NEWS
Budget highlights
23/06/2010
VAT - The standard rate of VAT will be 20% from Tuesday 4 January 2011.
Personal taxation - The personal allowance will rise by £1,000 in 2011/12, but higher rate
taxpayers will not benefit because the basic rate limit will be cut.
Capital gains tax - From 23 June 2010, the rate of capital gains tax will increase to 28% for
higher and additional rate taxpayers, but will remain at 18% for basic rate
taxpayers.
Entrepreneurs’ relief will continue at 10% and from 23 June 2010 the
lifetime limit will be raised to £5 million per person.
Corporation tax - The main corporation tax rate will fall to 27% from 1 April 2011 and be
reduced by 1% a year in the following three years.
The small profits corporation tax rate will reduce to 20% from 1 April 2011.
Business taxation - The annual investment allowance will be cut to £25,000 from April 2012.
The writing down allowances for plant and machinery will also be reduced.
There will be a temporary exemption for employers’ national insurance
contributions of up to £5,000 per employee for each of the first ten people employed by new businesses in certain regions, broadly outside London and the South East of England.
Other - The effective requirement to buy an annuity at age 75 will be scrapped from April 2011.
Fit Notes
17/05/2010
Fit notes will be brought into effect from April 2010 and are a replacement for sick notes. The information that doctors will be asked to provide means that instead of giving patients a sick note saying they are too ill to work, they will be able to advise whether a person may be fit for work with some help and support, and what employers can do to assist in this process. Assistance could include a phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties or workplace adaptations.
Reminder on PAYE payments
17/05/2010
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued employers with a reminder that they must get their PAYE payments in on time or face a penalty. When a payment is made electronically, employers have until the 22nd of each month to pay. But 22 May falls on a Saturday. This means that the payment for month one of 2010/11 needs to have cleared HMRC's bank account by Friday 21 May. Payments that don't clear by that date will be deemed to be late, and the employer could end up paying a penalty charge.
Furnished Holiday Lettings break for tax payers
15/04/2010
Lucrative tax breaks for furnished holidya lets owners which were due to be abolished in April 2010 have been deferred.
It was proposed to abolish beneficial tax rules for furnished holiday let owners from April 2010. However following the election date announcement and opposition from both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, the Government has agreed to defer the abolition of the rules until after the election.
HMRC new powers
17/05/2010
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have recently been granted powers to mount in-year inspections into taxpayers’ affairs which extend to most aspects of
the tax regime. Over the past few months, HMRC have been conducting trial ‘crosstax check’ enquiries in certain areas by contacting taxpayers directly by phone to arrange a visit to their business premises. The request has usually been to meet within seven working days of the call, after which a team of HMRC staff would descend on business premises to look at all aspects of their tax affairs. In most cases, tax agents were not notified in advance by HMRC, exposing clients to risk, as HMRC may unwittingly exceed its statutory powers when seeking information.
Furnished holiday lettings
07/09/2009
Beneficial tax treatment afforded to qualifying furnished holiday lettings in the UK will be repealed with effect from April 2010. Furnished holiday lettings will be treated as any other lettings income business and will not be afforded the tax concessions available to business assets.
Loss relief extension for corporation and income tax
07/09/2009
In the Finance Act 2009, HMRC have confirmed that trading losses made by companies ending between accounting periods 24th November 08 and 23rd November 2010 will extend the carry back period to a period of three years with losses being carried back against a later year’s first. A similar trading loss relief is available to unincorporated businesses where losses are incurred in the 2008/09 and 2009/10 tax year. These reliefs are subject to a maximum relief of £50,000.
23/06/2010
VAT - The standard rate of VAT will be 20% from Tuesday 4 January 2011.
Personal taxation - The personal allowance will rise by £1,000 in 2011/12, but higher rate
taxpayers will not benefit because the basic rate limit will be cut.
Capital gains tax - From 23 June 2010, the rate of capital gains tax will increase to 28% for
higher and additional rate taxpayers, but will remain at 18% for basic rate
taxpayers.
Entrepreneurs’ relief will continue at 10% and from 23 June 2010 the
lifetime limit will be raised to £5 million per person.
Corporation tax - The main corporation tax rate will fall to 27% from 1 April 2011 and be
reduced by 1% a year in the following three years.
The small profits corporation tax rate will reduce to 20% from 1 April 2011.
Business taxation - The annual investment allowance will be cut to £25,000 from April 2012.
The writing down allowances for plant and machinery will also be reduced.
There will be a temporary exemption for employers’ national insurance
contributions of up to £5,000 per employee for each of the first ten people employed by new businesses in certain regions, broadly outside London and the South East of England.
Other - The effective requirement to buy an annuity at age 75 will be scrapped from April 2011.
Fit Notes
17/05/2010
Fit notes will be brought into effect from April 2010 and are a replacement for sick notes. The information that doctors will be asked to provide means that instead of giving patients a sick note saying they are too ill to work, they will be able to advise whether a person may be fit for work with some help and support, and what employers can do to assist in this process. Assistance could include a phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties or workplace adaptations.
Reminder on PAYE payments
17/05/2010
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued employers with a reminder that they must get their PAYE payments in on time or face a penalty. When a payment is made electronically, employers have until the 22nd of each month to pay. But 22 May falls on a Saturday. This means that the payment for month one of 2010/11 needs to have cleared HMRC's bank account by Friday 21 May. Payments that don't clear by that date will be deemed to be late, and the employer could end up paying a penalty charge.
Furnished Holiday Lettings break for tax payers
15/04/2010
Lucrative tax breaks for furnished holidya lets owners which were due to be abolished in April 2010 have been deferred.
It was proposed to abolish beneficial tax rules for furnished holiday let owners from April 2010. However following the election date announcement and opposition from both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, the Government has agreed to defer the abolition of the rules until after the election.
HMRC new powers
17/05/2010
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have recently been granted powers to mount in-year inspections into taxpayers’ affairs which extend to most aspects of
the tax regime. Over the past few months, HMRC have been conducting trial ‘crosstax check’ enquiries in certain areas by contacting taxpayers directly by phone to arrange a visit to their business premises. The request has usually been to meet within seven working days of the call, after which a team of HMRC staff would descend on business premises to look at all aspects of their tax affairs. In most cases, tax agents were not notified in advance by HMRC, exposing clients to risk, as HMRC may unwittingly exceed its statutory powers when seeking information.
Furnished holiday lettings
07/09/2009
Beneficial tax treatment afforded to qualifying furnished holiday lettings in the UK will be repealed with effect from April 2010. Furnished holiday lettings will be treated as any other lettings income business and will not be afforded the tax concessions available to business assets.
Loss relief extension for corporation and income tax
07/09/2009
In the Finance Act 2009, HMRC have confirmed that trading losses made by companies ending between accounting periods 24th November 08 and 23rd November 2010 will extend the carry back period to a period of three years with losses being carried back against a later year’s first. A similar trading loss relief is available to unincorporated businesses where losses are incurred in the 2008/09 and 2009/10 tax year. These reliefs are subject to a maximum relief of £50,000.
Redwoods are regulated by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and are Registered Auditors.
2 Clyst Works, Clyst Road,
Topsham, Exeter,
EX3 0DB
Tel: (01392) 877200, Fax: (01392) 876200
Topsham, Exeter,
EX3 0DB
Tel: (01392) 877200, Fax: (01392) 876200