In 2018/19 HMRC issued penalties of £816m, an increase from £620m in 2015/16 according to official data. This represents an increase of nearly 32% in three years! This is a much faster rate of increase then the amount of tax collected by HMRC, which has increased by 19.2% from £495bn to £590bn over the same […]
As reported previously, 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 all loans advanced through the schemes – some of them dating back 20 years – unless the individual had agreed with HMRC to settle their tax […]
A recent Freedom of Information request from NFU mutual revealed that the number of people HMRC has refunded inheritance tax to has more than doubled in the past two years – due to falling house prices! During the period April 2010 and April 2017 circa 2,000 – 3,000 people were refunded inheritance tax because they […]
HMRC have recently indicated that some high earners are failing to report pension growth on tax returns, and could ultimately face huge bills for undeclared pension contributions. When completing annual tax returns, taxpayers are required to declare if they have put money into a pension above the ‘annual allowance’ (currently £40,000 per year), but as […]
In the midst of election manifestos and fiscal policy debate, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has released an interesting statistic – the top 1% of income tax payers in the UK now account for around 30% of income tax paid to the government. Broadly, the ‘top 1%’ of tax payers will earn over £120,000 […]
The deadline for filing the self-assessment tax return for 2018/19 is 31 January 2020. This is also the date by which any outstanding tax for 2018/19 must be paid, when payments need to be made, and the date by which the first payment on account of the 2019/20 liability must be made. What is a […]
The government has abandoned its plans to increase probate fees. The fixed fee of £155 for applications made by solicitors and the charge of £215 for those made by individuals for estates valued above £5,000 will remain. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said ‘We have listened to concerns around changes to those charged for probate, […]
Since April 2017, the amount of tax relief landlords can claim on finance costs has been reducing. Are you up to date on the changes? In an attempt to assist first-time buyers, the government introduced a number of changes to make the buy-to-let market less attractive to landlords. One of these was the introduction of […]
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 […]
