With less than 100 days until the self assessment tax return deadline of 31 January 2019, HMRC is urging taxpayers to complete their tax returns early, in order to avoid the last minute rush. The deadline for submitting 2017/18 self assessment tax returns online is 31 January 2019. An automatic penalty of £100 applies if the return is late. HMRC advise that last year, more th ...

At the Budget, the Chancellor announced that increases to the personal allowance and basic rate band for 2019/20. The personal allowance is currently £11,850. The personal allowance for 2019/20 will be £12,500. Also for 2019/20, the basic rate band will be increased to £37,500 so that the threshold at which the 40% band applies is £50,000 for those who are entitled to the full ...

For those individuals who have previously submitted ‘paper’ self assessment tax returns the deadline for the 2017/18 return is 31 October 2018. Returns submitted after that date must be submitted electronically or they will incur a minimum penalty of £100. The penalty applies even when there is no tax to pay or the tax is paid on time. If you would like any help with the compl ...

Rising house prices and increases in other assets have seen HMRC launch more investigations to ensure individuals are paying the correct amount of inheritance tax (IHT), with the number of tax probes up by 5% this year. There were 5,400 investigations into IHT returns in 2017/18, an increase from 5,100 on the previous year. If an investigation finds that IHT has been underpai ...

The government has decided not to proceed with plans to abolish Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from April 2019. Class 2 NICs are currently paid at a rate of £2.95 per week by self-employed individuals with profits of £6,205 or more per year. The government had planned to scrap the Class 2 contribution and had been investigating ways in which self-employed indi ...

Breaking with the tradition of a Wednesday in November, perhaps in a bid to avoid the ongoing Brexit negotiations, the government is expected to set out its plans ‘to build a stronger, more prosperous economy, building on the recent Spring Statement and last year’s Budget’. The government announcements are expected to include updates on draft legislation and consultations, and ...

The government has issued some ‘no deal’ Brexit technical notices, with the aim of helping both businesses and individuals to prepare in the event of a UK-EU agreement not being realised. The government has published the first 25 notices. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab was keen to emphasise that reaching a deal remains the ‘overriding priority’. However, until a Withdrawal Agre ...

HMRC has launched a consultation on draft proposals to ban pensions cold calling. Under the proposals, unsolicited marketing calls relating to pensions could be banned, alongside cold calls that offer a ‘free pension review’. The government also outlined its intention to ban cold calls that promote retirement income products, such as drawdown. The consultation closes on 17 A ...

What is the Requirement to Correct? The purpose of the Requirement to Correct (RTC) legislation is to require those taxpayers with undeclared offshore tax liabilities to disclose such liabilities to HMRC on or before 30 September 2018. Those who fail to do so will face severe financial penalties. The Common Reporting Standard (automatic exchange of financial data on a global ...

HMRC has highlighted that three million UK couples have already taken advantage of Marriage Allowance but a million more are still eligible for the tax break. The Marriage Allowance allows certain couples, where neither pay tax at more than the basic rate, to transfer 10% of their unused personal allowance to their spouse or civil partner, reducing their tax bill by up to £238 ...