The number of estates paying inheritance tax has risen by 15% in recent years, as the UK government’s receipts for the tax climbed to a record £5.4bn. Figures released by HM Revenue & Customs last week showed the number of UK deaths resulting in an IHT charge has been rising steadily since 2009/10 but between […]
Recent research undertaken by Intuit QuickBooks indicates that around 45% of SME employees have paid too much tax due to errors in their payroll, and would benefit from the services of an accountant! The same research shows 77% of SME employees believed, incorrectly, that it was not their responsibility to check they are paying the […]
HM Revenue & Customs’ yield from investigations into ‘wealthy individuals’ rose to £1.8bn in the 2018/19 tax year, up from £1.2bn the previous year. The number of compliance checks led by HMRC has also risen with many investigations ongoing. HMRC started to receive cross-border information last October via the common reporting standard (CRS), and over […]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have been accused of keeping people who face the controversial “loan charge” in the dark after settlements were put on hold pending a review. The loan charge, which came into effect on 6 April applied to anyone who used disguised remuneration schemes. The legislation added a 45% non-refundable charge on […]
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has ordered Advance Mortgage Funding to compensate a couple after it gave incorrect advice on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), which resulted in them having to find an additional £30,000. Prior to the purchase of their new home the couple concerned had asked their broker whether they would need to […]
In the 2018/2019 tax year HMRC opened investigations into 5,537 inheritance tax returns submitted, according to figures gained from a freedom of information request by wealth managers Quilter. This represents 23% of the 22,000 estates on which inheritance tax was due. This number of investigations is 3.4% higher than in the previous year and 7.8% […]
If you were to make a gift of money or assets would you be aware of the inheritance tax rules that might apply? HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) polled 2,090 people and found that only 25% of those who recently made a gift had a working knowledge of the rules. Less than half (45%) were […]
The number of landlords living overseas who have come forward to voluntarily disclose tax avoidance on UK buy-to-lets has risen by over 60% in the past year. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as part of its ‘Let Property Campaign’ has sent out thousands of letters to those living abroad who may have British tax liabilities, […]
From 6 April 2020, anyone selling a residential property will be required to settle any Capital Gains Tax (CGT) charges within a new 30-day payment deadline. Taxpayers will no longer be able to pay any tax charges as part of self-assessment. Somewhat ironically, the tax payment date for a property sold between now and April […]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has a new £100m weapon to help identify individuals who may not be declaring all of their income, and therefore not paying enough tax. The new supercomputer ‘Connect’ uses information from a range of Government and website sources to create a profile of a taxpayer’s total income, as opposed to […]
