The rising cost of living and high energy bills may mean that you are struggling to pay your January self-assessment tax bill. However, help is at hand and you may be able to set up a Time to Pay Arrangement which will allow you to pay what you owe in instalments.

Key dates

You must file your 2021/22 self-assessment tax return by midnight on 31 January 2023, and pay any remaining tax owing for 2022/23 by the same deadline. Where you need to make payments on account of your 2022/23 tax bill, the first payment on account is also due by 31 January 2023.

This note explains what you can do if you are struggling to pay the bill.

Nature of a Time to Pay Arrangement

A Time to Pay Arrangement is an arrangement with HMRC which allows you to pay a tax bill in affordable monthly instalments. The arrangement can cover all outstanding overdue amounts plus associated interest and, where applicable, penalties.

For self-assessment bills, you may be able to set up a Time to Pay Arrangement online. If this route is not available to you, you will need to contact HMRC to discuss whether you can agree an arrangement with them.

If you are aware that you are going to have problems paying your January tax bill in full, it is advisable to either set up a Time to Pay Arrangement online or contact HMRC before the end of January, rather than miss the deadline and then try and sort it out when HMRC chase you for payment.

It should be noted that if you are able to pay your tax bill in full, HMRC expect you to do so.

Set up an arrangement online

You can set up a Time to Pay Arrangement online if:

• you have filed your 2021/22 tax return;
• you owe less than £30,000;
• you are within 60 days of the payment date; and
• you plan to pay your debt off within the next 12 months or less.

To set up an arrangement online, you will need to log in to your Government Gateway account.

Agree an arrangement with HMRC

If you are unable to set up a Time to Pay arrangement online, you will need to get in touch with HMRC. If you are struggling to pay your January self-assessment tax bill, you should call HMRC’s Self Assessment Payment Helpline on 0300 200 3822. The helpline is open from Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm.

HMRC will take account of your income and expenditure and also what assets you have in working out what you can afford to pay. HMRC will not usually expect the payments under the agreement to be more than 50% of your disposable income. The length of the arrangement will depend on how much tax you owe. There is no upper limit on how long a Time to Pay Arrangement can last.

Payments will usually be made by direct debit.

If payments are missed, HMRC may take enforcement action to recover the tax owed.

Interest

Interest is charged on tax debts included in a Time to Pay Arrangement from the due date until the debt is paid.

Late payment penalties are not charged if the arrangement is set up before the tax is late.

If you need help with any of the issues raised above please call us on 01242 370298.

 

We are all interested in trying to minimise the amount of tax we pay, and the current cost-of-living challenges have underlined the benefits of this strategy.

Basic planning

Apart from making sure you’re compliant and do not incur the wrath of HMRC, we look carefully at areas such as

• benefits in kind or salary;
• making sure you use your personal tax reliefs fully and efficiently;
• minimising capital gains;
• efficient use of pension contributions;
• making sure that we consider paying salary instead of dividends;
• whether the business is better as a company, a sole trader or partnership; and
• whether you can employ your partner or spouse in the business and at what level.

We also consider any allowances you can claim, for example, child tax credits and working tax credits, whether you can claim tax relief for business use of your home, and any potential inheritance tax issues and planning.

Investments and savings

We can also, whilst looking at your overall tax affairs and your tax return, think about your investments and savings and whether they can be better utilised and if all the tax advantages available have been considered and claimed.

Some ideas to think about

Make sure you keep digital records of business mileage with the dates and the purpose so that we can easily reclaim your travel costs.

Be sure and review your pension arrangements annually with your financial advisor. It is not just about the tax advantages, it is also whether you are going to have a well-funded retirement.

Is there an opportunity to pay a partner or spouse a salary if they are working in the business and their income is at a lower tax rate than yours?

Is it worthwhile transferring some capital and income between husband and wife? This may enable you to equalise your family income levels and lead to an overall reduction in income tax for the family.

Let’s round up

There’s more to tax compliance than simply producing a tax return that is compliant and keeps HMRC happy. It is useful if you talk to us before you action any new financial transactions because there may be tax consequences and sometimes advantages.

Feel free to call us on 01242 370298 to discuss. We are keen that you minimise tax and maximise your benefits now and in the future.

 

We all want a long and fulfilling retirement, able to do all the things that we were unable to do whilst working or bringing up a family. But the first task to achieve this is to decide when you want to retire, and if this requires that you expect to sell your business, dispose of property or cash-in other investments.

In which case what sort of buyer have you in mind?

