Freezing of Indexation Allowance – what can be done?
Changes to Principal Private Residence relief
What is it? Principal Private Residence relief, or PPR, is a relief that enables taxpayers to sell their homes without having to pay Capital Gains Tax. What are the rules? To be eligible to claim this relief, the property being sold must be the taxpayer’s main residence. There are also detailed rules in connection with […]
Double Tax Treaties – a man’s best friend
What is a Double Tax Treaty? This is an agreement between two countries to prevent international double taxation. The UK has a double tax treaty with many countries (over 110 in total) to try to make sure that individuals and companies do not pay tax twice on the same income. This may happen when someone […]
Entrepreneurs’ relief – new test could save the day
What is it? Entrepreneurs’ relief (“ER”) is a valuable relief in the UK – if certain conditions are met, the rate of Capital Gains Tax on the sale of shares is just 10%, rather than 20%, subject to a maximum lifetime limit of disposal of shares up to £10m. What are the conditions? Previously, in […]
Making Tax Digital for VAT
What does Making Tax Digital for VAT mean? HMRC have introduced compulsory digital VAT filing and record-keeping requirements for all UK VAT-registered entities with an annual turnover of more than £85,000. This includes overseas businesses without a UK permanent establishment. What has actually changed? Businesses in scope will no longer be able to keep manual […]
The Brexit Backstop – Customs Union and VAT
It has been proposed that the UK will remain in what the draft agreement describes as a “single customs territory” with the rest of the Customs Union. UK and EU negotiators arrived at this solution as a way of avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (known as “the backstop”), which […]
File your UK tax return sooner rather than later!
Mortgage relief for higher rate taxpayers
Historically, mortgage interest has been a deductible expense for all individuals, irrespective of their marginal rate of tax. From April 2017, new rules are being phased in over the next four tax years to limit the tax relief to the basic tax rate. Previously, a full tax deduction could be taken for mortgage interest by […]
Increased AIA from 1 January 2019
The annual investment allowance (“AIA”) has been increased from £200,000 a year (which has been the rate set since 1 January 2016) to £1m a year for 2 years from 1 January 2019 (to 31 December 2020). The AIA is an incentive for businesses to invest in capital items as it allows for 100% tax […]
Structures and Buildings Allowance – new 2% tax relief for new-build commercial properties
The Chancellor announced in the 2018 Budget that the government will introduce a new Structures and Buildings Allowance (“SBA”), at an annual rate of 2% on a straight-line basis for new non-residential structures and buildings. Since the old Industrial Buildings Allowance was phased out in 2010, capital allowances have only been available for plant and machinery, […]