As you may be aware motor cars used in a business that emit no more than 95g CO2 per kilometre qualify for a 100% capital allowance. This threshold reduced from 110g back in April 2013 and there are now fewer cars that qualify for this generous tax relief. However, if your business can afford one, […]
Protect Your Pension from 55% Tax Charges
HMRC has just issued a reminder that the deadline to protect large pension funds from the decrease in the lifetime allowance is fast approaching. Lifetime allowance. There is a limit to the size of a pension pot that qualifies for tax breaks. If your pension fund exceeds this limit, the lifetime allowance, then there will be […]
The Employer’s £2,000 NIC Allowance
This valuable allowance is due to start for all businesses on 6 April 2014, and simply exempts the employer from the normal employer NICs of 13.8% of the earnings paid. The mechanics are that the allowance will be obtained via standard payroll software and HMRC’s RTI system. A facility will be added to the RTI […]
High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC)
The HICBC was introduced on 7 January 2013 and applies to couples where: One partner has received Child Benefit payments after 7 January 2013, and Either partner has income in excess of £50,000 a year. The person with the highest income, if both are over £50,000, will be liable to pay the charge. It will […]
Coding Out Tax Debt
HMRC are looking to increase this activity, which involves the collection of tax debts by way of reducing your Code Number used when calculating PAYE deductions on earnings. There would be no change to the current £3,000 maximum that can be coded out for individuals earning less than £30,000, and the current coding out limit […]
100% Tax Write-off for a Low Emission Car
If you buy a new car for your business that has CO2 emissions of no more than 95g/km, you can claim a full deduction against your business profits. There are approximately 30 cars that fall into this category, but the list is growing. If you run your business as a limited company, the private use […]
Auto Enrolment & Pension Reform
In the UK today, millions of people are failing to save enough to have the income they would like in retirement. Life expectancy is increasing but people are saving less into pensions. To meet this challenge, the Pensions Act 2008 laid the foundations for a fundamental reform of workplace pensions requiring every employer to automatically […]
Budget 2013 implications for Directors Loan Accounts
Budget 2013 announced various anti avoidance measures aimed at “loans to participators”, this is the technical term for what we call “your overdrawn directors loan account”. The Rules Where a company makes a loan or advance to a participator (which to all intents and purposes means you as a director), it must account for tax […]
The Personal Allowance Trap
As you may know, there is a nasty tax trap by reference to the gradual withdrawal of the personal allowance if your taxable income exceeds £100,000. This is via a reduction of £1 of allowance for every £2 of excess taxable income. For 2013/14 the trap potentially applies to even more taxpayers with the increase […]