HMRC have launched a new Trusts Registration Service (TRS), so that trustees can register their trust online and provide information on the beneficial owners of the trust. The new service launched in early July for trustees and replaces the 41G (Trust) paper form, which was withdrawn at the end of April. Under the existing self assessment rules, the trustees (or their agents) ...

On Friday 8th December 2017 the Ward Williams Financial Services team along with a few close colleagues from Ward Williams Chartered Accountants, joined the Surrey Wildlife Trust and other companies on a festive volunteering day to help remove invasive Scotts Pine from the heathland of Barossa, Camberley. The importance of the maintenance of this rare heathland was explained t ...

The government have announced a delay to the roll out of tax free childcare which was expected to be fully implemented by the end of the year. From 24 November 2017 the service is available to parents whose youngest child is under 6 or who has their 6th birthday on that day. Parents can apply online through the childcare service which can be accessed via the Childcare Choices w ...

With the festive season fast approaching, employers may be planning to take on temporary staff to help their business survive the rush. Automatic enrolment applies to these employees in the same way as permanent employees, even if they will only be working for a short time. Employers will still need to assess temporary staff and auto enrol any eligible employees into a qualifyi ...

At this time of year some employers may wish to make small gifts to their employees. A tax exemption is available which should give employers certainty that the benefits provided are exempt and do not result in a reportable employee benefit in kind. In order for the benefit to be exempt it must satisfy the following conditions: the cost of providing the benefit does not exc ...

1. What is the Data Protection Act about? The main aim of the Act is to promote a high standard of handling personal information to protect the individual’s right to privacy. This Act applies to all companies which hold data about living individuals in paper or electronic format. The 8 Data Protection principles for good data handling All data must be… Fairly and lawfully ...

The government have announced details of a new Help to Save saving scheme. The scheme is government backed and designed to support working people on low incomes build up their savings. The scheme, administered by HMRC, will be open to working people who receive Working Tax Credits, and those who receive Universal Credit with a household income equivalent to at least 16 hours a ...

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 took effect on 30 September 2017. It makes companies and partnerships, a ‘relevant body’, criminally liable if they fail to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion being carried out by an employee, anyone acting on their behalf or someone acting as an agent. If found guilty, the business could face unlimited fines and potentially further consequen ...

The Welsh Assembly has announced the proposed rates and bands for land transaction tax (LTT) which is to be introduced for land and property in Wales on 1 April 2018, replacing Stamp Duty Land Tax. Under the new rates for LTT, Wales will have the highest starting threshold for the property tax in the UK. The proposed rates are as follows:   Residential Non-re ...

It is well publicised that the Government is committed to cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion, from individuals who bend the rules through to lawbreakers who evade their taxes altogether. Whilst David Gauke (Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury) announced in his ‘Compliance Progress Report (March 2013)’ that the UK’s tax gap figures rank among the lowest in the world, the ...