Other questions you will need to ask are what size of pension are you expecting at retirement and how much income will you be generating from non-pension pot investments?

We can work together to deal with these and other questions, to maximise returns over time. We also have tools that will help provide strategies to achieve these retirement goals.

Your business

Considering the value of the business and how you will extract this value to fund your retirement objectives will involve early planning. Commonly, we will want to present to any potential buyer steadily rising profits and a strong balance sheet over the last three to five years. Buyers also tend to want a business that is easy to manage.

Early discussions

Depending on your time scale, you should probably consider pension planning early in your business career, even if you do not make pension contributions immediately.

Following this, you will need to discuss if pension pots are growing at the right rate. This should be considered within five to seven years before sale, and we will need to discuss the preparation of your business for sale so that we can maximise the result.

This will involve tax planning to minimise the tax implications of the sale., whether that means capital gains or income tax, and how we might extract value from the business prior to sale that can boost your pension pot but not detract from the valuation.

Maintain focus

It is important to be immersed in the day-to-day necessity of earning a living, but it is equally important to keep an eye on retirement planning issues and make sure that you are achieving your overall goals.

It is worthwhile discussing this at least annually even if briefly, and for some of the elements it should be discussed in detail before any major changes are contemplated.

Finally, it will be beneficial to consider inheritance tax implications and the provisions of your will. This will ensure that your assets are used effectively during your lifetime and thereafter.

Let’s round up

It is worthwhile discussing retirement planning on a regular basis to stay on track and how you intend to get there. Please call us on 01242 370298, if we’ve not talked about this recently.

Tax year-end is fast approaching.

Below are some planning opportunities to consider in advance of the 5^th April tax year-end.

1. ISAs

The annual subscription limit is £20,000 for adult ISAs, £9,000 for Junior ISAs.

You can hold, and contribute to, both cash and stocks and shares ISAs in the same year, albeit the annual subscription limit applies in aggregate, not per ISA.

ISAs are highly tax efficient, with any subsequent income and capital gains completely tax-free.

Note, those that are eligible might consider directing up to £4,000 of the £20,000 subscription limit towards a Lifetime ISA, in order to benefit from a 25% government bonus. Funds can subsequently be put towards a first property purchase, or towards retirement (accessible without penalty from age 60).

2. Pension contributions

Generally speaking, pensions offer the most tax efficient form of saving/investment:

• Pension contributions qualify for tax relief at your marginal rate of income tax. That means a £1,000 contribution would cost a basic-rate taxpayer £800, a higher-rate taxpayer £600 and an additional-rate taxpayer £550.
• Tax-free income and gains within the pension,
• You are able to draw up to 25% funds tax-free (subject to available Lifetime Allowance) from Minimum Pension Age, currently 55, but set to increase to 57 from 2028, and
• The funds sit outside your estate for inheritance tax purposes, therefore now playing a key role in estate planning.

Also note, pension contribution has the effect of reducing your taxable income, which may have a knock-on effect on the taxation of any dividend income or capital gains (e.g. ensuring these are taxed only at the basic rate of tax rather than higher). Similarly, it can be used to reclaim Personal Allowance (potential 60% tax relief) or reduce a High Income Child Benefit Charge.

But how much can you contribute?

Generally, this is the lower of:

• ‘Relevant earnings’ (generally, income from employment or self-employed profits, albeit rental income from a furnished holiday letting is also included here),
• Available annual allowance, including carry forward from the previous three tax years,
• Subject to a minimum of £3,600 (gross) per year.

The annual allowance is £40,000 per person per tax year. However, this is tapered at a rate of £1 for every £2 that adjusted income (generally, salary plus employer pension contributions) exceeds £240,000, down to a minimum £4,000 (where adjusted income exceeds £312,000).

Annual allowance calculations can be complicated, particularly where there is some defined benefit pension accrual involved too. If you need any help here, please let us know.

3. Crystallise some capital gains

Taxable capital gains are taxed at 10% to the extent they fall within an investor’s basic-rate tax band (18% for residential property), or 20% above (28% for residential property).

However, investors have an available ‘annual exempt amount’ of £12,300 each tax year. That is, you can realise taxable gains up to £12,300 without incurring any capital gains tax (CGT).

It’s therefore ‘good planning’ to utilise this each and every year, even where you don’t require any capital from an investment portfolio, to prevent, or at least reduce, the build-up of CGT over time.

For example, say an investor has shares in a fund that have risen from £100,000 to £150,000, an unrealised gain of £50,000.

