Thursday April 19, 2012 at 1:37pm
The recent Budget saw a concerted attack on tax avoidance, especially the practices used by the super-wealthy. And when you look at some of the headline figures, it’s hardly surprising the Government saw this as a ripe target. Many were dismayed when Gordon Brown abolished the 10% tax band for the lowest earners. However, with a little creativity, 10% tax still exists – only this time for the UK’s highest earners. HMRC found that 10% is the average rate of income tax paid by 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....
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....
Friday March 4, 2011 at 10:00am
With few tax-breaks available to business owners at the moment it is worthwhile knowing about one that is still very much still alive and kicking and can significantly benefit business owners planning to sell.
Entrepreneur’s relief was introduced in 2008. From 23rd June 2010 the first £5 million of gains that qualify for relief will be charged to Capital Gains Tax at an effective rate of 10 per cent. Gains in excess of £5 million will be charged at the normal 18 per cent or 2....
Thursday March 3, 2011 at 10:00am
As the tax year end approaches now is an ideal time to review your tax and financial planning requirements. High earners in particular could save a considerable amount of money by implementing some tax planning ideas before 5th April this year.
With the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) carrying out a review into all tax reliefs, allowances and exemptions, and identifying reliefs, you may want to consider making sure any tax planning is executed before the 23rd March 2011 Budget, which will t....
Monday February 7, 2011 at 10:00am
With the financial year end only a few months away now is the time to start taking last minute action to try and reduce your 2010/11 tax liability and save on tax.
Business owners action plan
1. Bring forward capital expenditure. If you are considering significant capital or revenue expenditure this year you may want to see if you can bring the payments forward and claim tax relief in the accounts to March 2011.
There are still generous capital allowances for purchases of equipment th....
Thursday January 20, 2011 at 10:50am
Interesting to read Fidelity International last week suggesting that high earners could be facing tax bills amounting to 68% of their earnings. Whether you agree with their figure, apparently calculated by taking into account tax and national insurance rate changes as well as the recent hike in VAT, there’s no doubt that under the new tax regime many high earners will face significant increases in their tax liability unless they take specialist advice and take advantage of every tax mitiga....
Monday December 6, 2010 at 9:47am
One of the changes announced in the June budget seems not to have crossed many business owners’ radar and yet I think it potentially has a substantial impact on how they might be able to reduce tax costs now and in the future.
You may have spotted the change to the tax relief on contributions into pensions being reduced from £255,000 to £50,000 per annum for pensions with a pension input period ending after 5th April 2011. You might have been excused for thinking that it&rsqu....
Thursday September 30, 2010 at 7:05pm
At the Liberal party conference Nick Clegg was the latest Government spokesman to talk about clamping down on tax avoidance. He even went on to talk about avoiding tax as being an ethical question. I’d say a bigger ethical question is how our taxes are spent by government. Indeed if people felt their taxes were being spent wisely and fairly they may have more time for the ethics of high taxation. What’s all the fuss about? It is probably worth looking at the distinction between evasi....