Thursday March 21, 2013 at 10:00am
With the budget putting a focus on tax and HMRC in the news, now is probably as good a time as any to look at some of the news affecting the tax collector and the tax payer in the UK.
Barclays stops offering tax advice: Barclays always seems to court controversy; from banking pre apartheid South Africa, to aggressive pricing and bonuses and now the closure of their tax structuring unit which advised companies on using complex structures to reduce tax liabilities. No doubt a sign of the times ....
Thursday July 26, 2012 at 10:00am
In his budget earlier in the year chancellor George Osborne announced a controversial cut in the top rate of income tax from 50% to 45%. If you are affected by this change you may need to act now to get maximum tax saving advantage.
It may seem early to consider this, in view of the reduction not taking effect until the 2013/14 tax year, but that depends on your circumstances.
The scope for deferring income and/or accelerating expenditure can require a long lead-in time. In addition, if pro....
Thursday June 21, 2012 at 1:32pm
The reality of tax avoidance for many small business owners is very different to the headline hitting experience of Jimmy Carr.
Owning and running a business is tough. I say this from a lifetime of working with business owners. Even the good times are not immediately obvious, it is only by comparing them to the really hard times you realise things are not so bad.
Small business faces huge competition, that’s the way a capitalist society works. We do not have professions sheltered from....
Thursday June 7, 2012 at 10:00am
£12.6 billion – that’s apparently the amount wasted by UK tax payers who fail to take advantage of tax reliefs and benefits. What a staggering figure, and maybe because it’s such a large number it’s just too easy to fail to see how it relates to your personal tax position. Well, just by taking a few examples you’ll start to see how tax savings can really add up.
Personal allowances – if you are a married couple with one earning significantly more th....
Wednesday March 21, 2012 at 9:31am
The news today is all about the budget. As promised in previous statements the BBC is reporting that the Chancellor will increase the personal allowance to £9,205, which might sound like good news but, read on.
The personal allowance trap is the little-known area of income tax quicksand, which progressively drags you under once your income exceeds £100,000. It creates a situation where individuals pay 60% income tax on some of their income.
How can this happen? It’s all dow....
Friday February 17, 2012 at 9:00am
Being in business is about facing challenges. You may have devised a growth strategy and know where you hope to be in, say, three years' time. But even the best strategy has two shadows looming over it: a struggling economy and the government. Broadly speaking, you can do little about the state of the economy. At best, you should remain positive and continue looking for opportunities. The shadow the government casts is a different matter. Government policies or inaction can hold you back. What y....
Thursday September 8, 2011 at 6:46pm
It is always frustrating when a client tells me of a financial transaction they have just completed without thinking to consider the tax implications first. In many ways it is not unreasonable for clients to assume that the transaction they are undertaking is straightforward and nothing can be done to improve it. However, there are a surprising number of ways to reduce tax that most people would know nothing about. Here are some examples:
Mitigate stamp duty on property purchases It is lega....
Friday August 19, 2011 at 2:47pm
Since the Finance Act receiving Royal Ascent on 19th July 2011 there’s been something of a rush in some quarters to check the effects on tax planning advice and tax planning schemes. Luckily the two leading UK providers of tax planning services that we work with were well ahead of the game and we’re able to talk with confidence to clients about our current tax planning options.
It did set me thinking however about how individuals and business owners can be sure they are getting the....
Thursday July 21, 2011 at 9:00am
You may have read about the tax planning carried out by UK PLCs to reduce their corporation tax bill and thought 'Why can't we do that?'
Well, maybe you can. You may not be able (or want) to commit to some of the cross border tax planning strategies that a much bigger, global business can. But there are simple tax planning strategies available to pretty much any business.
Firstly check whether you are making the most of your legitimate corporate tax reducing opportunities and, at the same ti....
Thursday July 14, 2011 at 9:00am
We can and frequently do help clients to mitigate Stamp Duty on purchase of a home or commercial premises. But when it comes to avoiding the Inheritance Tax (IHT) payable on the home on death, many clients seem to think there’s little they can do. With the rise in property prices and Inheritance Tax thresholds at £325,000 per person once the home is added to the estate many people find that Inheritance Tax will be due on death. This tax is gratefully received by HMRC, so much so they....