Nichola's SME Tax News from Accountex 16 May 2024

Hello,

We have all been at the Accountex show this week. It has been very well attended, and now that we are over the COVID slump it seems that almost everyone is out and about and back to 'in-person' events. It's great to be back networking, hearing feedback from our lovely subscribers and and it gives a us a good chance to demonstrate our amazing tax resources to potential new customers.

SME tax news 5

We feature a large selection of our taster guides this week. You may not be aware of them all!

In demonstrating our site it's quite easy to forget how long some of our material has taken to develop. For example, our incredible Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) tools (which work out BADR in a matter of seconds, instead of hours) took over two weeks to develop. These tools are a really cost-effective addition for any practice.

Our other tax tools have not taken quite so long to create, but they do amazing things. One we demonstrate a lot is the 'different salary and dividend combinations' tool, this works out both Income Tax, National Insurance and takes account of Corporation Tax, it allows you to play around with claiming the Employers Allowance, adding in Associated Companies and applying different salary levels. This is all powerful, useful stuff.

Looking at the news this week, away from tax, we often hear of cases of family discord in relation to the distributions of a deceased person's estate when we are dealing with Inheritance Tax queries. We are interested in a case in which the court resolved an issue of undue influence in relation to a will. Not an easy thing to prove as it turns out.

We haven't covered a National Audit Office's report published this week that shows taxpayers cumulatively spent 798 years on hold waiting to speak with HMRC in 2022-23, more than double the time spent waiting in 2019-20. For us working in the tax world, it is, as is commonly said, a 'lived experience'.

More news and cases below.

Nichola & the Team

www.rossmartin.co.uk

Your Virtual Tax Partner®: online PRACTICAL support for accountants, tax advisers BY accountants and tax advisers.

Quick News (Freeview)

Consultation on the Penalties for Failure to Pay Tax
HMRC are asking for views in relation to a technical consultation for the proposed new Penalties for Failure to Pay Tax (Schedule 26 to the Finance Act 2021) (Assessments) Regulations 2024. The consultation closes on 10 June 2024.

Postmaster tax exemptions for Post Office compensation schemes
Postmasters receiving compensation payments from the Post Office Process Review scheme and the Suspension Remuneration Review scheme will be exempted from Income Tax, National Insurance Contributions and Capital Gains Tax.

Ex-chancellor admits carelessness with own tax
Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has revealed he paid nearly £5 million to HMRC to settle outstanding tax bills and fines for carelessness. His figures reflect our analysis concerning his offshore tax and trust published in January last year.

Tax Cases (Freeview)

Late HMRC enquiry allows flawed post-cessation trade relief
Despite not meeting the criteria, the taxpayer's claim for post-cessation trade relief was granted. If HMRC had issued its notice of intention to enquire within time, the claim would have been invalid.

Undue influence sees Will set aside
The Central London County Court has set aside a will after finding it had been completed when a now-deceased individual was under undue influence from the defendant.

Editor's Choice

Since it is the Accountex24 show, we thought we'd highlight some of our freeview guides that get you started on your journey through your life of business and tax.

And my personal favourite,

An Index to Share Transactions incl. Reorganisations, Demergers & Share Exchanges

Tax Tools & Calculators (subscribers)

Tax tools & calculators
UPDATE: 2024/25 versions available now. We have a suite of useful tax tools that help agents, business owners and sole traders calculate their taxes. Take a look at some of what's available, below.

Business Asset Disposal Relief Sole Traders: This tool takes you through the basics of the legislation and should in most case produce the result intended by parliament. Tax is like any other law: whether something is right or wrong depends on context and the facts and circumstances of each case.
Salary v dividend: tax calc: This calculator is designed to help you plan salary or dividend levels based on excess profits. What is the difference between paying yourself via salary or a dividend out of excess company profits? How does the Employers' Allowance affect your calculations? Calculate the tax and National Insurance on a salary or tax on a dividend.
VtaxP Tools: Making Tax Digital for VAT: This Virtual Tax Partner © 'VtaxP' © tool checks Making tax digital for VAT. Will it apply to me? Am I exempted? Am I deferred. Do I need new software to file VAT returns online?

Guides & Updates

Self-Employed

Sole trader v. limited company: Tax differences & savings (2024/25)
NEW: Is it better from both a tax and legal point of view to run your business as a sole trader or as a company? Are there tax advantages in running a business as a company? What legal protections apply?

Extracting profits (self-employed)
What tax planning tips will help you to run a tax-efficient business? We review your different options. The majority of businesses in the UK are run by sole traders. This guide looks at profit extraction from the perspective of the unincorporated business.

