Category: Autumn Statement

Autumn budget 2021 key points for business

11/5/2021

We love a list that gets right to the point. So here is our key points for businesses in the UK from the Chancellor's autumn budget 2021:

1) Dividends: rise of 1.25% tax after nil band from 7.5% to 8.75% and higher rate band up from 32.5% to 33.75% from April 2022

2) Capital gains tax (CGT): with immediate deadline to report & pay after selling a UK residential property has increased from 30days to 60days after completion date. Giving landlords more time

3) Corporation tax: will rise from 19 % to 25 % from April 23. Businesses with profits less than £50k will get a small profit rate which is still 19%. For profits above £50,000 there is a tapered rate with bands & %’s going up to the 25% rate.

4) National insurance: Increase 1.25% national insurance contribution for all (employees, employers & self-employed) from April 2022.

5) National living wage: increase from £8.91 to £9.50 p/hr.

6) R&D tax relief: to be expanded to cover cloud computing & data costs now also as well.

7) Business rates : Rates revaluation cycle changed from 5 years to 3 years from 2023. New Improvement Relief, for businesses to improve/extend property, meaning they won’t pay additional business rates in 12 months after improvements. Plus a 50% business rates discount from April 2022 (to max £110k) for 1 year for retail, hospitality & leisure.

8) Annual investment allowance (AIA): £1m Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) extended to March 2023.

If your business is effected by these changes and you want help and support contact us today

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

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Budget 2018 - key points for business

11/11/2018

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As the dust settles after Chancellors October Budget 2018. We felt nearly all of the news coverage by journalists had presented little or no perspective specifically for the self employed and small and medium sized businesses. So to help below is another one of our famous main points lists, because lifes to short to waffle :

