Enter Your E-mail

Tax relief is available on money borrowed to buy equipment or machinery for use in a partnership, provided that the items in question qualify for capital allowances.It may therefore be advisable to borrow money to buy equipment and machinery and to use savings for a non-qualifying purpose to maximise the tax relief available.It should be noted that the availability of certain income tax reliefs is capped at the greater of £50,000 and 25% of income. Relief for qualifying loan interest is subject ... Continue Reading

EIS schemes offer tax relief on contributions at 30% and a tax deferral on gains. EIS investments are generally high risk and invest in a single company.Note – restrictions apply where an individual investor is connected with the EIS company. This is the case where the he or she is remunerated as an employee or director or owns (or is entitled to possess) 30% of the ordinary share capital, 30% of the voting rights or 30% of the assets in a winding up of either the EIS company or a subsidiary.Investing ... Continue Reading

LITRG have examined all of the Autumn Statement announcements, to see how they will affect those on low to modest incomes. This article explores some of the key areas. Introduction The Chancellor introduced his Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015 by saying that it delivers on the Government’s commitment to “put security first”, both national security and economic security for working people. The watchword was “build”, as he talked of the need to “build” ... Continue Reading

In case (like us) you were struggling to find anything useful in the .gov site, here is HMRC's Autumn Statement 2015 landing page... Continue Reading

It must be said that there seemed to be relatively few changes announced earlier today. I had expected more extensive measures to generate further tax revenues because of the reversal of tax credits. A brief summary follows. But I have a hunch that the 2016 Finance Act may be a little more substantial. As ever, the real work will begin when the Bill is published. 1. The government plans to levy an additional 3% SDLT on the acquisition of Buy-To-Let residential properties and second homes, from ... Continue Reading

TW Ed warns that people who have borrowed from their companies etc. to invest in residential property may be in for a shock. Yesterday, I posted an old e-mail relating to the withdrawal of interest relief for residential property businesses – or, as I like to call it, “death by four cuts”. With one eye on the screen and another counting down to my favourite Chancellor’s third Budget of the year, (or is that my third-favourite Chancellor’s “Budget of the Year”..?), ... Continue Reading

The following is a copy of an e-mail which was sent to the HMRC contact for the forthcoming interest relief restriction for residential landlords. The e-mail was originally sent in September. The first part considers the broader implications of the new policy. The second part analyses the draft legislation as originally issued.  The legislation has now received Royal Assent, sporting a new ITTOIA 2007 s 274B to cover a Basic Rate tax credit for discretionary Trusts. But other issues remain, ... Continue Reading

Many people are not aware that you can claim expenses incurred in the seven years before commencement of trading against your first year’s trading profits.The expenses are treated as having been incurred on the first day of trading. The rules for determining whether a pre-trading expense is deductible mirror those for expenses generally. For a pre-trading expense to be allowable it must have been incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade.Make sure you keep all receipts for ... Continue Reading

A cross-party committee of MPs has said that it would be right for the Chancellor to rethink tax credit reforms that went “too far and too fast”. Government tax credit proposals The cuts proposed for April 2016 would have run “against the government’s objective of making work pay”, according to the Commons Work and Pensions Committee’s report, which is summarised below. The Chancellor announced sweeping cuts to the tax credits system in his Summer Budget. However, ... Continue Reading

HMRC will henceforth accept the transfer of personal allowances as prescribed by the new marriage allowance by phone as well as online. Background The marriage allowance allows one spouse or civil partner to give up part of their personal allowance to their spouse or civil partner. There are conditions to be satisfied as are noted below. Up till now it has only been possible to make this transfer of allowances online at www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance but now HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will ... Continue Reading