Nov 25

HMRC warns landlords to disclose earnings

HMRC has warned landlords to disclose their earnings on self assessment tax returns. The tax authority has clarified the guidance on who can participate in the Let Property Campaign, which is targeted at landlords who owe tax through letting out residential property in the UK or abroad. Landlords can report previously undisclosed taxes on rental […]

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Under 100 days to go until self assessment deadline

HMRC has warned taxpayers that the countdown to the self assessment deadline is now underway, with less than 100 days to go. Self assessment taxpayers must file and pay their self assessment tax return before the 31 January 2025 deadline. The tax authority says more than 12 million people need to file a tax return […]

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Employer NICs rise may have unforeseen consequences blog

Employer NICs rise may have unforeseen consequences

The extra costs of the increase in employers’ NICs could cause businesses to respond in ways the government did not intend, the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has warned. At the Autumn Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an increase to the rate of employer NICs by 1.2 percentage points, to 15% from 6 April 2025. […]

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Autumn Budget – the business reaction

Business groups have reacted to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget speech. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that the Chancellor ‘had difficult choices to make to deliver stability for the economy’. Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Executive of the CBI, commented: ‘A more balanced approach to our fiscal rules which prioritises capital investment should help to […]

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Chancellor promises to drive growth and raises £40 billion in taxes blog

Chancellor promises to drive growth and raises £40 billion in taxes

Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged to ‘invest, invest, invest’ to drive growth and ‘restore economic stability’ in the Autumn Budget. The Budget, which was Labour’s first in over 14 years and the first ever delivered by a female Chancellor, saw £40 billion in tax announcements. Ms Reeves repeated her claims that the government had inherited a £22 billion […]

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Nov 01

Sage special Budget edition Double-cab pickups are to be classed as cars

Just in case you haven’t read the latest Autumn Budget summary we sent earlier this week, this is a very relevant change for some of you… Double-cab pickups are to be classed as cars Hidden in the latest Budget report is news that double-cab pickups will soon be taxed as cars, following a series of […]

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Oct 31

Autumn 24 Budget Summary

This Summary covers the key tax changes announced in the Chancellor’s speech and includes tables of the main rates and allowances. At the back of the Summary you will find a calendar of the tax year with important deadline dates shown. We recommend that you review your financial plans regularly as some aspects of the […]

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Oct 28

Raising CGT rates would not deter investment, says IPRR

Increases to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) at the upcoming Budget would not deter investment into the country, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The think tank says that low CGT is not an effective way at encouraging entrepreneurship and investment. Equalising CGT to income tax could help the Chancellor’s efforts to close […]

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HMRC agree to make things easier with paper tax returns

HMRC’s decision to make it easier for taxpayers to file a paper tax return has been welcomed by the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG). With less than a month until the 31 October deadline for filing a 2023/24 paper self assessment tax return, HMRC have confirmed to LITRG they will accept copies of the […]

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Budget will be ‘pivotal moment’ for new government

The Autumn Budget will be a ‘pivotal moment’ for the new Labour government as it aims for sustainable economic growth, says the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). In its Budget submission, the business group says the task ahead is not without its challenges given the current economic and fiscal constraints. The CBI says the key […]

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Chancellor must tackle barriers to growth in Budget

Chancellor Rachel Reeves must tackle barriers to growth in the Autumn Budget, says the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FSB is calling on the Chancellor to deliver a decisively pro-small business Budget, saying SMEs are ‘sick of stagnation’. The business group wants measures to ease employment costs, remove barriers to access finance for investment, […]

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Oct 09

Government cracks down on late payments

The government has announced a crackdown on late payments to small businesses and the self-employed. Late payments cost SMEs £22,000 a year on average, according to Smart Data Foundry, while the Federation of Small Businesses says it leads to 50,000 business closures a year. The government will consult on new laws that will hold larger […]

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HMRC urged to take action to defuse side hustle time bomb

HMRC has been urged to defuse a tax bombshell threatening online traders, by the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG). The LITRG, which is part of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), says the tax authority must take action in order to make sellers aware of the fact that they may need to file a […]

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reform blog

Reforms to IHT, CGT and NI ‘could raise over £20 billion a year’

The Resolution Foundation has suggested that reforms to inheritance tax (IHT), capital gains tax (CGT) and national insurance (NI) could raise more than £20 billion a year. The Foundation said that the reforms could also pass a ‘triple tax test’ of improving tax efficiency, making sure that tax rises fall on those with the broadest shoulders. It […]

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Billion-pound tax bombshell to hit hospitality, warns trade body

The end of business rates relief will sting hospitality with a £928 million bill in April unless the government acts in the Budget, warns UKHospitality. Hospitality and leisure businesses face their bills quadrupling if business rates relief ends as planned on 31 March, it adds. The trade body is calling for the Chancellor to introduce […]

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Sep 05

Latest guidance for employers September 2024

HMRC has published the latest issue of the Employer Bulletin. The August issue has information on various topics, including: electronic payment deadline falls on a weekend P11D and P11D(b) for tax year 2023 to 2024 supporting employees with changes to the High Income Child Benefit Charge pensions for seasonal temporary staff getting your new employees […]

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Advisory fuel rates for company cars September 2024

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published and took effect from 1 September 2024. 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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UK has record number of self-employed workers aged 60 blog

UK has record number of self-employed workers aged 60 or over

The number of self-employed people aged 60 or over has reached a record level, according to analysis by Rest Less. These numbers have increased by over a third in the past decade, totalling 991,432 self-employed people aged 60 or over in 2023. The analysis found that while the number of self-employed workers in their 50s […]

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Freelancers want to see fairer, simpler tax system from Autumn Budget

Freelancers want to see Chancellor Rachel Reeves use the Autumn Budget to move towards a fairer, simpler tax system, according to the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE). IPSE’s research found that 80% of freelancers believe that government tax policies, such as IR35, are harming their businesses. Meanwhile, just under half of freelancers […]

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HMRC late payment interest cutblog

HMRC late payment interest cut by 0.25%

HMRC has reduced late payment and repayment interest rates following the cut to the base rate. The Bank of England cut the base rate to 5.0% on 1 August, the first reduction for over four years. This has triggered a cut in HMRC interest rates which are pegged to the base rate. From 20 August, […]

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