Shaun Davison

There has been a long-standing practice, which has been in existence for over 40 years, that has granted furnished holiday homes beneficial tax treatment compared to other residential property landlords.

With the new Labour government promise to hit the ground running in the first 100 days of power, no time was wasted announcing their first tax changes.

The Spring Budget included an announcement that the threshold for the High Income Child Benefit Charge will increase to £60,000 from 6 April 2024.

The abolition of Furnished Holiday Lettings relief will have major implications for our region, a major tourist hotspot.

Shaun Davison reacts to the Chancellors announcement on a reduction in Capital Gains Tax on Non-Principal Residences.

On 12 February 2024, HMRC issued new tax guidance on the tax treatment of double cab pick-up trucks, which classified them as cars, opposed to commercial vehicles, for benefit in kind (BIK) and capital allowance purposes.

The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the November 2023 Budget that full expensing for capital allowances will be made permanent, with the aim to help boost business investment and increase global competitiveness.

The government have announced an extension to the transitional arrangements for buying National Insurance (NI) gaps in their State Pension history.

The increase in the Annual Allowance (the amount you can put into your pension in any one year without incurring punitive tax charges) from £40,000 to £60,000 had been widely signalled prior to the Budget, but Jeremy Hunt pulled a rabbit out of the hat by abolishing altogether the Lifetime Allowance, which stood at £1.07 million.

To support the economy in response to coronavirus, the government introduced the ‘Super-Deduction’ in April 2021 allowing companies investing in qualifying new plant and machinery assets to claim enhanced capital allowances up to 130%.

From 1 April 2023, there will be a new financial year and as always this comes with a range of changes to the regime of tax applied to companies in the UK.

Individual taxpayers, both employees and investors, are facing bigger bills following the Autumn Statement.

In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) will be extended at the level of £1 million permanently.

After a series of announcements and reversals, the dust has settled on tax rates on dividends and bonuses.Even so, the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, included some additional elements in his Autumn Statement as part of a renewed focus on raising tax.

Thousands of NHS healthcare professionals, including consultants, general practitioners and dentists, have started to receive copies of their Annual Allowance Pension Savings Statements (AAPSS) from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have issued ‘nudge’ letters to taxpayers who they consider may not have reported a disposal of shares in an unlisted company in which they had a significant interest.

Where there is land and or property in a partnership, in very simple terms, it is ‘held in trust’ for the benefit of all the partners in the partnership. Although the value of that land may be credited to individual partners’ capital accounts, it has as a matter of law become partnership property and therefore is held to benefit all the partners.

With the increasing cost of childcare, it’s not uncommon for hard-pressed parents to turn to their family, especially grandparents, for help with looking after the children.

Although cryptoassets may seem like a niche area to some, HMRC are continuing to monitor the way in which such assets are held, traded, and taxed.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have announced they are reviewing the position of taxpayers who have made substantial gains during their lifetime and may have inadvertently exceeded their lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR).

The government has announced that it is withdrawing the £1,500 Plug-In Car Grant (PICG), with immediate effect (as of 14 June 2022), for new order of electric cars.

The Government has announced that it intends to introduce legislation in Finance Bill 2022/23 to provide relief from the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) for those companies who make a dwelling available for occupation by refugees under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. The legislation will have effect from 1 April 2022. A similar relief will be available for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).

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.

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.

With the summer holidays approaching, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are reminding working families that Tax-Free Childcare top-ups can be used to help pay for childcare costs, such as accredited holiday clubs, childminders, or sport activities.

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.

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 Shaun Davison of Lovewell Blake.

The company car is a valuable negotiating tool offered by employers, looking to promote or reward key employees within the business, however, the popularity of uptake has reduced in recent years - mainly due to increases in the company car tax rates, with employers looking to offer cash allowances as an alternative.

Following HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) victory in the Court of Appeal over drinks giants Coca Cola, the classification of van for tax purposes is thrown into yet more turmoil.