklets, newspapers, and leaflets. Well there is - it's zero-rate VAT, so the customer pays no VAT, but the supplier can reclaim the VAT it pays on purchases.

Printing businesses have to be very clear about which of their products they treat as zero-rated for VAT and which are standard-rated so 20% VAT applies. The VATman likes to come round and check. If you have classified your printed products incorrectly, VAT on the earlier sales (up to four years ago) will have to be paid. It's unlikely that you will be able to recover this extra VAT from your customers.

In a recent case printed card document folders, which were designed to hold other leaflets, were judged to be standard rated for VAT, as was a laminated business card. However, personalised souvenir photo-books were determined to be zero-rated. We can help you decide which of your products should be zero or standard rated for VAT.

Beware; if the book, leaflet or newsletter is provided in an electronic form, standard rate VAT will apply. There is a special exemption for audio-books for the blind which are zero-rated.

March Question and Answer Section

Q. I've received a refund of the PPI premiums I paid on top of my mortgage. Do I need to declare this sum on my tax return?

A. The refund of payment protection insurance (PPI) premiums should not be included on your tax return as it is a repayment of a fee that you were incorrectly charged. However, the bank will have also paid you 8% interest on the PPI refund, and that interest should be declared on your tax return, just as if it was interest paid on a regular savings account. Some banks deducted 20% tax from the interest element of the refund, others did not, so you should check the documents you received with the refund to see if your payment had tax deducted from it or not.

Q. I'm self-employed. How do I work out what to claim for motoring expenses in my accounts?

A. You can calculate your business-related motoring costs by either:
a) Take the proportion of business miles to total mileage driven in your vehicle in the year and apply that proportion to your total motoring costs for the year; or
b) Use the fixed expense of 45p per business mile for the first 10,000 miles driven in the year and 25p per mile for additional business miles in the year.

If you use method a) you can also claim capital allowances on the cost of your vehicle, restricted for the private use of that vehicle. If you use method b) you can't claim capital allowances for your vehicle but you can claim the interest amount of any finance lease used to purchase the vehicle. We can explain exactly what you can and cannot claim in your accounts for tax purposes.

Q. How do I go about claiming the £2,000 employment allowance?

A. From April 2014 most employers will be able to claim a £2,000 annual allowance to set against the employer's class 1 NICs due on their employees' wages. It will be easy to claim. All you need to do is tick a box on the first Employer Payment Summary (EPS) submitted for 2014/15. Your payroll software will show you how, or we can do that for you.

Once the claim is made it stays in place for all future tax years, until the PAYE scheme is closed or the Government withdraws the allowance. Only employers can claim the employment allowance. It can't be set against class 2 or 4 NICs paid by the self-employed.

March Key Tax Dates

19/22 - PAYE/NIC and CIS deductions due for month to 5/3/2014

28 - Last minute tax planning for the 2013/14 tax year. Ensure you use up all exemptions to which you are entitled

To speak with a professional to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances, contact us today on 020 8780 2349 or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

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by Robin Brown

Tax Tips and News for February 2014

This issue … CGT on Home Developments, Non-Resident Landlords, VAT penalties, IHT Relief on Business Assets, February Question and Answer Section, February Key Tax Dates

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[gdlr_tab title="CGT on Home Developments"]

Your main home is exempt from capital gains tax when you sell it, but only if you bought the property with the intention of living in it on a permanent basis, not as a project to renovate and sell. People who are required to live in job-related accommodation, such as prison warders and church ministers, can have a separate tax-exempt home without having to live in it.

Some taxpayers who have taken on renovation projects have found the gain on their property doesn't qualify for the tax exemption, because they can't prove they occupied the property on a permanent basis while it was being renovated before the sale.

For example, Jason Moore bought a property with his girlfriend in December 1999. He claimed to have lived there while he renovated it in the period to late February 2000, when he returned to live with his girlfriend. The property was then let to tenants until it was sold for a profit in June 2004. Jason had no documentary evidence of his time at the property in the three months to February 2000, so his claim for the tax exemption failed.

Paul Gibson went much further in knocking down his whole home and constructing a new one on the same site, which he sold shortly after it was completed. Although Paul intended to live in the new property, he was forced to sell it to repay the loans he had taken out. He claimed to have occupied the finished house for about five months before the sale, but he couldn't prove this with any documents.

If you are planning a "grand design" conversion for your own home talk to us first about the tax implications.

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[gdlr_tab title="Non-Resident Landlords"]

If you leave the UK and let your property here, your letting agent (or the tenant where there is no agent) should deduct basic rate (20%) tax from the rents paid after deduction of certain expenses, under the non-resident landlord scheme (NRL). This ensures that at least some tax is paid on the income in the UK.

You can avoid having 20% tax deducted if you successfully apply for approval under the NRL scheme from HMRC. Approval will be granted where your UK tax affairs are up to date, or you don't expect to be liable to pay UK tax in the year you apply.

The NRL scheme applies if the landlord's usual place of abode is not in the UK. This is not the same as being not resident in the UK for tax purposes. An absence from the UK for as little as six months can be enough to establish your usual place of abode as being outside the UK.

The NRL scheme applies to members of the armed forces and diplomats, just as it does to any other non-resident landlord. It also applies to overseas trusts and companies, which must have income tax (not corporation tax) deducted from their rental income.

