Filed under: Taxation
Earlier this month it was confirmed by HMRC that all UK overseas territories – The Cayman Islands, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands – now have in place automatic tax disclosure deals with the Government. This means they are automatically exchanging financial information with the UK and France, Germany, Italy and Spain to identify taxpayers who are under-declaring their income.
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May 23, 2013
HMRC has recently turned its attentions to property owners and investors with the launch of new taskforces and initiatives to recover additional tax revenues. Firstly, aimed at buy-to-let landlords in the South East, HMRC currently has a taskforce monitoring the activities of landlords whose self assessment tax returns may not reflect the value of their property portfolios. If you have rental property and think you may have underpaid tax, please seek professional advice. This particular initiative is not accompanied by an opportunity for landlords to avoid penalties for outstanding tax owed and any declarations should be treated with caution to avoid further enquiries being opened. (more…)
April 9, 2013
Time is running out very quickly for self-employed people who sell directly to customers and who haven’t paid all the tax they owe. They have just two weeks left to voluntarily come forward to HMRC and pay their dues. This time limited Amnesty will expire on February 28th 2013, so if you think you might owe unpaid taxes, you should act quickly to avoid penalties. (more…)
February 18, 2013
Share ownership has always been a powerful motivator for companies looking to recruit and retain talented and loyal staff. It’s something Nick Clegg referred to last year when he talked of the ideal John Lewis Partnership model for companies to aspire to. The Deputy Prime Minister believes companies that offer shares to their workers tend to be more dynamic, have higher levels of morale and staff who are more motivated to work hard.
At a time when salary increases may not be a viable offering for many companies, share options are set to become an even more attractive proposition, provided new proposals earmarked for inclusion in the 2013 Finance Bill are adopted. In the past, what the Government has announced in the Autumn Statement has tended to be introduced, so we expect this tax planning opportunity to become available to clients later in 2013. (more…)
January 7, 2013
We are living in an era of greater financial equality than in the past, which means that spouses or partners are more able, in these enlightened times, to be ‘discreet’ with one another over the exact amount of their earnings. These days, many couples prefer not to disclose salary details to their partner and where they do maintain a joint account, may simply do so for household budgeting.
This practice is a result of many years of growing equality, which has now been delivered a side swipe by the Treasury by the introduction of some rather over-complicated changes to child benefit payments. A by-product of these changes is that the income levels of many individuals will be made clear to their partner, whether they want them to or not. (more…)
November 27, 2012
When a company is wound up informally there are important tax issues to be aware of, both for the company and for its shareholders; any losses must be accounted for and the relevant tax legislation must be borne in mind when disposing of the company’s remaining assets.
If you are in a position whereby you might wish to wind up a company, you may also wish to utilise any tax planning opportunities in order to minimise your personal tax liabilities. These are likely to involve tax planning in advance and may cover multiple accounting periods and span more than one tax year. (more…)
September 24, 2012
As economic conditions continue to be unpredictable, freelance or contract workers have become a very important source of skills, and for many business owners they are a valuable alternative to recruiting permanent employees. They can provide employers with access to specific skills for the time period required, and the contractors will typically earn more than they would as employees. (more…)
August 22, 2012
Company away days happen for many reasons and fall under a variety of labels, from annual conference, business strategy review, team building event, or a simple company away day. According to a leading law firm, HMRC are about to start charging employers and employees additional tax and national insurance contributions when businesses host company away days for their employees. In particular, if there is a large social or fun element to a company day, it is likely to be treated as a treat and taxed as a benefit. (more…)
August 15, 2012
It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t cover a tax issue with an Olympic flavour just as the games are about to start in London. HMRC has given us a perfect opportunity after they issued guidance to those lucky taxpayers who happen to be in possession of an Olympic torch and may decide to sell it – by reminding us that they will make a capital gain from any such sale. (more…)
June 25, 2012
As Surrey tax accountants we see a lot of situations where businesses, most often through no fault of their own, are facing a tax enquiry into their financial affairs. Whilst enquiries are often undertaken by HMRC randomly, often they arise because HMRC have information which does not agree to information included on returns submitted by the business, or because returns submitted do not conform to HMRC’s expectations. (more…)
May 16, 2012
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