They could sell approx. 24.6% their holding, thereby crystallising a gain of £12,300, in order to mitigate the build-up of a potential CGT charge over time.

They could then immediately buy the same shares back in a different account (e.g. ISA, so-called ‘bed-and-ISA’), or different name (e.g. ‘bed-and-spouse’). Alternatively, they could buy the same shares back in the same account once 30 days have passed, or simply buy something different altogether.

4. VCTs

Each tax year, you can invest up to £200,000 in VCTs.

These represent collective investments in portfolios of small, high growth, typically tech-focussed, and typically non-listed, companies. They mainly operate in areas such as e-commerce, health-tech, ‘deep-tech’, software, data analytics, renewables, autonomous driving, e-mobility, wearable technology, gaming, etc. And dare I say it, the ‘metaverse’…

These aren’t for everyone, but for some, they represent a viable investment option, certainly for a portion of investable assets.

This is particularly true for those ‘locked out’ of pension contribution due to earnings (see ‘tapered annual allowance’ above), or simply looking to diversify a wider investment portfolio.

And VCTs offer significant tax benefits:

• 30% tax relief on initial investment (as long as shares are held for 5 years, otherwise it’s clawed back),
• Tax-free dividends (the main sources of return, upon sale of underlying investee companies),
• Tax-free gains.

Note, tax relief is only available on subscription to new shares – most VCTs raise funds each year, typically between December and April. The current ‘VCT season’ has seen strong demand for new offers, but there are still some decent ones open.

5. Gifting

Finally, for those looking to mitigate a potential inheritance tax charge on their estate, it’s important to make use of available ‘gifting exemptions’. The three most common are:

• The £3,000 annual exemption (including any unused exemption from the previous tax year),
• The £250 small gifts exemption – a person can make as many outright gifts of up to £250 per person per tax year as they wish, as long as the recipient does not also receive part of the donor’s £3,000 annual exemptions.
• The ‘normal expenditure out of income’ exemption. Any gift is exempt from IHT as long as i) it is regular in nature, ii) it is made out of income (not capital) and iii) it does not impact the donor’s standard of living (i.e. it is made out of surplus income).

If you would like more information on any of the above, please call us on 01242 370298.

 

Caught between a rock and a hard place the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, presented his Spring Statement which updated parliament on the current state of the economy as published by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBS).

It also included a number of tax and NIC changes.

Ordinarily, the OBS report would be the sole focus of his report, but international events have conspired to force his hand to support beleaguered families in the UK as they struggle with the unprecedented rise in energy, motoring and other costs.

This summary sets the more significant changes he announced.

The economic backdrop

With inflation due to rise above 8% this year there is every likelihood that disposable income (purchasing power) will drop. This will place severe financial burdens on those at the bottom end of the income scale, particularly benefit claimants and pensioners.

There have been larger than expected tax revenues this year which gives the Chancellor some elbow room to assist with rising household costs and without having to resort to additional government borrowing. The remainder of this summary sets out the main support initiatives announced.

National Insurance

The 1.25 percentage points increase to fund health and social care will still apply from April 2022.

However, from 6 July 2022, the threshold at which employees start to pay National Insurance is to be increased from £190 a week to £242 a week. This means that earnings up to £12,570 – in a full tax year – will suffer no income tax or Class 1 National Insurance deductions. Payroll operators will no doubt be receiving confirmation from their payroll software suppliers when the appropriate changes have been made to accommodate these July changes. This change will be welcomed by those on low incomes and is a sensible harmonisation of thresholds for income tax and National Insurance.

The Employment Allowance is being increased by £1,000 to £5,000 from April 2022.

Class 2 NIC payable by the self-employed is being reduced for low earners. – From April 2022, self-employed individuals with profits between the Small Profits Threshold and Lower Profits Limit will not pay Class 2 NICs. Over the year as a whole, the Lower Profits Limit (the threshold below which self-employed people do not pay National Insurance) is equivalent to an annualised threshold of £9,880 between April to June 2022, and £12,570 from July 2022. This change represents a tax cut for around 500,000 self-employed people worth up to £165 per year.

Household support

To help households with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities, the government is providing an additional £500 million for the Household Support Fund from April, on top of the £500 million already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £1 billion. In England, Local Authorities are best placed to help those in their areas who need it most and will receive an additional £421 million, whilst the devolved administrations will receive an additional £79 million in funding through the Barnett formula.

Individuals in need of support should enquire at their local authority to see if they qualify for benefits under this measure.

