Diary of main tax events June/July 2020
01/06 Corporation tax for year to 31/8/19 (unless pay quarterly)
01/06 Corporation tax for year to 31/8/19 (unless pay quarterly)
During the lockdown period many employees and directors have not been using their company cars and it has been sitting on their driveway. You might think that means that the benefit of having a company car does not apply but unfortunately HMRC do not agree.
The latest Finance Bill includes important changes to private residence relief that took effect from 6 April 2020.
The first change is to limit to just 9 months the period prior to disposal that counts as a period of deemed occupation
Furlough Scheme (CJRS) claims portal opened on Monday 20 April and early indications are that it seems to be working smoothly but with a few teething problems as you would expect from a brand-new system.
Some businesses are going to need to “mothball” or “cocoon” until the Government considers the Pandemic to be of lower risk and trading conditions improve.
In times of uncertainty we are seeing the demand for advice increase. We understand the frustrations our clients who are self-employed or freelance.
Now might be the time to think about new equipment for your company. Your business year-end, not 5 April, is relevant for capital allowances purposes. If however you are running a business and making up accounts to 31 March or 5 April you should consider buying plant and machinery to take advantage of the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance (AIA).
If you are looking for tax efficient investments opportunities, have you considered the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)? These investments in certain qualifying companies allow you to set off 30% of the amount invested against your tax bill as well as the ability to defer capital gains tax (CGT) until the shares are sold.
It is important to manage your staff’s salary expectations. Talking about money with your employees can be uncomfortable. Even when you have good news for an employee, discussing pay can be difficult.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is proposing to married couples and those in civil partnerships to sign up to a £250.
Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,250 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner.
The word innovation can conjure up images of disruptive developments such as online streaming services or companies such as Uber, but you can still be an innovation champion. Fortunately, innovation doesn’t have to happen on a grand scale to make an impact in your business.
Individual’s 2018/19 income tax, CGT, class 2 and 4 NIC liabilities should have been paid by 31 January 2020.
Cash flow is king in any business. Yet cash flow is one of the areas that many businesses struggle to manage. Customers are reluctant to part with their money, even if it’s to pay for your goods or services. As such, it can take a while for them to pay their invoices.
Having a good strategy is one thing, executing it well can be a huge challenge.
Many business owners and managers are familiar with the scenario – you arrange a strategy day with your team, capture the outputs and create a strategic plan.
Office space is expensive. Do you really need to have a dedicated desk for each and every employee? Recent years have brought a lot of changes to the office environment, particularly as technology develops and the next generation of employees has come through to management.
The environment, wellbeing, mental health and technology look set to be some of the big business trends in 2020. As we move into 2020, businesses will have to adapt in a world that places greater emphasis on sustainable business practices. People will want to work for firms that take care of their employees in terms of their physical and mental health.
These are the suggested reimbursement rates for employees’ private mileage using their company car from 1 December 2019. Where there has been a change the previous rate is shown in brackets.
At this time of year we think about New Year’s resolutions. It is also a good time to start planning your tax affairs before the end of the tax year on 5th April. An obvious tax planning point would be to maximise your ISA allowances for the 2019/20 tax year (currently £20,000 each).
It is that time of year again for staff parties and annual functions, so it is important to make sure you record it properly. An employer may spend up to £150 per head
Remember that certain gifts to staff at Christmas are tax free if structured correctly. Ever since April 2016 employers are allowed to provide their directors and employees with certain “trivial” benefits in kind tax free.
Where possible higher rate taxpayers should “Gift Aid” any payments to charity to provide additional benefit to the charity and for the individual to obtain additional tax relief on the payment.
Are you thinking of getting a company car? The government has announced that there will be a zero P11d benefit for the drivers of electric cars from 2020/21. This is instead of the 2% scale charge that was originally included in Finance Act 2017 to apply for 2020/21. The legislation for the change will be included in Finance Bill 2020 and it is proposed that the benefit will be 1% of list price in 2021/2 and then 2% in 2022/3.
The cost of running a business goes up every year, but when was the last time you increased your prices? Many business owners and managers worry that if they were to increase prices, they would lose customers.
It is that time of year again when parents are sending their children off to university. There’s a lot to consider and parents may of course wish to support their children financially, where possible.