Corporation tax will fall to 17% in 2020.
Personal tax free allowance will be £12,500 and the Higher rate tax band will rise to £50,000 from April 2019, one year earlier than planned. The threshold will remain at the same level in 2020-21 and then increase by CPI
New structures and buildings allowance and a temporary increase in the Annual Investment Allowance now up to £1 million.
New tax on plastic packaging which does not contain enough recycled content.
Introduced over 100 measures to crack down further on avoidance, evasion, aggressive tax planning and unfair outcomes
Off-payroll working in the private sector IR35 to be extended this change will not be introduced until April 2020. Small organisations will be exempt, minimising administrative burdens.
The government will not abolish Class 2 NICs as previous said.
Trusts consultation, the government will publish a consultation on taxation of trusts, to make the taxation of trusts simpler and more transparent.
Charity taxes - increasing upper limit for trading that charities can carry out without incurring a tax liability from £5,000 to £8,000 where turnover is under £20,000, and from £50,000 to £80,000 where turnover exceeds £200,000
Lifetime allowance for pensions – increase for 2019-20, rising to £1,055,000.
Adult ISA annual subscription limit for 2019-20 will remain unchanged at £20,000. The annual subscription limit for Junior ISAs for 2019-20 will be uprated in line with CPI to £4,368.
The annual subscription limit for Child Trust Funds for 2019-20 will be £4,368.
Structures and buildings allowance (SBA) – New non-residential structures and buildings will be eligible for a 2% capital allowance where all the contracts for the physical construction works are entered into on or after 29 October 2018.
The capital allowances special rate for qualifying plant and machinery assets will be reduced from 8% to 6%.
Entrepreneurs’ Relief: minimum qualifying period from 6 April 2019 the minimum period throughout which the qualifying conditions for relief must be met extended from 12 months to 24 months.
Directly taxing offshore entities that realise intangible property income in low-tax jurisdictions, rather than through applying a withholding tax
Royalties and income from the indirect exploitation of intangible property in the UK market through unrelated parties to be a target for investigation
Cutting bills for retail properties with a rateable value below £51,000
Business rates public lavatories 100% business rates relief for all public lavatories to help keep these important local amenities open
Business rates local newspaper discount – £1,500 business rates discount for office space occupied by local newspapers in 2019-20.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and first-time buyers relief – The government will extend first-time buyers relief in England and Northern Ireland so that all qualifying shared ownership property purchasers can benefit, whether or not the purchaser elects to pay SDLT on the market value of the property. This change will apply to relevant transactions with an effective date on or after 29 October 2018, and will also be backdated to 22 November 2017 so that those eligible who have not previously claimed first-time buyers relief will be able to amend their return to claim a refund.
Consultation on SDLT charge for non-residents - government will publish a consultation in January 2019 on a SDLT surcharge of 1% for non-residents buying residential property in England and Northern Ireland.
Capital gains tax - from April 2020 lettings relief only applies in circumstances where the owner of the property is in shared occupancy with the tenant. The final period exemption will also be reduced from 18 months to 9 months. The government will consult on these changes. There will be no changes to the 36 months final period exemption available to disabled people or those in a care home.
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED): Uprating – From 1 April 2019 VED rates for cars, vans and motorcycles will increase in line with RPI.
Company vehicles – From 6 April 2019 fuel benefit charges will increase in line with RPI and the van benefit charge will increase in line with CPI.
Air Passenger Duty (APD) – Short-haul APD rates for 2020-21 will not rise, Long-haul rates will increase in line with RPI. The rates for long-haul economy will increase by £2, and the rates for those travelling in premium economy, business and first class will increase by £4. Those travelling long-haul by private jets will see the rate increase by £13.
Tax on the production and import of plastic packaging from April 2022 and is subject to consultation.
Alcohol duty rates and bands – Duty rates on beer, most cider and spirits will be frozen. Duty on most wine and higher strength sparkling cider will rise by RPI inflation from 1 February 2019. The government will review the current Small Brewers Relief to ensure it is supporting growth in the sector. (12)
Vaping ie Tobacco for heating - government will legislate in Finance Bill 2018-19 for a new duty rate for tobacco for heating. In these products processed tobacco is heated (but not burned like conventional tobacco) to produce, or flavour, vapour. This will be set at the same level as hand rolling tobacco and take effect on 1 July 2019.
VAT threshold will be maintained at the current level of £85,000 for a further 2 years until April 2022. The government will look again at the possibility of introducing a smoothing mechanism once the terms of EU exit are clear.
VAT fraud in labour provision in the construction sector – government will introduce a VAT domestic reverse charge to prevent VAT losses through so-called ‘Missing Trader’ fraud. This occurs when traders collect VAT on their sales but go missing before passing that VAT on to HMRC. The new rules will have effect on and after 1 October 2019 and the government is publishing secondary legislation alongside the Budget to implement this change.
Alternative method of VAT collection: ‘split payment’ – To reduce online VAT fraud by third country sellers and improve how VAT is collected on cross-border e-commerce, the government is looking at a split payment model.
EU exit - Consequential minor amendments to tax legislation to reflect EU exit – The government is responsible for preparing for all possible outcomes to EU negotiations. This power will allow the government to make small, essential changes to UK tax law to maintain the effect of tax legislation if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Changes made under this power will maintain current operation of the tax law in essential areas, including changes in line with no deal legislation in other parts of the law.
Tax avoidance and evasion, aggressive tax planning and non-compliance to continue.
Capital gains tax: tackling misuse of Entrepreneurs’ Relief – In addition to the current requirements on share capital and voting rights, from 29 October 2018 shareholders must also be entitled to at least 5% of the distributable profits and net assets of a company to claim the relief. This is to address an identified abuse of the current rules.
Profit fragmentation – As announced at Autumn Budget 2017, the government will legislate in Finance Bill 2018-19 to introduce targeted legislation that aims to prevent UK businesses from avoiding UK tax by arranging for their UK-taxable business profits to accrue to entities resident in territories where significantly lower tax is paid than in the UK. The taxable UK profits will be increased to the actual, commercial level.
Reforming Stamp taxes on shares consideration rules – From 29 October 2018, a targeted market value rule will be introduced for listed shares transferred to connected companies to prevent forestalling.
Preventing abuse of R&D tax relief for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – From 1 April 2020, the amount of payable R&D tax credit that a qualifying loss-making company can receive in any tax year will be restricted to three times the company’s total PAYE and NICs liability for that year. This will ensure the relief is robust against identified abuse, including fraud, following the prevention by HMRC of fraudulent claims worth £300 million.
Protecting your taxes in insolvency – From 6 April 2020, when a business enters insolvency, more of the taxes paid in good faith by its employees and customers, and temporarily held in trust by the business, will go to fund public services rather than being distributed to other creditors. This reform will only apply to taxes collected and held by businesses on behalf of other taxpayers (VAT, PAYE Income Tax, employee NICs, and Construction Industry Scheme deductions). The rules will remain unchanged for taxes owed by businesses themselves, such as Corporation Tax and employer NICs.
Tax abuse and insolvency – Following Royal Assent of Finance Bill 2019-20, directors and other persons involved in tax avoidance, evasion or phoenixism will be jointly and severally liable for company tax liabilities, where there is a risk that the company may deliberately enter insolvency.
National insurance threshold will rise - not mentioned in the Chancellor's speech but in the budget papers - where we got our info from. This rises from £8160 in 17/18 to £8424 in 18/19 and £8632 in 19/20.
Premuim bond minimum savings amount will drop - from £100 to £25.
National living wage rise from April 19 - for over-25s will rise to £8.21 per hour from £7.83 per hour.
Annual ISA allowance will remain at £20,000 in 2019/20 for adults – the annual allowance for Junior ISAs will rise in 2019/20 to £4,368

