Spring 2013 Newsletter

We have up dated our website for our spring newsletter which includes a special ‘Year-end tax planning’ supplement with many tax efficient tips you may wish to consider.

The end of last year saw HMRC take ‘a new approach to Business Records Checks’ and our cover article explains the latest position and what action to take should you receive a letter. We also look at the biggest surprise announced in the Autumn Statement, the tenfold increase in Annual Investment Allowance for businesses. This isn’t as straight forward as the headlines would have you believe so make sure you read our article ‘Capital complexity’ to see if you can benefit.

Other areas covered include a review of the benefits of small companies transferring their trades back to the shareholders, proposed changes to the way small unincorporated businesses can calculate profits and the outcome of a recent case on a motor expenses policy which was questioned by HMRC. There is news of a more generous CGT treatment of certain share options, the new ’employee shareholder’ employment status and family pension schemes. We are sure you will find something of interest.

In our Publications are two new special briefings where we look in more detail at:

Resident or not? Liability to UK income tax and capital gains tax is dependent, very significantly, on the residence status of the individual. In recent times the determination of residence, for some, has become increasingly uncertain following recent case law decisions and current HMRC approach. To help you take appropriate action, where required, to secure resident or non-resident status when arranging your tax affairs our briefing outlines the new proposed legislation for the ‘Statutory Residence Test’ which is set to be introduced from 6 April 2013.

Employer update 2013 Real Time Information (RTI) is the most radical change to payroll procedures since PAYE was introduced and will be mandatory for most employers from April 2013. Our briefing provides you with an overview of the new rules, along with practical summaries of other pertinent issues including an update on pensions auto-enrolment; the new employee-owner contract; and parental leave and flexible working changes.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding any of the articles or tax planning tips we have included in our newsletter or if you would like further information on a topic we haven’t covered. Your views are always important to us and we would welcome your feedback.