News
VAT and food supplies
HMRC’s VAT Notice 701/14: food explains what types of foods are zero rated and standard rated for VAT. The notice includes many examples of different food categories. The notice covers some general VAT liability rules.
Definitions of connected persons
The definition of a connected person for tax purposes can be complex and varies depending on the circumstances at hand. Learn more!
Employee ownership and involvement
There are many ways that employees can own a stake in their employer’s company. However, employee ownership usually refers to a situation where all employees of a business have a ‘significant and meaningful’ stake in a business.
Contacting HMRC by email
HMRC has published a new guidance titled ‘Corresponding with HMRC by email’. The guidance was published on 9 August 2022 and explains some of the risk factors associated with contacting HMRC in this way.
VAT Flat Rate Scheme
The VAT Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) has been designed to simplify the way a business accounts for VAT and in so doing reduce the administration costs of complying with the VAT legislation.
Overseas seller VAT check
Since 2018, online marketplaces (such as eBay or Amazon) have been required to help tackle online VAT fraud. Find out more…
Termination payments
The tax treatment of termination payments has changed significantly over recent years. The changes have aligned the rules for tax and secondary National Insurance contributions (employer (NICs)) by making an employer liable to pay NICs on termination
Bona Vacantia – dissolved companies
The final step in bringing a company to a legal end is dissolution. However, one if the important points to consider when doing so is that the dissolved company can no longer do or receive anything including receive a tax refund.
Reminder of compensation limits for bank deposits
The bank deposit guarantee limit is the amount of money that is guaranteed for savers in UK banks and building societies should the institution become insolvent. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) guaranteed amount is currently £85,000
Reminder that the plug-in grant has ended
The government plug-in grant was first introduced 11 years ago to help drivers make the move to owning an electric car. Just under six months later, on 14 June 2022, the government announced it was closing the plug-in car grant scheme to new orders.
Using the Customs Declaration Service
The Customs Declaration Service (CDS) is a new customs IT platform that has been designed to modernise the process for completing customs declarations for businesses that import or export goods from the UK.
Do you qualify for the marriage allowance?
HMRC is using the wedding season to issue a reminder to married couples and those in civil partnerships to sign up for marriage allowance if they are eligible and haven’t yet done so.
Tax Diary September/October 2022
Here are some key tax dates in September and October 2022 to pop into your diaries to avoid missing important deadlines.
Compulsory Registration of Trusts
From 1 September 2022, all UK and non-UK trusts with a liability to UK taxation arising from UK income or UK assets, are required to be registered with HM Revenue and Customs’ Trust Registration Service.
Miscellaneous income
There are special rules known as the miscellaneous income sweep-up provisions that seek to charge tax on certain income. This unusual provision, which is broad in scope, catches income that would not otherwise be charged under specific provisions
Using the Annual Investment Allowance
The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) is a generous tax relief that was first introduced in 2008. The AIA allows for the total amount of qualifying expenditure on plant and machinery to be deducted from profits before tax.
Scope of Trade
There is no statutory definition of ‘trade’. The only statutory reference to the term is that ‘trade’ includes a ‘venture in the nature of trade’. This absence of a formal definition decides if an activity is a trade more difficult.
Using Advisory Fuel rates
The easiest way to ensure that no car-fuel benefit charge (for private journeys in a company car) is payable, is to use the advisory fuel rates published by HMRC to repay any private fuel costs to your employer.
Tax-free trivial benefits
There is a benefit in kind (BiK) trivial exemption that applies to small non-cash benefits like a bottle of wine, or a bouquet of flowers given occasionally to employees or any other BiK classed as ‘trivial’ that falls within the exemption.
Duty free limits if you are travelling abroad
Here is a reminder of any duty payable and tax-free allowances if travelling abroad this summer.
If you are travelling from outside the UK and arriving home in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland), you are allowed to bring the following back
Emergency tax codes
The letters in an employee’s tax code signify their entitlement (or not) to the annual tax-free personal allowance. The tax codes are updated annually and help employer’s work out how much tax to deduct from an employee’s pay packet.
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