VAT relief for energy saving materials (ESMs)

The government will reverse a Court of Justice of the European Union ruling that restricted the application of VAT relief on the installation of ESMs. The government will also increase the relief by introducing a time-limited VAT zero rate for the installation of ESMs.

This change will apply from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2027 and will ensure that a family installing roof-top solar panels could save £1,000 VAT on the installation and then annual savings on their energy bills.

The Northern Ireland Executive will receive a Barnett share of the value of this relief until it can be introduced UK-wide.

Green reliefs for business rates

During the Autumn Budget 2021 the government announced the introduction of targeted business rate exemptions from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2035 for eligible plant and machinery used in onsite renewable energy generation and storage, and a 100% relief for eligible low-carbon heat networks with their own rates bill, to support the decarbonisation of non-domestic buildings. The government is bringing forward the implementation of these measures and is announcing that they will now take effect from April 2022.

Motoring fuel costs

As expected, the duty on petrol and diesel will be reduced by 5p per litre from 6pm, 23 March 2022. This is a UK-wide reduction in costs for hard-pressed motorists. The cut is temporary. It will apply for 12-months.

Future changes to the tax system

One of the Chancellor’s more popular announcements was his intention to reduce the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19%. However, this will not be considered until April 2024 and only if the government finances allow. As income tax rates in Scotland are set by the Scottish government, this reduction may or may not apply.

The Chancellor also promised to consider future changes, from April 2023, to tax reliefs that promote R&D, business investment and the raising of capital. Accordingly, before the Autumn Budget 2022, the Treasury will be consulting on possible changes to the relevant allowances and reliefs.

Need more information?

If you need more information regarding any of the issues raised in this summary, please call us on 01242 370298.

What you can write off against tax for replacement of domestic items in your rented properties

We are often asked to clarify what can be claimed if domestic items in your rented property are replaced.

The following notes are a short summary of GOV.UK published material regarding the Replacement of Domestic Items Relief (RDIR).

When you cannot claim

You cannot claim this relief if:

• The replaced items are in a property classified as a Furnished Holiday Let for tax purposes.
• You use the Rent-a-Room Scheme.
• The purchase is the initial cost of a domestic item(s) for a dwelling house. Planning note: if you are purchasing a rental property with domestic items included, make sure that the contract itemises and values these items as this will then constitute the initial cost.

When you can claim

As the name implies, you can claim when a domestic item in your rented properties is replaced, subject to the above exclusions, and the item is for the exclusive use of your tenants and the old items are no longer available to tenants.

What are domestic items?

The examples quoted by HMRC are:

• movable furniture for example beds, free-standing wardrobes,
• furnishings for example curtains, linens, carpets, floor coverings,
• household appliances for example televisions, fridges, freezers,
• kitchenware for example crockery, cutlery.

What if the replacement is an improvement?

For example, if a new sofa costs £400 but a sofa bed costs £550, you can only claim the £400 as a deduction and no relief is available for the £150.

What if you sell the replaced item?

The amount of your claim would be the cost of the replacement plus the cost of acquiring or disposing of the old item, less any amount received on disposal of the old item.

The claim would also need to exclude any improvement cost, see above.

Please call us on 01242 370298 if you need advice regarding the tax position of a specific purchase.

Find out how much State Pension you will get, when you can get it and how you can increase it, if you can…

We are used to reviewing our private pension arrangements on a regular basis, but when was the last time you checked out your State Pension arrangements?

The following notes assume you have not yet reached your State Pension retirement age, but you want to see how many more years National Insurance contributions (NIC) you will need to make to receive a full pension when you retire.

State Pension and your NIC record

Your new State Pension (NSP) is based on the number of NIC contributions you have made when you reach your State Pension retirement age.

To qualify for any NSP you will need at least 10 qualifying years. To qualify for the maximum NSP you will need 35 years if you have no NIC record before 6 April 2016.

What if you had gaps when you did not work?

You may qualify for NIC credits for years you did not work if during those years:

• you claimed Child Benefit for a child under 12 years of age,
• if you received Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance; or
• you received Carer’s Allowance.

In certain circumstances you can also make voluntary NIC contributions to fill gaps in your contribution record.

How to apply for a State Pension forecast

There is a simple online process you can use to apply for this forecast.

You can access at https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

This will confirm how many years NIC contributions you have made and the current forecast of State Pension you would receive.

NOTE: The government may extend the State Retirement Age or change the rates of NSP you might receive, which is why it is worth applying for a forecast on a regular basis.

