Pension Options at the age of 55

Despite remaining complex, pensions offer you far more flexibility from the age of 55 (rising to 57 from 6 April 2028) than was once possible.

If you are approaching 55, you might be feeling a twinge of trepidation or excitement that you could soon become “a
pensioner” as this is the age at which you are allowed to access some pension savings.

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Tax Insider November 2021

Included in this months article:

  • Salary sacrifice could ‘dampen increased NICS costs’
  • Hospitality and tourism VAT rate increases to 12.5%
  • Business rates burden eases for retailers and hospitality firms
  • Extension for temporary £1M annual investment allowance
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RESIDENCE & DOMICILE AFTER BREXIT

For most UK citizens, the question of what income and gains should be included on their tax return is easily answered because they are both UK domiciled and UK tax resident.

Anyone domiciled and resident in the UK will need to report their worldwide income and capital gains on their return. However, what happens if you are either non-UK domiciled (non-dom) but UK resident, or UK domiciled but non-UK resident?

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2020/21 INCOME TAX RETURNS & THE SEISS

A chunk of time has passed since the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) was launched in May 2020, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first taxable grant, worth up to £7,500 in total, was paid out in August 2020. That was followed by a second grant of up to a total of £6,570 and a third grant, worth up to £7,500 in total.

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Tax Insider October 2021

Included in this month’s article:

  • Curtain comes down on stamp duty land tax holiday
  • Government launches new trust registration service
  • The rise of electric vehicles could create £30BN tax hole
  • National insurance and dividends tax rates to rise 1.25% in 2022/23
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ACCOUNTING FOR CHARITIES & NON-PROFITS

Anyone who’s involved in operating a charity knows how it differs from running a business, both in terms of motives
and objectives.

HMRC treats non-profit organisations and charities very differently to businesses, offering some unique tax breaks in the process.

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BASIS PERIOD RULES IN LINE FOR REFORM

Unincorporated businesses could be about to see significant changes to the ways in which they are taxed, following the launch of a Government consultation.

The Government plans to reform the basis period rules in a bid to simplify how unincorporated businesses, such as sole traders and business partnerships, allocate trading profits to tax years for inclusion on their self-assessment returns.

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Tax Insider September 2021

Included in this month’s article:

  • Deadline approaches for fifth and final self-employed grant
  • National Insurance contribution rates ‘poised to increase’
  • 1 in 5 UK employers consider making redundancies
  • Capital gains tax receipts climb 3% to record-high
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STARTING A NEW BUSINESS AFTER COVID-19

Not much can stop determined entrepreneurs from building a new business from the ground up, even during such challenging times as a COVID-19 or its ensuing fallout.

The pandemic has proven a huge challenge for businesses, with 396,155 UK firms closing in 2020 according to the Office for National Statistics, as business owners struggled to cope with restrictions and lockdowns.

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TAKING CHARGE OF PLANNING YOUR ESTATE

Soaring house prices coupled with certain thresholds being frozen in the most recent Budget have the potential to drag more estates into the inheritance tax net over the coming years.

Back in March 2021, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed the main inheritance tax thresholds will remain frozen at their 2021/22 levels “up to and including 2025/26”.

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August 2021 Tax insider

Included in this month’s article:

  • Lower stamp duty land tax threshold in place until October.
  • Employer costs increase as furlough scheme winds down.
  • Treasury seeks feedback on business rates revaluations.
  • Pensions tex traps catch out thousands more savers.
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Tax Planning for Residential Landlords

After a challenging year for the UK’s residential landlords, you might have read about improvements to the buy-to-let mortgage market in recent weeks.

In the three months to 31 May 2021, the average interest rates for residential landlords had declined. A two-year fixed-rate buy-to-let mortgage fell 0.10 percentage points to 2.95%, while a five-year fixed dropped 0.11 percentage points to 3.30%.

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The Pros and Cons of a Company Electric Car

Despite the potentially high personal tax charge, many employees still enjoy and prefer the convenience of being
offered the use of a company car by their employer.

Those employers familiar with the benefit-in-kind tax rules will
be aware the tax impact on the employee is much lower for those that choose lower emission cars.

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Tax Insider July 2021

Included in this months article:

  • Sweeping VAT reforms in the EU will affect the UK’s online retailers
  • Families hit with big bills after believing gifts would not be taxed
  • OTS considers bringing the end of the tax year forward
  • UK tax incentive ‘fails to deliver extra R&D spending’
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COSTS YOU CAN RECLAIM ON THE BUSINESS

If you’re self-employed, your business will rack up various running costs throughout 2021/22. Some of those you’re able to deduct as allowable expenses.

By deducting these allowable expenses as part of calculating your business’s taxable profits, it’s possible for us to reduce your income tax bill in the process.

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June 2021 Tax Insider

Included in this month’s article:

  • Deadline approaches for SME Brexit support grant
  • Employers told to issue childcare voucher reminder
  • Directors bank mandatory climate credential disclosure plan
  • HMRC seeks to remove VAT repayment Supplement
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TAX IMPLICATIONS OF FURNISHED HOLIDAY LETS

Owning and letting out a holiday home, otherwise known as a furnished holiday let (FHL), has always been a popular way of investing and earning income.

Not only do FHLs enjoy many tax advantages over normal residential let properties, owners have an asset which they can use for holidays while it largely pays for itself.