If your UK property is let as holiday accommodation, you may need to register for VAT in the UK as holiday lets are subject to standard rate VAT. As an overseas person you have a zero turnover threshold for VAT registration, so you may have to register for VAT immediately on letting holiday accommodation. However, where a UK letting agent manages the property on your behalf, the VAT registration threshold of £79,000 applies for that landlord.

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[gdlr_tab title="VAT Penalties"]

If you pay your VAT late to HMRC, even one day late, your card will be marked for a VAT penalty called a "default surcharge". The first late payment doesn't attract a monetary penalty, but the second occasion on which you are late within 12 months triggers a penalty of 2% of the VAT due. The third, fourth, and fifth occasions of lateness increase the percentage of the penalty to 5%, 10% then 15% of the VAT due (ouch!).

You may not notice the first two penalties set at 2% and 5% of the VAT due as HMRC will only demand payment from a small business if the total penalty amounts to over £400. However, you will receive a warning letter, and you should appeal against the penalty if you had a reasonable excuse for paying late.

Not having the money available to pay your VAT bill is not a reasonable excuse. If your business has a cash flow problem you need to ask the HMRC business support service for time to pay before the VAT becomes payable, or we can do this on your behalf. The number to ring is: 0300 200 3835, and it's open every day. Don't ring the VAT helpline as they can't deal with VAT debt issues.

If your VAT payment was delayed by circumstances outside your control, for example a computer failure at your bank, that would be a reasonable excuse. However, you do need to present evidence of this reason when asking HMRC to review the penalty. Around 60% of VAT penalties are overturned on review, so it's worth a try!

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[gdlr_tab title="IHT Relief on Business Assets"]

Inheritance tax (IHT) is payable at 40% on the net value of the assets you own when you die, plus (to a certain extent) on the value of the gifts you made in the seven years before you die. The first £325,000 of assets is currently exempt from IHT in all cases.

There are also exemptions from IHT for business assets, such as shares held in unquoted companies. However, you cannot escape IHT by holding all your investments and spare cash inside your personal company. The business of the company must be more than passive holding of investments, and the Taxman normally regards letting property as an investment, but this is a grey area.

Even where your company has an active trade, it doesn't follow that the full value of its shares will qualify for the IHT exemption. The Taxman wants to look inside the company and check that each asset it holds, including cash, is used for the purpose of the trading business.

This can cause difficulties for companies which hold more cash than is needed for everyday working capital. If your company is in this position, to get the IHT exemption you need to form some plans for use of the funds within the business and document those plans.

The IHT exemption applies where the shares of the trading company are held by individuals, or where a holding company holds the shares, and shares in that holding company are held by individuals. However, where the holding vehicle is a general partnership or an LLP, instead of a company, the IHT exemption does not apply.

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[gdlr_tab title="February Question and Answer Section"]

Q. I work through my own personal service company. When I go abroad on business my customer normally pays for the cost of hotels and meals. Can I still claim the personal incidental expenses (PIE) from my own company?

A. Yes you can still claim the PIE, which is £10 per night for overseas trips, when you are abroad on business. The PIE is supposed to cover incidental expenses such as phone calls, newspapers and laundry, not the cost of hotel or meals.

Q. My investment property was let as furnished holiday accommodation until 31 August 2013. As I was not getting enough income as holiday lets I have let it on rolling six month tenancies from September onwards. How do I report the income? Should I split the year at 31 August, with the first five months treated as holiday lettings and the remaining period as normal property let?

A. For the property to qualify for the special tax reliefs due for furnished holiday lettings (FHL), it must qualify as FHL for the full 12 months. One of the conditions is that it must be available for holiday lettings for 210 days in the year. Your property was only available for holiday letting for 149 days, so it does not qualify for FHL for 2013/14. You should treat all of the income from the property as ordinary let property income in 2013/14. Assuming the property qualified as FHL in 2012/13, your FHL business is treated as ceasing on 5 April 2013. You may need to calculate closing balances for capital allowances at April 2013. We can help you with that.

Q. I've heard that I won't be able to reclaim the sick pay I pay to my employees from April. Is this true?

A. Unfortunately yes. Employers can currently recover statutory sick pay (SSP) as an off-set against PAYE due, if the SSP exceeds 13% of the class 1 NICs the employer pays over for the tax month. The excess SSP above the 13% threshold is the off-set amount.

For SSP paid on and after 6 April 2014 no off-sets will be given. The SSP will be an absolute cost to the employer,although it is a legal requirement to pay SSP to eligible employees. In return the Government is going to provide more help to employees who have been off sick for 4 weeks or more, in the form of a "back to work plan".

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[gdlr_tab title="February Key Tax Dates"]

2 - Last day for car change notifications in the quarter to 5 January - Use P46 Car

19/22 - PAYE/NIC and CIS deductions due for month to 5/2/2014

28 - Talk to us about year end and pre-budget planning
First 5% penalty surcharge on any 2012/13 outstanding tax due on 31 January 2014 still unpaid

To speak with a professional to discuss how any of the above affects your personal or business finances, contact us today on 020 8780 2349 or get in touch with us via our contact page to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation meeting.

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This blog is a general summary. It should not replace professional advice tailored to your specific circumstance.

by Robin Brown