Author: Mohamed Rahim

Our client newsletter containing tax tips, advice and important information. Our MTD information leaflet can be provided upon request.

Earlier today the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne set out his budget. The following were the key points mentioned, with more detailed analysis to follow when the details are received.

– Corporation Tax to fall from current 20% to 17% by 2020
– 40% Tax Threshold to raise to £45,000 from April 2017
– Personal Allowances to raise to £11,500 from April 2017
– Capital Gains Tax to be cut from 28% to 20% and 18% to 10% for basic rate tax payers.
– Class 2 NIC abolished
– A new sugar tax on the soft drinks industry from April 2018
– Tobacco duties to rise by 2%
– 0.5% rise in insurance premium tax
– For those under 40 years of age, a new lifetime ISA to be introduced where the government gives you £1,000 for every £4,000 you save. This is for pensions and mortgage deposits.

We will be posting a more detailed analysis with the real implications and benefits for businesses and individuals shortly, once full details of the budget are received. Check back soon!

From April 2016, the government will introduce a new mandatory national living wage (NLW) for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 – a rise of 50p relative to the current National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate. That’s a £910 per annum increase in earnings for a full-time worker on the current NMW.

Our client newsletter containing tax tips, advice and important information.

A reminder that the National Minimum Wage rates increase next month. From 1 October 2015 they will be as follows:

adult rate: £6.70 an hour
youth rate for those aged 18-20: £5.30 per hour
rate for those aged 16-17: £3.87 per hour
apprentice rate: £3.30 per hour
accommodation offset: £5.35 per day.
Note that in addition to these increases, a new “National Living Wage” (“NLW” – not to be confused with the Living Wage) will apply from April 2016, and will effectively introduce an additional higher tier into the National Minimum Wage system. The new rate, of £7.20 per hour, will apply to all adults aged 25 and over.

Make sure you pay HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by the deadline. You may have to pay penalties and interest if your payment is late.

The deadlines for paying your tax bill are:

31 January for any tax you owe for the previous tax year (known as a ‘balancing payment’) and your first payment on account.

The 31st October 2014 deadline for Self Assessment Partnership Paper Tax Returns  for the year ended 5 April 2014 is fast approaching! If you are a client and you still haven’t given us the information  needed for this please do so as soon as possible! You can find our checklist attached to this post. The penalties for late filing can be substantial and we don’t want our clients ending up with penalties from HMRC!

You zero-rate VAT on goods exported to VAT-registered people within the EU. (If any VAT is due in the destination country, the recipient pays it there.)

 Keeping records if you’re dispatching to someone VAT-registered in their destination country:

 -You have to show their VAT-registration number (including two letter country code) on your sales invoice.

Tax Returns are now due for the year ended 5 April 2014. Please find here a checklist for the information we require from you to complete your returns (if we haven’t told you we have already). Please bring this information in when you can so we can get your returns submitted.

The team here are very glad the January rush is over! Finally a nice quiet day in the office! (in comparison to last week anyway!) If you have have any queries about your Tax Return or if you aren’t a client yet and have missed the deadline please Contact Us. If you have missed the deadline and have certain mitigating circumstances to have done so, we may still be able to  help you appeal against any penalty and assist in getting your return completed. For those clients who have to pay HMRC payments on account, please remember the second payment should be received by HMRC before 31 July (this should be detailed in the letter we would have sent out to you).