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May 2021 Tax Insider

Included in this month’s article:

  • Super-deduction tempts 51% of manufacturers to invest
  • VAT-registered firms start using digital links under MTD
  • HMRC rolls out new measures to ‘Tackle CIS abuse’
  • Workplace pension contributions bounce back after slump
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April 2021 Tax Insider

Included in this month’s article:

  • Three month extension for business rates holiday in England
  • New recovery loan scheme replaces previous COVID-19 loans
  • VAT-registration and deregistration thresholds frozen until 2024/25
  • Treasury issues guidance on the final two self-employed grants
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March 2021 Tax Insider

Included in this month’s artice:

  • Opt-in to VAT deferral new payment scheme by 31 March 2021
  • Personal allowance and higher-rate threshold to increase 0.5%
  • Changes to prompt-payment code aim to end late payments
  • Record number miss self-assessment filing deadline due to COVID-19
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Off-Payroll Working In The Private Sector

Exactly a year later than planned, changes to the off-payroll rules – known as IR35 – will take effect in the private sector next month. The emergence of COVID-19 put paid to the changes affecting large and medium-sized private-sector organisations this time last year, but now it’s for real.

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National Insurance Planning

Our state pension, benefits, health service and more are all funded by National Insurance contributions (NICs).

These are paid in different ways and at different rates by employers, employees and the self-employed, and they can also be paid voluntarily.

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Complying With Your Tax Obligations

It’s not often that HMRC makes exceptions to its tax deadlines or late-filing penalties, but the past year has, as in so many ways, been different.

Between optional deadline deferrals, new payment schemes and temporary reliefs, keeping on top of the changes to the usual tax timetable hasn’t been easy.

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February 2021 Tax Insider

Included in this months article:

  • Hardest-hit businesses offered new government grants of up to £9,000
  • Pre-Christmas furlough extension stems the tide of redundancies
  • Record number of small businesses ‘set to close for good in 2021’
  • COVID-19 sees retail sales slump to a 25-year low in 2020
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2021 Tax Year End Guide

With the ever-changing circumstances of 2020/21 it is hard to imagine that we are already close to the tax year end again.

Feels like we did nothing and went nowhere in the last 12 months!

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Sending goods to the EU — problems and solutions

A number of exporters have faced problems with sending their goods to the EU. Many lorries have been turned back at the border by Border Force and over 150 have incurred fines in Kent for the failure to have complete paperwork. Here we identify the issues that are most frequently found and explain how to get it right first time.

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January 2021 Tax Insider

Included in this month’s article:

  • Annual investment allowance remains at £1m until 2022
  • HMRC issues last reminder for 2019/20 personal tax returns
  • One-year freeze for business rates multiplier in England
  • National living wage to increase alongside age threshold fall
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STRATEGIES FOR EXPORTS AFTER BREXIT

The UK has left the EU, and for British exporters, that presents both opportunity and uncertainty.
While the new trade agreement places no tariffs or quotas on goods traded between the UK and EU from 1 January 2021, it may come with additional costs and bureaucracy as the UK is no longer part of the single market and customs union.

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CLAIMING VAT ON PAYMENT OF THIRD-PARTY LEGAL COSTS

My client has been in dispute regarding a road traffic accident between one of his company’s lorries, and another VAT registered business’ lorry. A small claims court has judged in favour of the third-party business, and has awarded them payment for damages, including reimbursement of their legal costs. The third-party is a partially exempt business, and so they would like reimbursement for the net amount of their costs, plus the VAT – will the third party raise a VAT invoice to us for payment of those costs and can my client claim back any of the VAT?

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GAINS ON UK RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY

Earlier this year, a new rule requiring capital gains tax on UK residential property to be reported and paid to HMRC within 30 days kicked in.

This ushered in another change to tax rules affecting residential property owners, which seeks to raise more tax from the disposal of additional homes and to collect this tax quicker.

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Tax Insider December 2020

INCLUDED IN THIS MONTH’S ARTICLE:

  • VAT-REGISTERED TRADERS URGED TO PREPARE FOR LIFE AFTER BREXIT
  • FURLOUGH SCHEME EXTENDS UK-WIDE UNTIL THE END OF MARCH
  • GOVERNMENT BODY URGES CAPITAL GAINS TAX OVERHAUL
  • SELF-EMPLOYED FEAR TAX RETURNS MAY AFFECT FOURTH SEISS CLAIM
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Covid19 Update : Commentary on 3rd SEISS Claim

We have attached a commentary on the 3rd SEISS claim to help you decide if you should claim. We hope this helps. The claim window opens Monday.

Council Grants

The Council arbitrary grants opened last week – York’s can be found at

Application Form: https://www.york.gov.uk/xfp/form/263

Information: https://www.york.gov.uk/COVID19BusinessGrants     https://www.york.gov.uk/AdditionalRestrictionsGrant

Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) 

A reminder that the BBLS closes on 31 January 2021, so if you are eligible and have not yet applied, or have scope to extend your original loan, please take urgent action.

Deferral of tax and payment by instalments 

Many people deferred the second instalment of 2019/20 tax which was originally due on 31 July 2020 with deferral to 31 January 2021. HMRC have now announced that you can further delay payment by arranging instalments for any self-assessment tax falling due on 31 January 2021.

If your tax debt is below £30,000 and you have no existing Time To Pay arrangements in place you can apply online using your Government Gateway login. For debts over £30,000 or if you have existing payment arrangements you have to call HMRC on 0300 200 0822 to request instalment payments.

Just worth mentioning that we are seeing quite a few clients having difficulties obtaining mortgages with outstanding tax liabilities so maybe speak to your adviser if you are thinking of re-mortgaging / using time to pay.

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