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The tax rules state that the purchaser’s entitlement to capital allowances in relation to a commercial property purchase is restricted to the disposal value that the past owner of the property brought into account, even if this was not the immediate past owner. Furthermore, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to obtain and provide details of prior claims and disposal values, which might prove difficult if the original owner has ceased trading or if records are no longer available. Post ... Continue Reading

My grasp of modern history is no less shaky than that of any other era but I seem to recall that it was a previous conservative government that tried to get away with claiming “no tax rises” but kept nudging up NICs because it sensed that the general public failed to make the link so directly as with Income Tax. Or perhaps that was just the first time I noticed it. Well, the appetite for yet more NIC seems unassuaged, with attacks on “salaried” members of Limited Liability ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs want to enable individuals who rent out residential property to bring their tax affairs up to date. If you are eligible, you should take action now.  Introduction The Let Property Campaign is for individuals who let out residential property in the UK or abroad and who have not told HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) about all their income and gains. The campaign was launched in December 2013 and will last for at least 18 months (until June 2015). Once you have notified ... Continue Reading

The ‘pre-owned assets tax’ (POAT) is an income tax charge levied on the ‘benefit’ earned on any property that had been formerly owned by the user (or for which he has provided funds to purchase), but of which he still enjoys the use, unless sold to an unconnected person in a bargain at arm’s length. The benefit is calculated by reference to the rental value of the property. This is the rent that would have been payable if it had been let to the taxpayer at an ... Continue Reading

More than 99 per cent of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records are now successfully being reported in real time, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced today as it launched a package of support for micro businesses. Almost 93 per cent of employers, and nearly 99 per cent of employers with 10 or more employees, are now using the new process to send PAYE information about their employees in real time, and the majority are finding the new system easy to use. HMRC is offering a continued package ... Continue Reading

The Chancellor delivered his Autumn Statement against a backdrop of the best economic outlook since 2010, but also continuing austerity for most people after years of welfare cuts.   Background The economic outlook is encouraging but austerity continues for the majority, whether in or out of work, following enduring cuts. Unemployment continues to fall, although for many temporary and agency workers the price they pay for being in work is zero-hours contracts, low pay and erosion ... Continue Reading

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is charged on ‘money or money’s worth’, defined very widely to include consideration given directly by the purchaser or person connected with the purchaser. Consideration is the purchase price plus any additional amounts paid in the transaction (e.g. seller's fees). Cash is obviously the commonest form of consideration on a sale but as a general rule the market value is used when gifted unless: •    the property is gifted subject ... Continue Reading

Peter Vaines of Squire Sanders notes a recent case which involved the sale of part of a taxpayer's garden, which did not go well for HMRC. I have written quite a lot recently on the main residence exemption for capital gains tax and the difficulties in ascertaining what represents a residence for this purpose. That uncertainty continues. However, HMRC are now pursuing another tack which appeared in the recent case of Dickinson v HMRC TC 3027. The taxpayer had a house ... Continue Reading

HMRC has advised that draft clauses of the 2014 Finance Bill will be published on Tuesday 10 December, on HMRC's section of the .GOV website Continue Reading

How does it work? •    The beneficiary has the right to receive an income for a defined period (usually for the remainder of the beneficiary’s life) but not the right to the capital held within the trust. Thus, rented property can produce the income but the property itself remains within the trust. •    The ‘interest’ will cease when the beneficiary becomes ‘absolutely entitled’ to the trust assets either on death or when some special condition ... Continue Reading