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Peter Rayney reviews the key tax issues that affect the structuring of shareholdings in a family company  ---------------------- This is a sample article from the business tax saving newsletter - Try Business Tax Insider today. --------------------- Companies are often set up in a hurry with no real thought being given to the commercial and tax efficiency of their shareholding structures.   For various personal reasons, some family company ‘owners’ prefer to hold all ... Continue Reading

The marriage allowance allows an individual to transfer 10% of his or her personal allowance (rounded up to the nearest £10) to his or her spouse or civil partner, as long as neither pays tax at a rate that is higher than the basic rate of tax. Where one partner does not fully utilise their personal allowance, the marriage allowance enables them to give the benefit of some of that allowance to their partner, saving the couple tax of up to 20% of the allowance. This is useful where it is not ... Continue Reading

Nick Wright explains why business owners should be cautious about holding investment property in a trading company and explores more suitable structures for investing excess profits, balancing tax efficiency, asset protection and long-term succession planning.  ---------------------- This is a sample article from the property tax saving newsletter - Try Property Tax Insider today. --------------------- When a profitable trading company starts to accumulate surplus cash, investing in property ... Continue Reading

The ‘pre-owned assets tax’ (POAT) is an income tax charge levied on the ‘benefit’ earned on any property that has been given away (or sold for less than its full value) but of which the former owner still enjoys the use. The charge also applies if the owner gives someone the funds to purchase a property, or an interest in it, or owned another property which was sold, and the proceeds gifted to buy the property. The charge will not apply if there is a gap of more than seven ... Continue Reading

Funds can be made available to a director by making a loan from the company to the director. Although there are tax consequences of making loans, it is possible for the director to have the use of the money for up to 21 months free or for a minimal cost. The rules also apply where a director’s current account is overdrawn. Under the close company rules for loans to participators, a tax charge arises on the outstanding loan balance if the loan has not been repaid nine months and one day after ... Continue Reading

Ken Moody muses over what is allowable as ‘enhancement’ expenditure for capital gains tax purposes, and encounters what seems to be a proverbial ‘Catch 22’ situation. ---------------------- This is a sample article from the tax saving newsletter - Try Tax Insider today. --------------------- HMRC regards the capital gains tax (CGT) provisions of TCGA 1992, s 38 (acquisition and disposal costs, etc.) as exhaustive. So, if an item of expenditure is within any of the categories ... Continue Reading

Business asset disposal relief (BADR, previously known as entrepreneurs’ relief) provides relief against capital gains tax on qualifying gains made by an individual on the disposal of all or part of the business, the assets in the business after it has stopped trading and shares in a personal trading company. HMRC Helpsheet 275 has more details on the relief. Gains that qualify for BADR were taxed at 10% up to the maximum lifetime limit until 5 April 2025. For 2026/27, gains benefiting from ... Continue Reading

Tristan Noyes explores some of the lesser-known tax rules applicable on death.   As well as being the two certainties in life, death and taxes often go hand in hand. This article highlights how they interact in certain instances.  Learn more with this Inheritance Tax: Key Strategies And Insights Explained report. ------------------------------- Tax-free uplift  There is no capital gains tax (CGT) on death. Assets owned at the time of death are uplifted to market value, ‘washing ... Continue Reading

Chris Thorpe outlines some potential dangers inherent in incorporating a business.  ---------------------- This is a sample article from the tax saving newsletter - Try Tax Insider today. --------------------- Many small businesses will start out as sole traders – the owner and the business are one and the same. Personal and business assets are kept apart only by a set of accounts and a balance sheet; and for tax purposes, the sole trader is taxed on the profit, not withdrawals. In ... Continue Reading

As long as the initial election for principal private residence (PPR) relief has been made, it can then be varied (‘flipped’) as many times as desired by submitting a further election. There is no prescribed form or wording for the election, but it must be made within two years of the initial change in ‘combination of residences’. Should the two-year time limit be missed, there needs to be a ‘trigger’ event in order to reset the election date. Examples of ‘trigger’ ... Continue Reading