Tax relief for buy-to-let landlords Income Tax HMRC has published new guidance on the upcoming changes to tax relief for buy-to-let landlords. From April 2017, tax relief on mortgage costs is to be restricted to the basic rate of tax. Landlords of residential properties have benefited from tax relief on finance charges, such as mortgage interest for many years. This…

  Requesting an SA302 from HMRC Income Tax HMRC has tweeted a reminder to taxpayers who need to request a copy of their SA302 tax calculation. The SA302 tax calculation and tax year overview documents are commonly used as evidence of income for loan or mortgage purposes for the self-employed. The forms have become more widely used since the mortgage…

The Prime Minister will be hosting the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016 to help expose, punish and drive out corruption. The summit will be the first of its kind bringing together world leaders to prepare a global response to tackle corruption. Ahead of the summit the Home Secretary, Theresa May has set out a new action plan which will…

Families and individuals that receive tax credits should ensure that they renew their tax credit claims by 31 July 2016. Claimants who do not renew on-time may have their payments stopped. HMRC has begun sending tax credits renewal packs to approximately 5.9 million tax credit claimants. The packs are being sent between April and June. HMRC is encouraging recipients to…

Late last year, the government confirmed that a new secondary annuity market would be created by April 2017. The introduction of these new freedoms to sell annuities will benefit more than five million people who own an annuity as well as anyone who purchases an annuity in the future. These proposals will extend the pension freedoms introduced last year and…

Now that the 2015-16 tax year has ended, employers should have completed their final PAYE submission for the tax year. It is important that employers remember to provide relevant employees with a copy of their P60 form by 31 May 2016. The P60 is a statement issued to employees after the end of each tax year that shows the amount…

A new customs information paper has been released on the subject of the introduction of the Union Customs Code (UCC) legislation and how it affects Temporary Storage (TS). The UCC is being introduced across the European Union on 1 May 2016. The UCC is part of the modernisation of customs and will serve as the new framework Regulation on the…

New rules introduced in April 2015 require employment intermediaries, which supply two or more workers to a client, to send HMRC details of workers where they don’t operate PAYE on the workers’ payments. HMRC have introduced these new rules to help combat issues of false self-employment and the abuse of offshore working by some intermediaries. There is no requirement to…

The new National Living Wage (NLW) came into force on 1 April 2016 and it entitles workers aged 25 and over to a minimum wage of £7.20 per hour. However, it would appear that a number of businesses have withdrawn staff benefits and perks, such as free food and higher overtime pay, to mitigate the impact of the NLW. For…

The Credit Card Sales campaign offers individuals and businesses that accept credit and debit card payments the opportunity to bring their affairs up to date and take advantage of the best possible terms. Any individual or company that accepts credit and debit card payments should be registered with HMRC. There is currently no end date for this campaign, however anyone…

The Low Income Tax Reform Group (LITRG) was established in 1998 to improve the policy and processes of the tax, tax credits and associated welfare systems for the benefit of those on low incomes. A new press release from the LITRG has highlighted the fact that tax credit claimants earning over £20,000 may see sharp cuts in their payments as…

The factsheet entitled National Minimum Wage information for employers has been updated to reflect the introduction of the new National Living Wage (NLW) on 1 April 2016. The factsheet provides employers with information on the type of checks HMRC make to ensure that employees are being paid at least the minimum legal amount they are entitled to as well the…

The latest statistics on the uptake of the government’s flagship Help to Buy schemes were published on 9 December 2015. The figures show that over 130,000 homes have been bought since the schemes were first launched in October 2013. This is an increase of over 10,000 homes over the previous quarter. Some of the headline figures include: 80% of scheme…

The Patent Box allows companies to apply a lower 10% Corporation Tax rate on profits arising from patent exploitation. Since April 2013, companies can apply the lower Corporation Tax rate (on a phased basis) to profits attributable to patents and other qualifying intellectual property such as medicinal or botanic innovation rights. Companies can use the Patent Box if they own…

There are special rules for businesses established outside the EU submitting a claim for VAT incurred in the UK. The deadline for the submission of a refund request for expenses incurred in the UK by non-EU businesses during the period 1 July 2014 – 30 June 2015 is 31 December 2015. There are a number of conditions which must be…