Category: Business News

Many of you will be looking forward to the football season resuming, albeit behind closed doors. There has been an interesting tax case recently concerning the employment status of referees.

The Government are still committed to the transitional Brexit period ending on 31 December 2020 and businesses trading with the EU need to make sure they are ready for major changes. If you’re submitting an application for Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status from 1 June 2020, you must submit them through the EU Customs Trader Portal.

Despite the coronavirus lockdown HMRC have announced that they will still expect P11d forms reporting expenses and benefits to be submitted by the normal 6 July deadline.

Sole traders and members of partnerships started making claims under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme on Wednesday 13 May and many have already received their grant

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced on 12 May that the CJRS furlough scheme will be extended until the end of October. The scheme will continue in its current form until the end of July with the Government paying 80% of employees wages up to £2,500 a month. For accounts purposes the amounts received should be credited to a “grants received” account, and this will therefore increase taxable profits of the business.

A new CGT reporting and payment on account system was introduced for residential property disposals by UK resident taxpayers from 6 April 2020.

Child benefit charge: With many employees and the self-employed being furloughed, being made redundant, or making lower profits, their income for 2020/21 may well fall below the £50,000 limit at which child benefit starts being taxed.

The government has announced that Working Tax Credits payments will be increased from 6 April 2020. As part of a number of measures to support the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, the basic element of Working Tax Credit has been increased by £1,045 to £3,040 from 6 April 2020 until 5 April 2021.

Your maximum annual investment in an ISA for 2019/20 is £20,000. Your investment needs to be made before 6 April 2020.  In addition, have you thought about investing for your children or grandchildren by setting up a Junior ISA? In the 2019/20 tax year, you can invest £4,368 into a Junior ISA for any child under 18.

For most taxpayers the maximum pension contribution is £40,000 each tax year, although this depends on their earnings. This limit covers both contributions by the individual and their employer.

For every £2 that your adjusted net income exceeds £100,000 the £12,500 personal allowance is reduced by £1. Pension contributions and Gift Aid can help to reduce adjusted net income and save tax at an effective rate of 60%.

Another tax relief that may be further restricted or even abolished is CGT entrepreneurs relief.  This relief allows business owners to pay just 10% CGT on the first £10 million of capital gains when they dispose of their business and was tightened up in the Autumn 2018 Budget.

We are expecting major changes to inheritance tax (IHT) in the March Budget following two reviews by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) and also a report by an All Party Parliamentary Committee.

Another announcement to listen out for in the Spring Budget is whether the Chancellor acts on the recommendations of the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) regarding inheritance tax (IHT).

From 6 April 2020 there is a major change in the reporting and payment of CGT on residential property disposals. From that date, it will be necessary to report the disposal of the property within 30 days of completion of the disposal and pay CGT on account to HMRC.

There have been many stories in the press about GPs and senior hospital doctors refusing to take on extra shifts and additional responsibilities due to the additional tax they are required to pay on the extra pension contributions paid by the NHS. A number of solutions have been put forward.

The independent loan charge review, conducted by Sir Amyas Morse, was published on 20 December, having been delayed due to the general election. The loan charge was introduced to collect tax from individuals who had benefited from schemes devised to avoid PAYE and national insurance. The date that the loan was made to the individual is critical in determining whether the loan charge will apply.

In January the government launched a four-week review of the changes to IR35 “off-payroll” working rules scheduled to come into force in April, as the result of mounting criticism about the way they will operate.

The December General Election meant that the Autumn Budget was delayed and we now know that Sajid Javed will deliver his first Budget on the second Wednesday in March which is when Budget day used to be!