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 ...

HMRC countdown: file your tax return 2018
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 ...

New guidance for employers
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 ...

MTD for VAT public pilot opens and deferral for some businesses
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 ...

Entrepreneurs’ Relief changes
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 ...

Capital allowances changes
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 ...

Ward Williams introduce new Will Writing service
We are delighted to announce that Ward William’s Mark Speed is now a member of The Society of Will Writers. Ward Williams will now be able to assist you with putting a valid Will in place and offer specialist advice and succession planning. As the majority of people have come to understand, we should have a Will, but the reality is that most of us don’t have one. It’s importan ...

Personal tax changes - allowance and basic rate band increases
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 ...