Useful guide that covers: Personal Allowances, Inheritance Tax, Tax Credits, Entrepreneurs' Relief, VAT, Penalties, Corporation Tax, Business Deductions, Captial Gains Tax, ISAs, Pension Contributions and Non-UK Domicile Taxation.
Finally the guide touches on upcoming changes.
Once again, Chancellor Philip Hammond has demonstrated his commitment to the principle of the Spring Statement as a low-key event, at least in terms of tax and public spending announcements.
With none of the pomp and circumstance of the Autumn Budget, Hammond stuck in large part to summarising key points from the updated economic forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Though he presented the numbers with a flourish, the OBR was mildly pessimistic in its own presentation, especially around a reduced estimate for growth in 2019, down from 1.6% to 1.2%.
How did we end up with such a complex system of tax reliefs?
If there's one thing accountants love, it's identifying obscure tax reliefs to which you may be entitled and using them to reduce your tax bills.
Tax reliefs, or tax breaks as they are sometimes called, aren't without controversy, however. There are too many of them, say critics, and they deny the public purse much-needed funds.
What can your firm do before 29 March 2019?
As the clock continues to tick down to the 29 March 2019, when the UK is scheduled to officially leave the EU at 11pm, there is still much uncertainty around what Brexit will mean for UK business.
What is certain is that it will bring change for businesses of every size and sector, but planning for it seems almost impossible. For businesses that buy and sell to the EU it is important to have contingency plans in place which are flexible enough to cope with a variety of outcomes.
Will HMRC come knocking on your door?
It's a fact – humans are bad at assessing risk. We’re terrified of things that rarely happen (plane crashes, power station meltdowns) but relatively blasé about things that are statistically more likely to harm us, such as unwashed lettuce.
The likelihood of HMRC swooping to investigate your business's tax affairs seems to be a particularly difficult risk to quantify.
National insurance contributions (NICs) are set aside to pay the state pension and other benefits, but due to the UK’s ageing population the National Insurance Fund is under increasing strain, with the state pension taking up more than 90% of its annual outlay in 2018.
A review by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) predicted the fund would be empty by around 2032.
There is no pot of money set aside to pay future state pensions, which are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, which means that future pensioners are reliant on the NICs of future workers to pay their pensions.
Controversial fee increase set to take place from April.
From April 2019, some estates in England and Wales could be required to pay almost £6,000 for a service that currently costs less than 4% of that amount.
This is because of a proposed change to the fees families must pay to administer the estate of someone who has died. This process, more generally referred to as probate, involves gathering the assets of the deceased, valuing the estate, paying any tax and bills, and distributing the estate according to the will.
What you need to know before filing self-assessment for 2017/18.
It's a common scenario.
As the year draws to a close, the thought of your tax return is there, at the back of your mind. But with so much time before the deadline, you decide not to worry about it for now.
Then the weeks start to fly by, Christmas comes and goes, and soon you're planning for the New Year and getting back to work as normal.
When and how to begin the process of deregistration.
These days VAT thresholds are the subject of much speculation, with the Government concerned that many business owners deliberately choose to stay below the VAT-registration threshold.
Limiting your ambition in this way might seem counter-intuitive – surely you want your business to get as big as possible?
What are the tax implications?
People run businesses for a variety of reasons from passion to pride, but making a living is high up the list for most people.
How do you go about drawing proit from your business, and doing so efficiently?
How to plan and make a legally valid will.
Most people don't like to think about their own mortality, but planning for the future is important to ensure your property, money and possessions are distributed the way you intend.
Writing a legally valid will is an essential part of this, and can provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones.
What you need to know before launching a startup
Britain is a nation of fearless entrepreneurs, but the likes of Richard Branson and James Dyson didn't go from rags to riches instantly.
Branson needed a £300 loan to get his magazine up and running after dropping out of school at the age of 16, while Dyson produced 5,167 prototypes before inventing his vacuumless dust-buster.
How your pension savings can help finance your business.
As traditional loans fall out of favour with increasing numbers of business owners, you may be looking for an alternative route for financing – and your pension could be the answer.
Data from the British Business Bank shows that in 2017 the number of small businesses seeking traditional bank loans reached a record low of only 1.7%.
This month the insider covers:
This month the insider covers:
This month the insider covers:
How has devolution affected what tax you pay?
First-time buyers in England, Northern Ireland – and for a short time in Wales – were the biggest winners in the most recent shake-up to affect property taxes in Autumn Budget 2017.
Philip Hammond's headline measure was to abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes worth up to £300,000, and the chancellor didn’t stop there. He also introduced a reduced rate of 5% on the portion worth from £300,000 to £500,000, providing a welcome boost for many aspiring homeowners in London where the average residential property sold for £556,146 in 2017.
How to make this tax break work for you
Millions of married couples and civil partners in the UK are eligible for the marriage allowance, but take-up has remained subdued since the tax break came into force on 6 April 2015.
Almost half of the UK's eligible couples failed to claim their slice of £1.3 billion in marriage allowance cash in 2016/17, with many couples either unaware of the tax break or forgetting to claim it.
It's designed for couples where one partner pays the basic rate of income tax and the other is a non-taxpayer.
Obligations from 1 April 2019 onwards
Although the Making Tax Digital (MTD) regime has suffered several setbacks and delays, MTD for VAT remains on course to take effect from its planned implementation date of 1 April 2019.
Under the scheme, VAT-registered businesses are required to maintain digital records, complete the VAT return from the digital records and send it electronically to HMRC.
The pros and cons of letting furnished holiday accommodation.
When furnished holiday property is let on a commercial basis for short periods, the owner can benefit from tax reliefs which wouldn't otherwise be available to residential landlords, providing certain conditions are met.
However, there are also several disadvantages associated with letting property as holiday accommodation whether or not the furnished holiday letting conditions are met.
How can you reduce your capital gains tax bill in 2018/19?
Whether you’re a buy-to-let landlord, a shareholder, an art dealer or you fall somewhere in between, the chances are you will be familiar with paying capital gains tax (CGT).
CGT is payable when you 'dispose' of a certain item and make money from the sale, with the amount you're liable for depending on your income and the asset in question.
If there's one thing that keeps us awake at night it's the thought of how many British businesses are failing to claim capital allowances to which they are entitled – worth billions of pounds across the board, according to some estimates.
Capital allowances provide the mechanism for tax relief on certain types of capital expenditure (the purchase of assets such as office furniture, or equipment) essentially providing a deduction against proits.
This month the insider covers:
This month the insider covers:
This month the insider covers: