Category: Tax

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be given the power to cap “excessive” early exit fees on pension pots. The new FCA responsibility will be introduced through legislation and the government will be publishing a formal response. The proposals will see the FCA being independently responsible for determining what the level of the cap on … Continued

HMRC has launched a digital accounts system for businesses and individual taxpayers. The new system will allow people to see their tax details and make payments at any time during the year. HMRC plans that by 2020, most taxpayers including individuals, businesses and landlords will track and submit information to HMRC digitally every quarter. Uncertainty … Continued

The Finance Bill 2016 passed through parliament in December 2015. This bill puts into law many of the measures announced by the Chancellor in his Budget and Autumn Statement speeches. Important areas which were clarified: the annual investment allowance is £200,000 from 1 January 2016 tougher rules tackling offshore tax evasion will be introduced large … Continued

The new state pension comes into effect from 6 April 2016 but research has found that many savers don’t understand the changes. A survey by Aviva found that: 24% are unaware of the flat rate pension 42% of 55-64 year olds aren’t sure if they’ll receive it 57% know that the state pension age is … Continued

Two thirds of potential home buyers plan to use the Help to Buy ISA scheme to save a deposit for a home. The research by MoneySuperMarket found that 82% of prospective buyers think the scheme will help them get on the property ladder earlier than planned. Help to Buy ISAs, which were launched on 1 … Continued

From April 2017 new rules will be introduced to determine domicile status for individuals for income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax (IHT). These new rules will fundamentally change the way in which some non UK domiciled individuals (non-doms) are taxed in the UK. With such significant changes and the likelihood of a relatively … Continued

The July Budget 2015 announced two further changes to the taxation of residential property. These changes will have the most impact on landlords and non-UK domiciled individuals (non-doms). IHT and UK residential property From 6 April 2017 all UK residential property, regardless of how it is owned, will be within the scope of UK inheritance … Continued

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on additional properties such as buy-to-let investments and second homes will be 3 percentage points higher than current SDLT from April 2016. Corporate properties and properties in Scotland (which are subject to land and building transaction tax) are not affected by the new rules. The new rates will not apply … Continued

Remember that HM Revenue and Customs can collect tax debts by adjusting your Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax code. HMRC refers to this as ‘coding out’. The effect of this is to recover the tax debt from your pay or pension, by increasing the amount deducted during the tax year. This applies if you … Continued

The Enterprise Investment Scheme allows unconnected investors to obtain a 30% set off against their income tax liability up to £1,000,000 investment each tax year. So a £10,000 investment reduces the investor’s income tax liability by £3,000. In addition, provided those shares are held for at least 3 years, the gain on disposal of those … Continued