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Surbiton , Worcester Park , Kingston upon Thames , Cheam and Epsom they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting business throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

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Autumn Statement 2016 - Main Key Points for Business

11/24/2016

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Because we know you are a savvy lot and want to know the most up to date info without the extra side-helping of waffle. We've condensed the UK Chancellor's 2016 Autumn Statement to the key basic points to help.

Good News:

Personal Income tax free threshold will rise to £11,500 from 5th April 2017, from the current amount of £11,000
The government plans to raise the basic personal income tax free band to £12,500 and the higher rate to £50,000 by 2020
To stop upfront letting fees charged by estate agents in England "as soon as possible"
Fuel tax rise is postponed for another year
Plans to reform compensation for whiplash to help lower motor insurance costs
Plan to abolish the Autumn Statement, with an Autumn Budget from next year, and a Spring Statement from 2018
British business bank to unlock £1bn finance for growing firms through £400m into venture capital funds
Plan to double UK Export Finance capacity
Plan for 100% rural rate relief "giving small businesses a tax break worth up to £2,900"

Bad News:

Insurance tax to rise 2% from 10% to 12% from June 2017
Saving tax on salary sacrifice and benefits in kind to be stopped, with exceptions for ultra-low emission vehicles, pensions, childcare and cycling
Growth forecast downgraded to 1.4% in 2017 from 2.2%
Forecast growth of 1.7% in 2018, 2.1% in 2019 and 2020 and 2% in 2021.
Government no longer seeking a budget surplus in 2019-20
Government finances expected to be £122bn worse off until 2021 than stated in March's Budget
National Debt to rise from 84.2% of GDP last year to 87.3% this year, and 90.2% in 2017-18
Government's public spending this year to be 40% of GDP - down from 45% in 2010 previously
More funding to HMRC to crack down on tax avoidance and claw back money through fines and charges

Either way news (depending on your view point):

National Living Wage to rise from £7.20 an hour to £7.50 from April 2017
New savings bond through NS&I with 2.2pc interest rate over three years. Savers will be able to deposit up to £3,000. There will be more detail on this in the Budget next year
Employee & employer National Insurance thresholds to be equalised at £157 per week from April 2017
£220m funding to reduce traffic at build up points
£23bn funding for innovation and infrastructure over next 5 years
£2bn funding per year for research and development
£110m funding for East West Rail to have an Oxford to Cambridge Expressway
£1bn+ funding for digital infrastructure & 100% business rates relief on new fibre infrastructure
Rural Rate Relief to be increased to 100%, "giving small businesses a tax break worth up to £2,900"

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting business throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

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2015 Autumn Statement main points

12/30/2015

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Tax Credits: All of the planned cuts to tax credits are now cancelled.
Help to buy: For London: a new help-to-buy scheme for first time buyers with a 5% deposit will offer an interest-free loan worth up to 40% of the value of a new-build home.
Stamp Duty: Extra 3% on stamp duty on all buy-to-let properties and second homes from April 2016.
Rise in Council Tax: Local authorities responsible for social care to charge a new social care tax of up to 2% on council tax.
Business Rates: Business rates to be kept by local authorities.
Housing Stock sales: 100% of income from sales of council properties to be kept by local councils.
Student Loans: Loans for new student nurses to create 10,000 training places.
Mental Health: £600m more for mental health services across UK.
School Meals: Free infant school meals to be maintained.
School Funding: Current school funding system to be phased out, with a new formula to be introduced from 2017.
Childcare: From April 2017, 30 hours of free childcare for three and four year old's will be made available. But this is only available to parents working more than 16 hours a week and with incomes of less than £100,000.
Housing Benefit: Housing benefit to be capped at local housing allowance rate.
State Pension: Basic state pension to rise by £3.35 to £119.30 a week from 2016.
Cuts: Department for Transport’s day-to-day budget to be cut by 37%.
Insurance: Reduced car insurance premiums by ending claims for injuries such as whiplash, estimated to save an average of £40-£50 from bills annually.
Flood Defense: The Environment Agency will have £2.3bn preserved for flood defenses but the day-to-day departmental budget falls 15%.
Steel: Steel exempted from cost of environmental tariffs / charges.
Courts: £700m investment in new technology for courts.
Business Rates Relief: 600,000 small businesses to get business rates relief for another year, but no new information on a business rates review.
Apprenticeship Charges: to be set at 0.5% of an employers’ pay bill.
Tax Avoidance: New penalties for the general anti-abuse rules already introduced.
Tax Avoidance: Further clampdown on disguised pay schemes, stamp duty avoidance, and the abuse of intangible fixed-assets regime and capital allowances.

