Specialist Tax News

Making Tax Digital – what’s new?

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HMRC are pushing ahead with the implementation of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax, set to commence from 6 April 2026. Legislation Day saw the publication of draft MTD legislation, which makes the following recently-announced changes to the planned regime: More individuals will be exempt from MTD – Ministers of religion, Lloyds underwriters, recipients […]

Specialist Tax News

Proposed changes to inheritance tax

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As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, the government has published draft legislation to reform Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) from 6 April 2026 to make them “fairer and more sustainable” In addition to existing nil-rate bands and exemptions, APR and BPR will continue, but a cap will be introduced that will […]

Specialist Tax News

Class 2 NICs – 2024/25 errors

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HMRC have identified an issue affecting some Self Assessment taxpayers in relation to Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICs) for 2024/25. Some self-employed taxpayers with profits above £12,570 have seen a Class 2 NICs charge of £358.80 added to their accounts when they shouldn’t have been. In some circumstances it will be less. HMRC say that they […]

Specialist Tax News

Diary of main tax events August / September 2025

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Date What’s Due 1 August Corporation Tax for year to 31/10/2024, unless quarterly instalments apply 19 August PAYE & NIC deductions, and CIS return and tax, for month to 05/08/2025 (due 22/08 if you pay electronically) 1 September Corporation Tax for year to 30/11/2024, unless quarterly instalments apply 19 September PAYE & NIC deductions, and […]

Specialist Tax News

Extracting funds from an owner-managed company

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“What’s the most tax-efficient way to take funds out of my company?” is perhaps the most common question put to accountants by their owner-managed company clients. The answer used to be simple: “Take a salary up to the level of the personal allowance and take the rest as a dividend”. Unfortunately, we are no longer […]

Specialist Tax News

Salary sacrifice for pension contributions

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Employees who join their employer’s pensions salary sacrifice scheme stop paying pension contributions and instead sacrifice part of their gross salary in return for higher employer pension contributions. This means that both employers’ and employees’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are saved whilst maintaining the same amount of pensions savings. This is because employers’ pension contributions […]

Specialist Tax News

MTD for income tax: income from jointly held property

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If you are a sole trader or landlord with combined turnover from trade and property exceeding £50,000 in 2024/25, you’re likely to be mandated into Making Tax Digital (MTD) from 6 April 2026. Individuals with lower income will be mandated at later dates. We have covered the general MTD requirements in previous newsletters, but it’s […]

Specialist Tax News

VAT on private tuition

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A recent First Tier Tribunal case gave us a useful reminder of the rules governing the VAT treatment of private tuition. In Rushby Dance & Fitness Centre v HMRC (TC09534), the lead appellant and three other dance tutors unsuccessfully argued that their dance classes qualified as VAT-exempt private tuition. The exemption for private tuition is […]

Specialist Tax News

Diary of main tax events July / August 2025

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Date What’s Due 1 July Corporation Tax for year to 30/09/2024, unless quarterly instalments apply 5 July Last date for agreeing PAYE settlement agreements for 2024/25 employee benefits 5 July Deadline for agents and tenants to submit returns of rent paid to non-resident landlords and tax deducted for 2024/25 6 July Deadline for forms P11D […]