You will need to have a Government Gateway account to apply for a forecast. If you need help, please call us on 01242 370298, and we will talk you through what you need to do.

Deadline to join this scheme is 21^st June 2021.

Businesses that deferred VAT payments last year have until 21^st June to join the new online payment scheme and spread the impact of deferred VAT payments.

Which VAT arrears can be paid off in this way?

The scheme covers VAT deferred – and is still unpaid – from the period 20 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 under the VAT Payment Deferral Scheme.

How will payments be spread under this scheme?

Businesses can pay their deferred VAT in two to eight consecutive instalments without adding interest if they join online by 21 June 2021.

A first payment will be taken when you join.

How to join this scheme:

Before joining, you must:

• have your VAT registration number,
• create your own Government Gateway account (if you do not already have one),
• submit any outstanding VAT returns from the last 4 years – otherwise you’ll not be able to join the scheme,
• correct errors on your VAT returns as soon as possible,
• make sure you know how much you owe, including the amount you originally deferred and how much you may have already paid.

To use the online service, you must:

• join the scheme yourself, your agent cannot do this for you,
• still have deferred VAT to pay,
• be up to date with your VAT returns,
• join by 21 June 2021,
• pay the first instalment when you join,
• pay your instalments by Direct Debit (if you want to use the scheme but cannot pay by Direct Debit, there is an alternative entry route for you).

Time to act

If you still have unpaid, deferred VAT from last year this scheme offers a way to get up to date with payments and minimise the impact on your cashflow.

Claims process for the final Self-Employed Income Support Scheme grant will open next month.

The 5^th and final grant under the SEISS will be opened to claims from late July 2021. This grant will cover the five-month period 1 May 2021 to 30 September 2021. To be eligible for the grant you must be self-employed, either a sole trader or member of a partnership.

Conditions to qualify for this grant:

• You must have traded in the tax year 2019-20 and submitted your tax return for that year on or before 2 March 2021 and traded in the tax year 2020-21.
• You must either be currently trading but impacted by reduced demand due to COVID or have been trading but are presently unable to do so due to COVID restrictions.
• To be eligible to claim HMRC will check previous years tax returns to see if your trading profits are no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income.
• When claiming you must declare that you will continue to trade and that you reasonably believe that your business activity will be reduced in the period 1 May to 30 September 2021.

The 5^th grant is different:

The 5^th grant will be determined by how much your turnover has been reduced in the year April 2020 to April 2021.

• If the turnover reduction is 30% or more, you can claim 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits up to a maximum £7,500.
• If the turnover reduction is less than 30%, you can claim 30% of 3 months’ average trading profits up to a maximum £2,850.

HMRC have said they will provide more information by the end of June to help you work out how your turnover will be affected.

When can you claim:

HMRC will contact you mid-July to give you a date to make your claim.

We can help

If you need help deciding if you can make a claim contact us on 01242 370298 or email us office@wfrancisandco.co.uk when HMRC issue their extended guidance notes later this month.

In this update we have listed some of the tax incentives you may be able to claim if you choose or are required to work from home.

If you are employed:

• Employers can provide the equipment and supplies that an employee needs to work from home, such as office furniture, stationery, a computer and suchlike, without a taxable benefit arising, if ownership of the equipment remains with the employer and private use is not significant.
• Employers can also pay employees a tax-free allowance of £6 per week (£26 per month) to cover the cost of additional household expenses incurred because of working from home.
• If employers do not pay the above allowance (£26 per month), employees can claim an equivalent deduction from their taxable income.

If you are self-employed:

• If you are self-employed and working from home, expenses are deductible if they are wholly and exclusively incurred for the purposes of the business. This will apply to costs incurred in running a home office, such as cleaning, heat and light, Wi-Fi costs etc.
• If you don’t want to keep a track of actual costs you can claim a tax office approved flat rate deduction. This ranges from £10 to £26 per month and depends on hours of business use.

If you run a company from home:

• Directors can charge their company a rent for use of a home office, but rents received in this way may be taxable.
• A company can meet costs paid by a director that are exclusively for business purposes.
• Beware claiming for the exclusive business use of space in your home as this may create a capital gains tax charge when you sell your home. This can be avoided if there is a duality of use, i.e., your home office doubles as a spare bedroom or storage area.

Need more help on this topic?

If you want to capitalize on the tax-free perks that are available to home workers, but you are unsure how to set up the arrangement in the most tax efficient way, please call us on 01242 370298 or email office@wfrancisandco.co.uk, we can help you consider the options available.