At this time of year, we think about New Year’s resolutions. It is also a good time to start planning your tax affairs before the end of the tax year on 5th April. An obvious tax planning point would be to maximise your ISA allowances for the 2023/24 tax year (currently £20,000 each). You might […]

At the top of the New Year to do list for many individuals is to make or update their Will. Many think this is something to leave until later in life, but it is important to get things in place once property is acquired or when children come along. In the absence of a will […]

When considering the wording of your Will, you should note that the inheritance tax (IHT) nil rate band continues to be frozen at £325,000, subject to any announcements in the Spring Budget. There is currently an additional nil rate band of up to £175,000 for passing on the family home to direct descendants on death. […]

If you leave at least 10% of your estate to charity, the rate of Inheritance tax on the amount chargeable Is reduced from 40% over the nil rate bands to just 36%. This would reduce the amount passing to other beneficiaries and needs to be carefully considered.

Many were expecting an announcement from the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement about cuts to, or the possible abolition of, inheritance tax (IHT). Maybe he is saving that for his Spring Budget, but in the meantime, it may be worth utilising the £3,000 gifts annual exemption for 2023/24 and, if available, the unused amount from […]

One tax planning opportunity that many thought the chancellor might restrict was the exemption from inheritance tax for regular gifts out of an individual’s surplus income. Inheritance tax is designed to tax transfers of capital, so if the donor can demonstrate that the gifts are made out of surplus income then the transfers are not […]

Normally an individual’s payments into a pension scheme are limited to their relevant earnings in a given tax year. This restriction does not apply where the contributions are less than £3,600 gross, allowing parents and grandparents to make payments on behalf of children and grandchildren with limited income. Payments of £2,880 a year would attract […]

The chancellor’s announcement of a 2% cut in national insurance contributions (NICs) for employees applies to payments on or after 6 January 2024. That doesn’t allow much time to update payroll software, particularly with the Christmas holidays in between. Note that for employees other than directors, NIC is not calculated on a cumulative basis so, […]

The table below sets out the HMRC advisory fuel rates from 1 December 2023. These are the suggested reimbursement rates for employees’ private mileage using their company car. Where the employer does not pay for any fuel for the company car, these are the amounts that can be reimbursed in respect of business journeys without […]

Date What’s Due 1 January Corporation tax for year to 31/3/2023 unless quarterly instalments apply. 19 January PAYE & NIC deductions, and CIS return and tax, for month to 5/1/24 (due 22/1 if you pay electronically). 31 January Deadline for filing 2022/23 self-assessment tax return online, paying your outstanding tax for 2022/23 and first payment […]