Category: Tax

The government spends around 0.49% of GDP on funding research and development (R&D), prompting business groups to call for an increase to help increase growth. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is calling on the government to increase total R&D spending to 3% of GDP as research shows that the current level of spending is … Continued

Where a company makes a trading loss that cannot be relieved against other profits that year, or the previous year, the unrelieved loss can be carried forward against future profits from the same trade that incurred the losses. This carry forward also applies where the trade is transferred to another company under common control (basically … Continued

In the Summer Budget Newsletter we outlined the new rules for the taxation of dividends that will apply from 6 April 2016. Further guidance has now been published by HMRC setting out how the new rules will operate and it seems the rules don’t work as many people expected. As previously reported, there will be … Continued

From 6 April 2017 an additional Inheritance Tax (IHT) Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB) starts being phased in to enable individuals to pass on their family home to direct descendants. The additional nil rate band starts at £100,000 and rises to £175,000 for deaths after 6 April 2010. When fully phased in the additional nil … Continued

HM Revenue and Customs’ recent decision to scrap its controversial Business Records Checks has been roundly welcomed. The checks are a compliance procedure HMRC use to confirm a business is keeping sufficient information on its income and expenses to produce an accurate tax return. They have consistently been criticised for being ineffective and poorly targeted. … Continued

The corporation tax deduction for acquired goodwill and other intangible assets that has been available to companies since April 2002 mentioned above, has meant that companies buying other businesses have generally preferred to buy the trade and assets rather than the shares in the target business. However, the vendors would normally prefer to sell their … Continued

An important consideration when buying a business is tax relief for the plant and machinery of the target company. Where the shares of the target company are acquired, the new owners will inherit the tax written down value in the target company’s capital allowances pool which will normally be a lot lower than the market … Continued

Ever since April 2002 when a limited company acquires the trade and assets of another business it has been possible to obtain a tax deduction for the goodwill and other intangible assets of the acquired business, generally in line with the accounting treatment. So, if the goodwill of the acquired business was worth say £500,000 … Continued

The lifetime allowance is being reduced from £1.25 million to £1 million from 6 April 2016. Exceeding the lifetime allowance can have significant tax consequences: Lump sum withdrawals taken from the excess amount within your pension are taxed at 55% If you retain the excess amount within your pension fund, a 25% tax charge is … Continued

As announced in the spring 2015 Budget, a new personal savings allowance will be introduced from 6 April 2016. This will be £1,000 a year tax free for basic rate taxpayers and £500 a year for higher rate taxpayers, but nil for those with income over £150,000. As a consequence, tax will no longer be … Continued