Personal Tax Planning

You are entitled to Child Benefit payments if you are responsible for bringing up a child who is under 16, or under 20 if they stay in approved education or training. It is a non-taxable benefit, which can be claimed at a current rate of £24 per week for your eldest (or only) child, and then £15.90 per week for each further child. Although Child Benefit isn’t means tested and isn’t taxable as such, you may be subject to a tax charge to essentially ‘claw back’ some or all of the benefit if income exceeds £50,000. This is called the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC).

The 2023 Spring Budget introduced a number of key changes to pension legislation, and in particular changes to the Lifetime Allowance.

Chartered accountants Lovewell Blake have appointed Ed Passmore as a partner.

Recently, some taxpayers have been receiving letters from HMRC suggesting they have received overseas income or gains that they ‘may’ need to pay UK tax on.

Jeremy Hunt said that everyone would feel the pain in his Economic Statement; that is certainly true of businesses, and SMEs in particular. Given that they are the real engine of growth in the UK economy, he may find that attacking them on every front will not prove popular in the business community.

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

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.

HMRC has reminded taxpayers that they are now less than 100 days until the deadline for self assessment online return submission.

HMRC will raise interest rates on tax debt from 11 October following the 0.5% increase in the base rate.

The Government has recently published draft legislation that will allow divorcing couples more time to arrange their tax affairs.

The level at which people start paying national insurance rose from £9,880 to £12,570 from 6 July.

HMRC has reminded self assessment taxpayers to declare any COVID-19 grant payments on their 2020/21 tax return.

The UK’s fiscal year (or tax year, as it’s more commonly known) ends on 5 April and with it any annual allowances which HMRC offer for the 2021/22 tax year.

HMRC has warned taxpayers completing their 2020/21 tax returns to 'be on their guard' and stay vigilant in regard to tax-related scams.

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.

Many of us could be caught out by Inheritance Tax (IHT). Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to be mega-rich to owe HMRC a chunk of money when you die. I think most of us would prefer as much as possible to go to our loved ones, rather than HMRC.

More than 282,000 working families used a Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account during March 2021, according to figures from HMRC.

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.

Employees who are working from home will need to make new claims for tax relief for the 2021/22 tax year, HMRC has stated.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are reminding Self-Assessment taxpayers that they have until 1 April 2021 to pay any outstanding tax liabilities in full for the 2019/20 tax year, or set up an online payment plan, to avoid a 5% late payment penalty charge.

Following the delivery of the Spring Budget on 3 March 2021, there is a good chance that people will have seen the limited changes as not affecting them a great deal; however, this could in fact have an effect both in the short, and long-term, on tax due.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced that Self-Assessment taxpayers will not be charged the 5% late payment penalty if they pay their tax or set up a payment plan by 1 April 2021.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) revealed that more than 10.7 million people submitted their 2019/20 Self-Assessment tax returns by the 31 January 2021 filing deadline.

Thousands of Self-Assessment taxpayers are to benefit from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announcement to postpone tax return late filing penalties until 28 February 2021.

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 Shaun Davison.

Following the Chancellor’s, Rishi Sunak, Winter Economy Plan announcement, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have unveiled their online payment support service, with the aim to help up to 11 million Self-Assessment taxpayers spread the cost of their tax payments.

The Government have announced that a new online service will enable graduates to easily keep track of their student loan accounts, as part of improvements to the student loan repayment system.