Practice News
In light of the ongoing situation with Coronavirus, we have decided to take steps to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our staff, clients and suppliers. Whilst we were taking all reasonable steps to minimise disruption to our service delivery and aimed to ensure our offices remained open for business, following the Government’s recent announcement…Read More
The government has launched a consultation seeking views on new proposals to extend redundancy protection for pregnant women and new parents. As the law currently stands, employees who are placed at risk of redundancy when they are absent on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave have an absolute right to be offered a suitable alternative…Read More
The Welsh Government has confirmed that the proposed Welsh Government Budget has been ratified and that the new Welsh rates of Income Tax (WRIT) will be set at 10p for 2019-20. This means that the rates of Income Tax paid by Welsh taxpayers will continue to be the same as those paid by English and…Read More
As a general rule, there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on a property which has been used wholly as a main family residence. This relief from CGT is commonly known as Private Residence Relief. Conversely, an investment property that has never been used as a main residence will not qualify. It is not uncommon…Read More
Two changes to the way Private Residence Relief works are due to come into effect from April 2020. These changes could reduce the amount of CGT relief available on the sale of a private residence. The changes are: Home owners that let all or part of their house may not benefit from the full Private…Read More
Most gifts made during a person’s life are not subject to tax at the time of the gift. These lifetime transfers are known as ‘potentially exempt transfers’ or ‘PETs’. These gifts or transfers achieve their potential of becoming exempt if the taxpayer survives for more than seven years after making the gift. If the taxpayer dies…Read More
There are special rules involving bicycles usually referred to as ‘Cycle to Work’ arrangements. The Cycle to Work scheme was introduced almost 20 years ago to help promote the use of healthy ways to commute to work using an environmentally friendly mode of transport. Employers of all sizes across the public, private and voluntary sectors…Read More
The easiest way to ensure that no car-fuel benefit charge (for private journeys in a company car) is payable, is to use the advisory fuel rates published by HMRC to repay any private fuel costs to your employer. The advisory fuel rates are intended to reflect actual average fuel costs and are updated quarterly. However, the…Read More
A recent press release by HMRC revealed some of the oddest excuses for submitting a late tax return. The excuses ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous and included: My mother-in-law is a witch and put a curse on me. I’m too short to reach the post box. I was just too busy – my…Read More
The Prime Minister has announced in a speech to the House of Commons that the £65 fee for applications made by EU citizens under the EU Settlement Scheme is to be waived. The scheme is due to be rolled out in full on 30 March 2019 and at that stage there will be no fee…Read More
Following the written ministerial statement published in November 2018 announcing the proposed new rates for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for tax year 2019/20, the government has now published the draft Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2019 which…Read More
The draft Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order 2019 has now been published. As expected, it freezes the earnings trigger, which determines when an eligible worker is entitled to be automatically enrolled into a qualifying workplace pension scheme, at £10,000 from 6 April 2019. It also continues to align the qualifying earnings…Read More
The P85 form should be completed by individuals or their agents to advise HMRC that have left the UK to live or are going to work abroad for at least one full tax year. The completion of the P85 form will ensure that an individual leaving the UK can claim any tax refund they are…Read More
Most age related tax allowances have been phased out. However, the Married Couple’s Allowance (MCA) is available to elderly married couples or those in a civil partnership where at least one member of the couple were born before 6 April 1935. The allowance provides for tax relief by deducting 10% of the allowance from the…Read More
Donations to charity over the course of a tax year can add up and taxpayers must ensure they keep a proper record of all donations to backup tax return entries. Donations that are made through the Gift Aid scheme allow for the recipient charity to claim 25p worth of tax relief on every pound donated.…Read More