Although the National Insurance rates and thresholds for 2022/23 had already been set, at the time of the Spring Statement in March 2022, the Chancellor announced increases in the primary threshold which would align the starting point for National Insurance with the...

Under Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT, VAT-registered traders must keep electronic records and file their VAT returns electronically using software that is compatible with MTD for VAT. Prior to 1 April 2022, MTD for VAT was only mandatory for VAT-registered traders...

Corporation tax is being reformed and companies with profits of more than £50,000 will pay corporation tax at a higher rate than they do now. While the changes do not come into effect for a year, applying from the financial year 2023 which starts on 1 April 2023,...

To help meet the costs of health and adult social care, a new levy, the Health and Social Care Levy, is introduced from 6 April 2023. Payment of the levy, which is set at the rate of 1.25% of qualifying earnings, is linked to the payment of National Insurance...

All individuals are entitled to an annual exempt amount for capital gains tax purposes. Net gains (chargeable gains less allowable losses) for the tax year are free of capital gain tax to the extent that they are covered by the annual exempt amount. For 2021/22, the...

The January self-assessment payment deadline is not well timed, falling as it does in a month when people may be already struggling to pay their Christmas credit card bills. However unpalatable the 31 January tax deadline is, it is not one that should be ignored....

The hospitality and leisure industry were particularly hard hit by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns. To help the industry recover they benefitted from a reduced rate of VAT of 5% from 15 July 2020 until 30 September 2021. As a temporary...

Dividends have their own tax rules and their own rates of tax. The rules and the rates apply in the same way regardless of whether the dividends are paid from your personal or family company as part of a profit extraction strategy, or whether they represent investment...

Capital allowances are the tax equivalent of depreciation, and the mechanism of providing tax relief for certain items of capital expenditure. However, with the exception of cars, capital allowances are not available where accounts are prepared under the cash basis;...

You must register your business for VAT if your VAT taxable turnover exceeds the registration threshold. This is currently £85,000. You must register if: at the end of any month, the value of your VAT taxable supplies in the previous 12 months or less is more than...

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the advice was ‘work from home if you can’. As a result, millions of employees found themselves working at home, often at very short notice. Many still have not returned to the workplace, and homeworking (whether fully or flexibly) is...

Special rules apply to company directors when it comes to calculating their Class 1 National Insurance liabilities. Why the rules Directors, particularly of personal and family companies, can control how and when they are paid and, in the absence of special rules,...

If you operate through a limited company, for example as a personal or family company, you will need to extract funds from your company in order to use them to meet your personal bills. There are various ways of doing this. However, a popular and tax efficient...

As lockdown restrictions are eased, businesses may need help to re-open and to recover from the impact of the pandemic. Depending on the nature of the business, they may be eligible for a Restart Grant or a Recovery Loan. Restart Grants The Restart Grant Scheme...

The Employment Allowance is a National Insurance allowance that enables eligible employers to reduce their employers’ (secondary) Class 1 National Insurance bill by up to £4,000. However, not all employers can benefit – there are some important exclusions. Eligible...

The financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented and borrowing levels in 2020/21 of 16.9% of GDP represent the highest level of peacetime borrowing. To meet some of this cost, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced in the 2021 Budget that various...

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has provided grant support for self-employed individuals whose business has been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. An extension to the scheme was announced at the time of the 2021 Budget. As a result, it...

On 3 March 2021, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, submitted his budget for 2021 with the following highlights: Extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme till September Until the ninth month of the year 2021, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will remain...

Private residence relief removes the charge to capital gains tax on the taxpayer’s only or main residence. For the purposes of the relief, a taxpayer can generally only have one residence qualifying for the relief at any one time, subject to the final period exemption...

Those looking to buy an investment property may wish to consider a holiday let. Not only do the second and subsequent homes benefit from SDLT savings as a result of the temporary increase in the SDLT threshold, they can also benefit from the favourable tax regime for...

The ACQ5 annual awards program recognizes organizations that have achieved beyond exceptional commercial success in their designated area of expertise. Since 2005, the ACQ has acknowledged organizations worldwide, celebrating their achievements, milestones and...