INHERITANCE TAX PLANNING USING THE NEW LIFETIME ISA
Budget 2016 announced a new “Lifetime ISA” that will be available to those aged between 18 and 40 from 6 April 2017. The Government will add 25% to the amount saved subject to a maximum of £4,000 a year (plus £1,000 from the Government). It seems there will be no requirement that the savings come […]
SDLT CHANGES
The rules for calculating the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) charged on purchases of non-residential properties and transactions involving a mixture of residential and non-residential properties changed with effect from Budget Day to bring them more into line with the mechanism for charging SDLT on residential property. On and after 17 March 2016, SDLT will […]
NEW CORPORATE TAX LOSS RULES
There will be fundamental changes to the rules for setting off corporate tax losses starting on 1 April 2017. For losses incurred on or after 1 April 2017, companies will be able to use carried forward losses against profits from other income streams or from other companies within a group. However, large companies with profits […]
£1,000 TAX FREE FOR “MICRO -ENTREPRENEURS”
From April 2017, the government will introduce new allowances for the first £1,000 of trading income and the first £1,000 of property income. Those with income below this level will no longer need to declare or pay income tax on that income. Those with income above the allowance will also benefit by deducting the relevant […]
LOWER CORPORATION TAX RATES
A single corporation tax rate of 20% has applied since 1 April 2015 regardless of the level of the company’s profits. In the Summer 2015 Budget it was announced that this would reduce to 19% in April 2017. The Chancellor has now announced that this will now be reduced to 17% from 1 April 2020.
32.5% TAX ON LOANS TO PARTICIPATORS FROM 6 APRIL 2016
Where a “close” company controlled by 5 or fewer shareholders (participators) makes a loan to one of those persons the company is required to pay tax to HM Revenue and Customs. The rate of tax increases from 25% to 32.5% from 6 April 2016 in line with the dividend rate for higher rate taxpayers. This […]
PENSION ALLOWANCES REDUCED
Blog, Budget 2015, Money Matters
There was much speculation about further major changes to pensions such as taxing the lump sum and limiting tax relief, but these did not materialise. From 6 April 2016 the pension fund lifetime allowance will be reduced from £1.25million to £1million. Transitional protection for pension rights already over £1million will be introduced alongside this reduction […]
£1,000 SAVINGS INCOME TAX FREE 2016/17
From April 2016, a tax-free allowance of £1,000 (or £500 for higher rate taxpayers) will be introduced for the interest that people earn on savings. If they are a basic rate taxpayer and have a total income up to £43,000 a year, they will be eligible for the £1,000 tax-free savings allowance. If they are […]
FURTHER CHANGES TO ISAs
The current £15,240 ISA limit is frozen for 2016/17. The Junior ISA limit remains at £4,080 for 2016/17. The Chancellor announced that the ISA allowance will increase to £20,000 from 6 April 2017 and that from the same date there will be a new “Lifetime ISA” account where investors aged between 18 and 40 who […]
VAT REGISTRATION LIMIT £83,000
The VAT registration limit has been increased by £1,000 to £83,000 from 1 April 2016. The de-registration limit also increased by £1,000 to £81,000.
