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Expenses may be incurred in the setting up of a letting business before the first rental is received (e.g., travel, phone, advertising, etc). Strictly, such expenses should not be claimable as the business would not have started until the first rental income payment has been received (cash basis) or accrued for.  However, relief is allowed under special rules where the expenditure: has been incurred within a period of seven years before the date the rental business actually starts; is not ... Continue Reading

Trader Or Investor?    Anyone buying a property for rent on a long-term basis will probably bedeemed an investor by HMRC, whereas someone buying to refurbish and then sell (whether resulting in a gain or not)could be deemedas trading or dealing in properties and be taxed accordingly.    The two factors to consider are firstly, intention (the reason for the purchase) and secondly, whether the transaction has the characteristics of being a trade. If it ... Continue Reading

Lee Sharpe looks at the several redeeming features behind the CGT regime and particularly Only/Main Residence Relief, any of which may yet swoop to defend a besieged Member of Parliament. Introduction Nearly a quarter-century ago, I watched a political thriller called “The Contender”. The plot oriented around a fictional US vice-presidential candidate being accused of having had an eventful social life in her college years that, had she been a man, would have comprised an advertisement, ... Continue Reading

TaxationWeb's Lee Sharpe looks at the 2024 Spring Budget, and considers the tax implications for self-employed taxpayers, and family companies paying dividends versus salary. Introduction I might characterise the Chancellor’s Speech as somewhat akin to having to pick up a mangy cat. There’s stuff in there not to like, but the ground could have been salted much worse. The frequency and the amplitude of politicisation was… disappointing. Such point-scoring, if well-made, is tolerable ... Continue Reading

By James Kessler QC, Amy Berry, James Davies, Michael Ranson, and Chris de Beneducci Reviewed by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT (Fellow) TEPConsultant Editor, and co-author of Ray & McLaughlin’s Practical IHT Planning Introduction A key sign of a popular and respected technical work is its longevity. Now in its 15th Edition (the first was in 1992), the publishers, Sweet & Maxwell, describe Drafting Trusts and Will Trusts:A Modern Approach as “the main practitioner text in ... Continue Reading

Lee Sharpe looks again at Employee Motoring and Mileage Expenses, and the unfairness of statutory mileage rates that have not substantively risen for more than 20 years. Introduction Last year, I covered the rising cost of motoring and its tax consequences for employees using their own cars to travel for work, in some detail – see Motoring Expenses and Mileage Allowance – Are Employees Who Use Their Own Cars Getting a Bad Deal? When I say "I covered it in detail", I mean over several ... Continue Reading

The Chancellor’s recent Plan for Growth is a house full of horrors for landlords, warns TaxationWeb’s Lee Sharpe.   Introduction The Chancellor’s recent 2022 Prayer for Growth has both brought forward the Basic Rate reduction to 2023/24, and triggered eye-watering rises in mortgage interest rates – although it seems the Chancellor is a little bashful about taking the credit for all the things he has managed to achieve in such an astonishingly short space of time. So ... Continue Reading

Key points from the Budget-that-was-not-a-Budget, by TaxationWeb’s Lee Sharpe. Any opinions expressed in the article are those of the writer, rather than TaxationWeb itself. Introduction The non-tax headline measures oriented around providing help for households and for business with their ever-increasing energy bills, and removing the cap on bankers’ bonuses. Focusing on the tax aspects, the last decade or so of government policy might be described, somewhat fancifully, as going to ... Continue Reading

Peter Vaines covers a range of topics in his tax case update PLUS a warning about the new Economic Crime (Transparency & Enforcement) Act 2022. ATED Penalties There have been a number of Tribunal cases about whether HMRC can impose daily penalties, where a company fails to comply with its ATED obligations. One such case was Heacham Holidays Limited v HMRC [2020] [2020] UKFTT 406 (TC) where the taxpayer submitted their ATED return late and HMRC imposed penalties. The Tribunal drew attention ... Continue Reading

Peter Boerhof, VAT Director at Vertex, reports on research into the challenges of trading into new territories, and advocates for digitalisation. Introduction Financial decision makers have certainly earnt their keep over the past few years, with many navigating their business through the turbulence of the pandemic, ongoing supply chain disruption, and a fragile global economy. Whether they are sitting behind the glare of the computer screen analysing countless spreadsheets and tightening the purse ... Continue Reading