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The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has commented on HMRC's press release Child Benefit Reminder for Higher Income Earners, which said that HMRC require taxpayers to notify them before 28 March 2013 if those taxpayers want to forego entitlement to Child Benefit in 2013/14. The CIOT thinks this deadline is correct because the first Benefit payment for 2013/14 may be as early as Thursday 28 March - this year it is unusually early because of how Easter falls in the year, although it ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs has announced that it will be using its extensive data gathering powers to trace people who have sold properties - at home OR abroad - other than their main homes. Such 'second' homes are unlikely to be eligible for the "Private or Main Residence Relief" from Capital Gains Tax, which is generally available to a taxpayer's main residence. (Although where there is a choice of available residences, the taxpayer does generally have the option to nominate which should enjoy the ... 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. If the investment is into your own company, only CGT deferral relief is available. Investing in an EIS Example: John and EIS John decides to set up a new trading business and subscribes for £50,000 of shares at par, and has gains realised elsewhere of £50,000 which he invests in the shares. The company qualifies for EIS treatment ... Continue Reading

A property owned jointly or in partnership does not necessarily mean that the rental profit or loss must be allocated in the same proportion as the underlying ownership of the property. The owners can agree a different split, the proportion referring to profits and losses only and not to the capital received should the property be sold. It would be advisable for there to be an agreement quite separate from the property purchase deed that confirms the proportion. The agreement could ... Continue Reading

Relief for pre-trading expenditure does not extend to capital expenditure. However, similar rules allow capital expenditure qualifying for capital allowances to be treated as having been incurred on the first day on which trading begins. However, first year allowances are given by reference to the date on which the expenditure was actually incurred. Example: David starts trading on 1 September 2012. In preparation for trading he spends £10,000 on plant and machinery. The expenditure ... Continue Reading

Jiří Nekovář, President of the Confédération Fiscale Européenne, considers how international tax planning is evolving. Introduction The role of the tax adviser used to be clear: to minimise the tax you pay using every lawful means possible. But have the lines become blurred?  What was clear ten years ago – avoiding tax is good; evading tax is illegal – has become murky of late. Just recently the UK witnessed a public outcry over the cross-border tax-planning actions ... Continue Reading

Onwards and Upwards with the ICPA! TaxationWeb is delighted to welcome ICPA members to the UK's largest independent tax website. TaxationWeb has prided itself over the years on its strong community of taxpayers, tax professionals and others. This community has manifested itself in a thriving Tax Forum, which provides a meeting place for tax issues to be discussed, and hopefully for many tax problems to be solved. I am therefore delighted to announce that this community has just grown ... Continue Reading

TaxationWeb is pleased to promote HMRC's week of online support for new and growing businesses. Jim Harra, HM Revenue & Customs' Director-General for Business Tax, hopes new businesses will benefit. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will for the whole of this week be offering new and growing businesses an opportunity to ask us questions via Twitter. As the Exchequer Secretary, David Gauke, has said, small businesses and start-ups are the lifeblood of the economy, and HMRC is dedicated to reducing ... Continue Reading

It has recently been announced that the sale of 4G licences to telecoms operators has failed to raise the expected £3.5 Billion, coming in at £2.3 Billion so a shortfall of £1.2 Billion. This will be disappointing to the Chancellor, as he may have been quietly hoping for a bit of a windfall - licence auctions have done very nicely for the government in previous years. Since the cost of buying the licence is of course passed on to consumers through their mobile 'phone bills, the rest of ... Continue Reading

In a recent article for TAx Insider, Jennifer Adams has an eye to the end of the tax year on 5 April as she explains the principles behind taxing the sale of rental or investment properties. Introduction There is a great deal of truth to be found in the statement that "Timing is everything" - the difference between a good joke and a bad one, for example, is a person's sense of timing. Timing and the recognition of timing also creates advantages and disadvantages in the field of taxation ... Continue Reading