Partnerships

LLP v Company: which will save me tax?
Different types of trading structures all have their own tax advantages and disadvantages. What are the key issues if you run a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)? Should I run an LLP instead of a company? Does an LLP save tax?

Partnerships: Tax planning guides
Partnerships offer a flexible way to share income and capital profits. This guide provides links to further guides which highlight ways in which partnerships can be used to save tax. This is a freeview 'At a glance' guide

Directors & Companies

A tax planning index: directors (our top picks)
Some of our favourite tax guides, toolkits & checklists for directors. (Freeview).

Salary 2024/25 (interaction with NICs)
NEW: Is it still tax-efficient to pay a very low salary? Is it beneficial to pay a slightly higher salary to claim the Employer's NICs allowance? What if the Employer's NICs allowance is not available?

Directors' Tax Planning Toolkit 2024/25
What tax planning opportunities and strategies are available to directors this year? What's the optimum way to extract profits and tax reliefs and tax deductions are handy to consider? This planner looks at a range of director tax issues.

Employers

Reporting deadlines in 2024/25
UPDATE: the key deadlines and additional considerations for employers for the end of the 2023-24 tax year.

Employee Shares & Unapproved Share Schemes
Can you set up different classes of shares? How do you create Alphabet or ABC shares? What are the rules in giving different classes of shares to directors and employees?

Managed Service Companies (MSCs)
What is a Managed Service Company (MSC)? What rules apply to MSCs? Can you avoid being an MSC provider? What is the accountancy exemption from the MSC rules? How are partnerships caught by the rules? A guide for subscribers.

Private Client & Estate Planning

Capital taxes round-up: 2024-25
NEW: A round-up of developments in capital taxes for 2024-25 including some topical Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and Inheritance Tax (IHT) cases.

Self Assessment Return 2023/24: What's new?
NEW: 2024 Self Assessment toolkit: top tips for completing tax returns for the year ending 5 April 2024.

Trusts & Estates: What’s New 2024/25
NEW: HMRC's latest Trusts and Estates newsletter contains some useful information. Here is our enhanced version for subscribers, including reminders of recent and upcoming changes.

Land & Property

Land & Property: an Adviser's Tax Update 2024-25
NEW: Land and Property taxes: a comprehensive review of the sector offering a topical CPD update.

Property Profits & Losses: Toolkit (2024-25)
NEW: Our Property Profits & Losses toolkit takes HMRC's version as its starting point and adds a great deal more information about what you can claim as an individual landlord

Capital Allowances

Capital Allowances: What's new 2024-25
What's new in Capital Allowances for 2024-25? A summary of the different types of capital allowances currently available to UK businesses.

What expenditure qualifies for plant & machinery allowances?
UPDATE: What is plant and machinery? What expenditure qualifies as plant and machinery? What is treated as part of a building?

VAT News & Cases

Revenue and Customs Brief 7 (2024): VAT Treatment of Voluntary Carbon Credits
HMRC have published Revenue and Customs Brief 7 (2024): VAT Treatment of Voluntary Carbon Credits which covers the treatment of voluntary carbon credits from 1 September 2024.

A beginner's guide to VAT
VAT: Where do I start? What is VAT? Who has to register for VAT? What rate should I charge? How do I calculate VAT? When are my VAT filing obligations?

Private use of goods: VAT and Lennartz
What is the Lennartz mechanism? How does the Lennartz mechanism assist businesses in accounting for the VAT effect of the non-business use of goods?

CPD for Lunch

Byte-sized chunks of lunchtime CPD for subscribers

More at CPD Index

CPD Workouts

Two hours of CPD: Unravelling the diverse tax rules over a range of topical subjects

Tax Queries?

UK Agent for registration of Overseas Entities
Do you require assistance in the registration and verification of an overseas entity that owns UK land or property?

Virtual Tax Partner© Support
Have a tax query? Need a second option? Open a ticket and ask a question. A team of tax experts with a very wide range of expertise: covering direct and indirect tax, as well as accounting, R&D claims, reorganisations and much more.

Missed Last Time's Web-update?

Nichola's SME Tax W-update 9 May 2024

Basis Year Reform: At a glance
HMRC (finally) updates employer travel examples
Anti-money laundering: Supervision report 2022-23
No R&D claim for publishing company's digitisation
A cautionary tale about options
Letting of serviced accommodation subject to VAT
Being a director: start here (freeview) UPDATE
Tax Return questionnaire
Company: Tax-efficient extraction of profits toolkit 2024/25
Training costs NEW
Mixed Member Partnerships UPDATE:
Employee Shares: Employment-Related Securities rules
How to set up a UK trust
Goodwill & incorporation: Tax issues ...More

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