The new Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition released a short document setting out their main tax proposals.  It included a clear statement that they are planning to use increased capital gains tax revenues to...

From a fairly unexciting Budget (at first glance) two bits of good news: Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) went up to £100,000 a year from 5 April 2010 for individuals, 1 April 2010 for companies – but we...

Provisions announced in the Budget in April 2009 to abolish the current favourable tax treatment of income from furnished holiday lettings have been dropped from the Finance Act 2010! Labour was forced to abandon the measure in order to get the...

So how will December's Pre-Budget Statement affect you? In the short term, the answer is probably 'very little' because, against a background of low or even negative inflation, income tax rates and allowances have been frozen for 2010/11...

As previously announced, the standard rate of VAT reverted to 17.5% from 1 January 2010. Traders using the Flat Rate Scheme for Small Businesses should note that, as part of the Pre-Budget package, HMRC have published a revised...

Most company car drivers will find that their benefit-in-kind charge rises slightly - the benefit is charged as a percentage of the list price of the car, the percentage varying between 10% and 35% depending on the vehicle's CO2 emissions. As...

Capital gains tax Before the Chancellor made his Pre-Budget Statement, there was speculation in the newspapers that he would increase capital gains tax from 18% to 25%. In the event, no such announcement was made. It is...

Although, for 2010/11, there will be no change in the 'Earnings Threshold' (the point at which National Insurance contributions become payable by employers and employees), the 'Lower Earnings Limit' will rise from £95 to £97 a week....

A feature of the self-assessment system is that it imposes a surcharge on income tax paid more than 28 days late - for example, if the final payment for 2008/09, due on 31 January 2010, is not paid by 28 February 2010. HMRC's current...

Two, unrelated, points are worth bringing to your attention.  Firstly, on 6 April 2010 the minimum age at which an individual may begin to draw his or her retirement pension, under a company pension scheme, a personal pension plan or any...

In order to reduce their own costs, HMRC is gradually moving from encouraging, to requiring, traders to submit Tax Returns online. Firstly, all employers will be required to submit their annual PAYE Returns for 2009/10 and later years...

Tricia Arnold and George F White were delighted and proud to be handing over two substantial cheques to Macmillan Cancer Support and Tynedale Community...

One of our clients recently received a letter giving one week’s notice of a VAT compliance visit. Fortunately, the client had taken out our Taxation Protection Insurance and, under the comprehensive terms of that insurance, were able to...

The deadline for submitting online tax returns for the 08-09 tax year was midnight on 31st January 2010 and it is likely that a penalty will be to pay if your tax return was not submitted in time. If you sent your tax return online by...

If you are submitting your tax return for the 08-09 tax year on paper, it must reach H.M. Revenue and Customs by midnight on Saturday 31st October 2009. Online submissions will be acknowledged by HMRC but the Revenue will not acknowledge...

You may have seen the recent article in the Hexham Courant ,...

There has been a significant take up of the government's initiative to assist companies with emerging cash flow problems by allowing them to defer payments to HMRC for PAYE and VAT. It is reported that currently 135,000 companies have deferred...

You may have heard Tricia talking to Jon Harle on Radio Newcastle's Jon and Anne Show at around 5:25pm    on Thursday 9th July. She was telling him about the...

As you may well be aware, the Chancellor made some significant changes in the 2009 Budget, some of which he mentioned in his speech and some of which were hidden away in the detailed notices. I have identified what I believe are the main...

Temporary First Year Allowance The Finance Bill 2009 will include a temporary 40% first year allowance (FYA) for expenditure on plant and machinery that would normally be allocated to the main  capital allowance...

Landlords with income from furnished holiday accommodation in the UK are currently treated as if they are trading for tax purposes, as long as they satisfy certain tests under the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules. Landlords with...

HMRC Compliance Checks From 1 April 2009 HMRC have one set of powers to visit business premises which covers all business taxes – corporation tax, income tax, capital gains tax, PAYE, CIS and VAT. They can inspect...

IR 35- Contracting issues A recent tax case (Dragonfly Consulting Ltd V HMRC) has shown that HMRC is still pursuing IR35 through the courts. The determination in favour of HMRC was for PAYE and NIC totalling...

PAYE - new penalties for late filing of returns and late payment The new penalty rules will affect almost all taxes and the submission of relevant returns and payment of taxes. They will treat late payment and late filed...

In April 2007 HMRC announced that investors with offshore accounts were able to disclose income and gains not previously included in their tax returns with only a 10% fixed penalty being imposed. This followed a ruling against a number of...

From 2011/12 once an individual’s taxable income reaches £150,000, higher rate relief on personal pension contributions will be restricted. Only basic rate relief will be available unless the individual is able to demonstrate a...

Where assets such as land and buildings used in the business are retained outside the company, the payment of rent by the company to the property owner is a means of extracting profit from the company. Although it is taxable, unlike salary,...

Working Tax Credits Directors of small companies claiming tax credits can run into problems if they have paid themselves a low salary topped up with dividends due to the interaction between the tax credit rules and the...

  Website: an aide memoire The following is the minimum information that must be on any company's website. The name, geographic address and email address of the service provider. The name of the organisation with...

The Revenue are now being sympathetic and flexible with their new “time to pay” arrangements. However clients will need to ask HMRC for this as they will not be automatically given time to pay. The Revenue will tend to give...