Some employers may wish to give a small gift to their employees. As long as the employer meets the relevant conditions, no tax charge will arise on the employee. A tax exemption is available which should help employers ensure 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 t ...

According to statistics published by HMRC more than 180,500 first-time buyers have benefitted from First Time Buyers Relief (FTBR). The relief introduced in November 2017 has saved eligible first-time buyers an estimated total amount of more than £426 million. Mel Stride MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said: ‘These statistics show that the government was right to off ...

It is fair to say that 2018 has seen a lot of scrutiny of the charity sector with some very high profile names in the spotlight. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that the CCEW research into the public’s trust of charities came up with some interesting results. Confidence levels lowThe research found that public confidence in charities is currently 5.5 out of 10. This com ...

The Economic Affairs Committee has warned HMRC that small businesses 'could pay a heavy price' for Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTDfV). The Committee stated that HMRC has 'failed to adequately support small businesses' ahead of the introduction of MTDfV. MTDfV is generally set to come into effect for the from 1 April 2019 for businesses which have a taxable turnover above the cu ...

HMRC has issued a Partnership Pack to help businesses carry out contingency planning and to help their customers, members and clients to: think about how they will need to adapt their business to comply with new systems, processes and controls assess the impact of the increased demand for customs declarations on their business consider whether they need to recruit and trai ...

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 ...

HMRC has issued the October 2018 Employer Bulletin which contains a number of articles relevant to employers on payroll related issues. The articles cover a number of areas including: clarification of the rules regarding paying employees when the regular payday is a non-banking day dealing with PAYE Settlement Agreements and new procedures to accommodate Scottish income ta ...

HMRC has opened the Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTDfV) public pilot. However certain VAT-registered businesses (around 3.5% according to HMRC) with more complex requirements will be deferred from being subject to MTD for six months. Essentially, the public pilot is now open to sole traders and companies using standard VAT accounting. This applies whether returns are done month ...

The government announced, as part of the Budget, that some changes are being made to the rules for Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER) with immediate effect for disposals on or after 29 October 2018. Two new tests are to be added to the definition of a ‘personal company’, requiring the claimant to have a 5% interest in both the distributable profits and the net assets of the company. Th ...

A number of changes to capital allowances were announced at the Budget, including an increase in the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), for two years to £1 million, in relation to qualifying expenditure incurred from 1 January 2019. The AIA is currently £200,000 per annum. Complex calculations may apply to accounting periods which straddle 1 January 2019. Other changes to the ...