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Tax Insider Looks at 10 Tax Savings Tips for the new tax year. 1. Personal Allowance Everyone is entitled to a tax-free personal allowance - including children. A check should be made to ensure that everyone in the family is fully utilising theirs. 2. Age Allowance In the year that you turn 65 you will be entitled to an increased personal tax allowance (£10,500 for 2012-13). However, once income reaches a certain limit (£25,400 for 2012–13) a much higher tax rate may ... Continue Reading

Mark McLaughlin asks if HM Revenue & Customs' mission is to collect the right amount of tax or just as much as it can get from taxpayers. I was intrigued to read Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's recent letter to HM Revenue & Customs' Chief Executive Lin Homer, which is headed 'Remit for HM Revenue & Customs 2012-13'. This letter sets out the Chancellor's priorities for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in the areas of improving tax collection, delivering cost reductions, improving ... Continue Reading

Peter Arrowsmith, FCA, looks at some of the recent National Insurance developments including Budget 2012 and some NIC tips for employers for the new tax year. Budget 2012 The Government announced some details of tax rates and allowances for 2013/14. The Basic Rate and Higher Rate will remain at 20% and 40% respectively, but the Additional Rate of 50% will reduce to 45%. The Personal Allowance will increase to £9,205 for those under 65 and the 40% rate will apply from taxable income ... Continue Reading

A guide for people who sell things online and whether or not they may be affected by HMRC's latest tax campaign, by TaxationWeb. Introduction Many people will have already heard that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is targeting “eBay traders” and is encouraging people to come forwards and to pay any tax that they owe, with a promise of more stringent penalties (or worse) for those who don’t take up the current offer. One of the problems HMRC faces is that they’ve ... Continue Reading

HMRC has introduced a number of changes which will take effect from 6 April this year. We are focusing on two changes which we think will affect a significant number of claimants, and where HMRC's guidance has arguably fallen short. Change to Working Hours Rule for Working Tax Credits HMRC has publicised that most couples with children will need to work at least 24 hours a week (up from 16 hours a week) between them from 6 April 2012. One person in the couple will still need to work at ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs has announced that its online services will be unavailable over the Easter weekend as rolling updates are undertaken from 21:00 on 5 April through to early 11 April next week. Both Corporation Tax Self Assessment and Personal Self Assessment will be unavailable throughout this period. Other services will be unavailable at different times - for instance, the VAT Online Service should still be available up to early Sunday 8 April, which will be ... Continue Reading

Mark McLaughlin asks why does the Budget need to be so long? A couple of weeks ago, prior to the Budget, I predicted: "Unfortunately, all bets are off for another huge Finance Bill this year - no change there". Sadly, my prediction was correct. Finance Bill 2012 is an eye-watering 686 pages in length. In addition, the explanatory notes to the Finance Bill add a "mere" 508 pages to the bedtime reading of tax advisers. The Government and HMRC constantly talk about simplification and ... Continue Reading

Big changes for VAT-registered businesses are happening this April, as VAT returns go online. All VAT-registered businesses in the UK will now have to submit their VAT returns online, and pay electronically, for periods starting on or after 1 April 2012. Previously, only newly-registered businesses and those with turnovers of more than £100,000 had to submit their VAT online, as well as pay electronically. Anyone else could send HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) a paper VAT return, but this ... Continue Reading

Well, I am pleased to say that we did rather well on our Budget Predictions ( What Do We Expect in Budget 2012? ) but I don't think many expected that we'd also see the withdrawal of the additional Age Allowance for older taxpayers. The resulting 'backlash' in the press - combined as it is with a reduction in the Additional Rate of tax from 50% to 45% - comes as a surprise to nobody except the Chancellor, it seems. Elsewhere there are some interesting developments in amongst all the press releases ... Continue Reading

Taxbriefs Financial Planning issues its 2012 Budget Report   This summary has been prepared by Taxbriefs Financial Publishing and is for general information only. The proposals are in any event subject to amendment before the Finance Act is passed. It is recommended you seek competent professional advice before taking any action on the basis of the contents of this publication. Introduction The contents of George Osborne’s third Budget were so well rehearsed ... Continue Reading