Jun 18

Advisory fuel rates for company cars

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published which take effect from 1 June 2018. The guidance states: ‘You can use the previous rates for up to one month from the date the new rates apply’. The rates only apply to employees using a company car. The advisory fuel rates for journeys undertaken on […]

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Jun 14

200,000 receive back pay as HMRC enforce National Minimum Wage

BEIS and HMRC are urging underpaid workers to complain about National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) underpayments. Recent figures show that the number of workers receiving the money they are owed has doubled. During 2017/18, HMRC investigators identified £15.6 million in payments owed to more than a record 200,000 of the UK’s […]

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May 31

Changing priorities at HMRC

Over the coming years, the government plans to phase in its landmark Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative, which will see taxpayers move to a fully digital tax system. However HMRC has shared a statement about how they are prioritising change in the department and as a result, some parts of MTD will be delayed. HMRC […]

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May 28

EMI (Enterprise Management Incentive) options may not qualify for tax relief

The Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) allows selected employees (often key to the employer) to be given the opportunity to acquire a significant number of shares in their employer through the issue of options. An EMI can offer significant tax advantages as the share option scheme allows options to be granted to employees which may allow […]

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May 23

VAT fuel scale charges

HMRC have issued details of the updated VAT fuel scale charges which apply from the beginning of the next prescribed VAT accounting period starting on or after 1 May 2018. VAT registered businesses use the fuel scale charges to account for VAT on private use of road fuel purchased by the business. Please do get […]

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May 21

HMRC consultation on benefits exemption for workplace charging facilities

HMRC are consulting on the tax exemption which will apply from 6 April 2018 on workplace electric charging facilities used by employees. It was announced in the Autumn Budget 2017 that the government intends to implement an exemption for the benefit of electricity provided by an employer, at the workplace, to charge electric or plug-in […]

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May 17

P11D deadline approaching

The forms P11D which report details of benefits and some expenses provided to employees and directors for the year ended 5 April 2018 are due for submission to HMRC by 6 July 2018. The process of gathering the necessary information can take some time, so it is important that this process is not left to […]

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May 14

Tax reliefs following the Scottish Budget

The Government has stated that it will ensure that tax reliefs continue to work as they were intended as the new Scottish Income Tax rates and bands are introduced from 6 April 2018. The Government has confirmed: Marriage Allowance Marriage Allowance allows taxpayers to transfer 10% of their tax-free Personal Allowance to their spouse or […]

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gdpr

May 10

GDPR compliance deadline looms

With less than one month until the introduction of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is warning small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that time is running out for them to prepare. The business group stated that small businesses face an ‘uphill challenge’ in ensuring that they are compliant […]

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Apr 30

Employer-Supported Childcare gets a reprieve

Many employers help employees with childcare costs, often by providing childcare vouchers by way of salary sacrifice. Following the roll out of Tax-Free Childcare (TFC), the new government scheme to help working parents, existing Employer-Supported Childcare (ESC) schemes were expected to close to new joiners from April 2018. However following the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, Education […]

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Apr 19

Spring Statement announces consultations

Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his Spring Statement on Tuesday 13 March 2018. In his speech, the Chancellor announced consultations would be issued on: how to help the UK’s least productive businesses to learn from, and catch-up with, the most productive how to eliminate late payments particularly to benefit small business whether the use of non-agricultural […]

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Apr 16

GDPR

New data protection rules from General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will replace the Data Protection Act in the UK from 25 May 2018. GDPR is designed to safeguard personal data of citizens from EU member states, with particular emphasis on transparency and accountability. It applies to all businesses in the EU and non-compliance will lead […]

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Apr 06

Update for employers and their employees

HMRC’s latest Employer Bulletin includes useful updates for employers as we approach the start on the new tax year on 6 April 2018. The Bulletin includes articles on: end of year reporting for payroll and reporting benefits in kind P9 Notice of Coding and the system of in year tax code adjustments known as Dynamic […]

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Mar 30

Tribunal rules BBC journalist is caught by ‘IR35’ legislation

A First Tier Tribunal has ruled that Christa Ackroyd who presented BBC news programme Look North and was paid via a personal service company was caught by the IR35 rules resulting in additional tax and national insurance contributions being payable. The IR35 rules in broad terms mean that those working via a personal service company […]

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Mar 28

Scotland’s five income tax bands and tax relief for pensions

  Tax relief on pension contributions is a complex matter and depends on the marginal tax rate of the individual concerned and whether or not the contributions are being paid with relief at source or under net pay arrangements. The following link details how relief will be given for 2018/19. If you would like help […]

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Mar 26

Pensions Auto Enrolment reaches a million employers

The Pensions Regulator has announced that the number of employers meeting their workplace pension duties has reached one million and that statistics show that approximately 9.3 million people are saving into a pension. TPR’s Director of Automatic Enrolment, Darren Ryder, said: ‘I am delighted we have reached this important landmark, which shows how far we […]

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Mar 22

Minimum Wage increases

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) are the legal minimum wage rates that must be paid to employees. Employers are liable to be penalised for not complying with the NMW and NLW rules. There are different levels of NMW and NLW, depending on age and whether the employee is an apprentice. […]

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Mar 19

Advisory fuel rates for company cars

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published which take effect from 1 March 2018. The guidance states: ‘You can use the previous rates for up to one month from the date the new rates apply’. The rates only apply to employees using a company car. The advisory fuel rates for journeys undertaken on […]

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Mar 15

Year end tax planning

With the end of the tax year looming there is still time to save tax for 2017/18. We have set out some points you may want to consider. • Make full use of your ISA allowance – ISAs can offer a useful tax free way to save, whether this is for your children’s future, a […]

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Jan 29

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and First-Time Buyer Relief

The Scottish government announced that they will introduce a new Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) relief for first-time buyers of properties up to £175,000. The relief will raise the zero tax threshold for first-time buyers from £145,000 to £175,000, and according to the Scottish government 80% of first-time buyers in Scotland will pay no […]

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