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The Autumn Statement by the UK Chancellor

12/10/2014

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Chancellor Autumn Budget 2014 and how it effects people

It was announced that the UK has the fastest growth in the G7 and the deficit is also expected to fall by half by the end of 2014-15. Fuel duty has also been frozen till the end of current parliament in May 2015.

Stamp Duty: First to be affected by the 2014 Autumn will be UK home buyers. The main change is that the Stamp duty has been changed as of Midnight 3rd December 2014. This is suppose to affect 98% of homeowners in England and Wales. This change will be beneficial to those purchasing a house for £937,000 or less but for anyone paying more than that amount they are likely to pay more in stamp duty. The problem with the previous system was that the boundaries between the stamp duty were very sharp e.g. if someone was to buy a home for £250,000 they would have to pay 1% tax duty which would be £2500 but if the prices was to be even 1p more than the £250,000 cap then you would fall into the 3% tax bracket for houses with a price of over £250,000 and you would need to pay £7500.

The new system allows for someone to pay 0% to stamp duty for the first £125,000 so for example someone who buys a house for £200,000; they will only pay 2% stamp duty on £75,000 remaining, meaning they would pay £1500 instead of the £2000 they would have had to have paid on the previous system. Although the rates have increased in percentage in the higher price cases, the overall charge will still be mostly lower for those paying less than £937,000 on a property. The new system has aimed to smooth out the drastic jumps in the boundaries placed on the stamp duty rates and statistically if buying a home in England or Wales the average person will pay £4500 less in stamp duty. Also for any individual that have exchanged the contracts but it has not been completed, they are allowed to choose which out of the two systems they would like to use.

The old rates:

£0- £125,000: 0%
£125,000 to £250,000: 1%
£250,000 to £500,000: 3%
£500,000 to £1m: 4%
£1m to £2m: 5%
£2m or more: 7%

The new rates:

£0- £125,000: 0%
£125,001 - £250,000: 2%
£250,001 to £925,000: 5%
£925,001 to £1.5m: 10%
Above £1.5m: 12%

Savings: The limit for tax free ISA accounts paid in cash/shares is going to increase to £15,240 in April from £15,000 that was announced last July. Previously in the situation of a deceased individual who owns a cash ISA account the spouse of the individual will lose the tax free status of the account when they start paying the tax. However the chancellor has said that with immediate effect the spouse of the deceased will be able to inherit and keep the tax free status of the account.

Overall the news on pensions is good as the government has decided to scrap the pension death tax. This means that individuals will be able to pass on their annuity income tax - free when they die before the age of 75. This is a significant change to the previous legislation as there used to be a charge of 55% when annuity retirement income was passed on and this also means that there is much more room to manoeuvre when people pass on their pension wealth. People will also be allowed to access their pensions as they require from retirement which allows them to not need to arrange an annuity.

Tax free Allowance: The maximum amount you earn before you are required to pay income tax will be increased to £10,600 from £10,000 in April 2015.

Business rates: The high street discount for roughly 300,000 shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs is set to increase in April 2015 to March 2016 by £500 from £1000 to £1500, helping to improve and promote growth amongst the nation's small businesses and local communities.

Small business rate relief has also been doubled for another year which means that 380,000 of the smallest business will pay no rates at all and there has also been stop to 2% of the increase in business rates from April 2015 - March 2016.

NIC'S (National Insurance Contribution): The government is trying to make it cheaper to employ young people from April 2016 by allowing employers to not have to pay NIC's for all apart from the highest earning apprentices. This is a bid to improve the chance of the UK having the highest employment rate in the G9.

Tax on economy flights: Flights from the 1st May 2016 for under 12s will be exempt from tax and also for under 16s from the 1st March 2016.

NHS (National Health Service): £2 billion extra funding has been allocated to the NHS for 2015-16.

£1 billion will be allocated over 4 years to advanced care in GP practices.
In England £15 million will go to dementia.
£150 million will be allocated to support for young people with eating disorders.
£200 million will go towards development of new ways to care for patients.

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Autumn budget 2021 key points for business

Budget 2018 - key points for business

Autumn Statement 2016 - Main Key Points for Business

2015 Autumn Statement main points

The Autumn Statement by the UK Chancellor

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