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The Help to Save scheme for people on low incomes was launched in September 2018. The scheme allows those in work entitled to Working Tax Credit and in receipt of Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits, to save and receive a 50% government bonus. The scheme is also open to UK residents who are claiming Universal Credit and have a household or individual income of at least £569.22 for their last monthly assessment period. Payments from Universal Credit are ...
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HMRC continues to warn of the ever-present problem of fraudulent phishing emails. The emails typically look to obtain taxpayers personal and or financial information such as passwords, credit card or bank account details. The phishing emails often include a link to a bogus website encouraging the recipient to enter their personal details. As with other fraudulent emails, these are not genuine HMRC messages and should be disregarded. HMRC never sends notifications by email about tax rebates or refunds. The phishing ...
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An Employee Car Ownership Scheme (ECOS) is a set of arrangements whereby employees acquire cars from a specified, often single source and within a specified financing framework. The use of an ECOS can be seen as a halfway measure between providing a company car and leaving an employee to make all their car arrangements privately. An ECOS gives employees similar benefits to having a company car, for example a new car on a regular basis, and/or central organisation of insurance ...
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Where a taxpayer owns a business as a sole trader or in partnership, a Capital Gain will be deemed to arise if the business is converted into a company by reference to the market value of the business assets including goodwill. This could give rise to a chargeable gain based broadly on the difference between the market value of the assets and their original cost. However, in most cases the incorporation of the business will be done in such a ...
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Entrepreneurs' relief applies to the sale of a business, shares in a trading company or an individual’s interest in a trading partnership. Where this relief is available Capital Gains Tax (CGT) of 10% is payable in place of the standard rate. CGT on the disposal of chargeable assets is usually chargeable at 20%. There are a number of qualifying conditions that must be met in order to qualify for Entrepreneurs' relief. There is a lifetime limit that means individuals can ...
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A charge to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) usually arises after an asset is sold. However, there are special rules concerning the sale of certain personal assets that are worth considering. That is because these assets or possessions with a predictable useful life of 50 years or less are normally exempt from CGT. A chattel is a legal term that defines an article of movable personal property. Chattels include items like household furniture, paintings, antiques, items of crockery and china, plate ...
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Private pensions can be an efficient way to pass on wealth, but it is important to consider what, if any, tax will be payable on a private pension you inherit. The person who died will usually have nominated you by telling their pension provider that you should inherit any monies left in their pension pot. If the nominated person can’t be found or has since died, the pension provider may make payments to someone else instead. In general, if you ...
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Student Loans are part of the government’s financial support package for students in higher education in the UK. They are available to help students meet their expenses while they are studying, and it is HMRC’s responsibility to collect repayments where the borrower is working in the UK. The Student Loans Company (SLC) is responsible for collecting the loans of borrowers outside the UK tax system. Whilst many ex-students are happy to continue paying back their loans at the lowest level ...
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The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched a new "Be Data Aware" campaign to help people understand how organisations might be using their personal data to target them online and why, and how people can control who is targeting them. This includes, understanding how organisations use people’s data to reach them with social media adverts to market their goods or services and for political marketing. One of the recommendations from the ICO's investigation into the use of data analytics for ...
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A Close Company is broadly defined as a company that is controlled by:

• five or fewer participators or
• any number of participators who are also directors or
• where more than half the assets would be distributed to five or fewer participators, or to participators who are directors, in the event of the winding up of the company.

A participator is broadly somebody who has a share or interest in the capital or income of a company, such as ...
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There are special rules for the taxation of post-cessation receipts after a trade has ceased. The legislation clearly states that the person who receives or is entitled to the post-cessation receipt is the person who is subject to Income Tax or Corporation Tax on the income. This does not have to be the same person who carried on the original trade. HMRC manuals state that: a receipt which arises from a property rental business, after it has ceased, is taxable ...
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An employee can obtain a benefit when provided with an employment-related cheap or interest-free loan. The benefit is the difference between the interest the employee pays, if any, and the commercial rate the employee would have to pay on a loan obtained elsewhere. These types of loans are referred to as beneficial loans. A taxable cheap loan is an employment-related loan:

• which is outstanding for all or part of the year in which the employee is in employment, and
...
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The weekly rates of child benefit for the only or eldest child in a family is currently £20.70 and the weekly rate for all other children is £13.70. These rates have remained unchanged for some time. Taxpayers entitled to the child benefit should be aware that HMRC usually stop paying child benefit on the 31 August following a child’s 16th Birthday. Under qualifying circumstances, the child benefit payment can continue until a child reaches their 20th birthday if they stay ...
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Most VAT registered businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold need to be ready to keep digital records for VAT purposes, and to file their VAT returns, as required by the new Making Tax Digital (MTD) rules. What does this mean? For VAT return periods starting on or after 1 April 2019, businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85,000) have to:

• keep their records digitally (for VAT purposes only), and
• provide their VAT return information ...
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We would like to remind employers that the deadline for submitting the 2018-19 forms P11D, P11D(b) and P9D is 6 July 2019. P11D forms are used to provide information to HMRC on all Benefits in Kind (BiKs), including those under the Optional Remuneration Arrangements (OpRAs) unless the employer has registered to payroll benefits. This is known as payrolling and removes the requirement to complete a P11D for the selected benefits. However, a P11D(b) is still required for Class 1A National ...
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Two changes to the way Private Residence Relief works are due to come into effect from April 2020. These changes could reduce the amount of CGT relief available on the sale of a private residence. The government has said that the measures are being introduced to better focus Private Residence Relief at owner-occupiers and the changes will mostly affect home owners who let out their home, or part of their home at some time. The current private residence rules and ...
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The National Insurance Contributions (NICs) Bill was introduced into Parliament on 25 April 2019. The Bill will see the introduction of a new 13.8% Employer Class 1A NIC charge on termination payments and sporting testimonials that are already liable to Income Tax from 6 April 2020. The government announced this change at Budget 2018. This means that from next April, termination payments over £30,000 and sporting testimonials of more than the £100,000 limit will be subject to Employer Class 1A ...
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The current Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, will step down from his role on 31 January 2020. Mr Carney had been due to step down earlier but agreed to stay in his role to help support a smooth exit from the European Union. Although this has not yet happened, the Chancellor has confirmed that Mr Carney will step down in January 2020 as planned, and the search for a new Governor of the Bank of England has ...
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The cash basis scheme helps many sole traders and other unincorporated businesses to manage their financial affairs. The scheme is not open to limited companies and limited liability partnerships. Using the scheme, allows qualifying businesses to use the cash basis when recording income and expenditure. You must have a turnover of £150,000 or less to join the scheme and you can continue using the scheme until your turnover reaches £300,000. However, certain small businesses are more suited to using the ...
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It is common practise in the building industry for a final percentage of an amount due to a builder to be withheld as a retention. This payment allows the customer to retain part of the total payment due until satisfied that the builder has completed all the activities required of them under contract at an agreed level of satisfaction. Typically, this may be for a 12-month period between a Certificate of Completion being given and the issue of a Maintenance ...
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