If you are an employer, you have a statutory duty to provide your employees with a copy of their P60 (pay and tax details for 2018-19) on or before the end of May 2019. If you distribute P60s and then discover that changes need…
News
Can you change a will after death?
On the face of it, this sounds implausible. How can you change your will if you have died? In reality, as long as any beneficiaries left worse off after any change, agree, you can change a person’s will after their death. Any change must…
Income Tax – regional differences
You will pay Scottish Income Tax if you live in Scotland, Income Tax if you live in England or Northern Ireland and the Welsh Income Tax if you live in Wales. At present, the only regional variations under the control of the Scottish or…
Expenses you can set-off against rental income
The expenses you claim against your property income will need to follow the usual HMRC ruling that the costs must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of renting out the property. An example set out on the Gov.uk website illustrates the point:…
Retaining business records
Sole traders If you are self-employed, and obliged to submit a self-assessment tax return, you must keep your tax records for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year. For example, if you submit your 2018-19 tax…
Can't pay your tax?
A reminder that HMRC may consider extended options for settling your outstanding tax bill. The key is to contact HMRC, explain why you can’t pay on time, and discuss how you can settle any outstanding liabilities. If you can’t pay before the deadline, call…
Spring Statement March 2019
The following comments were written on the 13th March 2019 immediately following Philip Hammond’s presentation of the 2019 Spring Statement to Parliament. In theory, the government uses the Spring Statement to respond to the most recent forecasts made by the Office of Budget Responsibility…
Loans to employees
A reminder that if your business makes a loan to your employees or their relatives this can create tax problems for both employees and employers. And please don’t forget that the term “employee” includes directors, and also that loans to family members may be…
Last call for VAT traders to prepare for new filing regulations
As we have mentioned before in this newsletter, VAT returns filed for periods commencing on or after 1 April 2019, may need to be filed using the new Making Tax Digital (MTD) protocols. The new filing obligations will apply to VAT registered businesses with…
Changes to Minimum Wage Rates
From April 2019, minimum pay rates will increase as set out below. • National Living Wage (NLW) rates for workers aged 25 and over – from £7.83 to £8.21 per hour. • National Minimum Wage rates: workers aged 21–24 — from £7.38 to £7.70 per…