Natalie Miller

Taxpayers have been in limbo for several years, wondering whether the Government would act on any of the recent proposals for changes to capital taxes.

HMRC has delayed changing the rules for determining when business profits are taxed until 6 April 2023 but affected businesses will need to start thinking about the implications now.

The government confirmed on 23 September that, following concerted feedback from a range of stakeholders, the planned introduction of MTD for income tax in April 2023 will be delayed until April 2024.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has updated their guidance on the new regime for penalties and interest for late payment of tax. This is the next step in an ongoing process of unifying the rules across all the taxes.

For the first time, taxpayers who reported one or more capital gains tax (CGT) property disposals under the 30-day rules which came in on 6 April 2020 are having to work out how this interacts with their Self-Assessment (SA) tax return. Sadly, it’s not as straightforward as you’d like to think!

When the cross-party Treasury Committee made a series of recommendations to Government in March 2021, there were specific suggestions, some of which were introduced in the spring Budget, but also a more general plea for a clear tax strategy.

Capital gains tax (CGT) affects lots of key, often pressured, circumstances for individuals – selling your home, getting divorced, running or investing in a business, or developing a small piece of land. Despite this, many people don’t realise how the tax works, or how to report and calculate any tax that’s due.

Since 1 April, companies have been able to take advantage of the temporary increase to capital allowances for corporate expenditure which was announced in the Spring Budget to encourage businesses to invest, thus boosting the economy. Given that the hospitality and leisure industry has been hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis, relief of £130 for every £100 spent sounded as good as the ‘super-deduction’ title implies, but businesses still need to think about the implications before either assuming their expenditure will qualify or committing to new expensive purchases.

It may feel like an alien world, full of complicated jargon and unseen digital transactions, but HMRC has been considering how cryptoassets should be taxed for years and have recently pulled together all their existing guidance into a new Manual. There isn’t any new legislation to go with it because they consider that existing rules cover this new way of trying to make money – many would disagree but how do you know what to do about your tax in the meantime?

The government issued a consultation paper at the end of April proposing a new ten-year tax on property developers which will help cover the cost of the cladding remediation work required following the Grenfell disaster. However, the targeting at all developers, not just those who may have affected properties and the £25 million definition of large, may not be far out of reach.

With the current financial crisis and more challenges looming in the future, now is the time for significant forward-thinking tax reform, in the context of a clear long term-strategy, says Natalie Miller of Lovewell Blake.

With a huge hole in the public finances caused by the Covid pandemic, and a manifesto promise not to raise income taxes, some form of wealth tax looks increasingly inevitable, says Natalie Miller .

The Covid-19 crisis has made many of us consider our own mortality. Reviewing what might happen to your estate on death is one way of taking control over at least some elements of your fate.