The 5% Summer VAT Rate: What It Covered and How It Worked
Fabian Barth examines the main features of the temporary reduced VAT rate of 5% which was in force in the UK throughout the summer. Legally, the reduced VAT rate of 5% was implemented by SI 2026/576....
Salary or Dividends: Which Works Better for You?
Sarah Bradford looks at the merits of extracting profits from a personal or family company in the form of salary or dividends. A company is a separate legal entity distinct from the shareholders who ...
Family Investment Companies: Worth the Long Game?
Nick Wright considers whether family investment companies deliver genuine tax efficiency over the full lifecycle. This final article in a five-part series considers the double taxation problem on ext...
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Failed Business Investment: Lose the Money and the Tax Relief Too?
Mark McLaughlin warns that in some cases not only might a business investment be lost, but also any tax relief for the loss. No rational individual would invest in a business in the hope or expectati...
HMRC Enquiries: A Practical Guide to Getting Through One
Richard Curtis outlines the basic considerations when dealing with an HMRC enquiry. A letter from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to check your tax affairs can be worrying. The word ‘enquiry&rsqu...
Section 144 Will Trusts: The IHT Lifeline Families Overlook
Jennifer Adams considers the benefit of a discretionary will trust under specific inheritance tax legislation and circumstances in which such a trust could be used. HM Courts & Tribunals Service ...
The Pension IHT Shelter Ends in April 2027: Time to Rethink
Tristan Noyes suggests what should be considered when pensions lose their inheritance tax exemption from April 2027. I once heard someone say: “My house is for my retirement; my pension is for ...
Art, Antiques, and Jewellery: Are Your Gains Taxable?
Jon Golding outlines capital gains tax asset exemptions that exist in respect of chattels and some of the quirks. Chattels are tangible, movable personal property (e.g., art, antiques, jewellery and ...
Insurance Claims and VAT: The Gap That Costs Businesses
Andrew Needham looks at the VAT position of insurance claims and what happens when a business cannot recover all its VAT. When a business suffers a loss and makes an insurance claim, the insurance co...
Employee or Self Employed: What Can You Claim for Working From Home?
Chris Thorpe considers the income tax rules on working from home. Certainly since COVID, it has become increasingly common for employees to work from home – either permanently or as part of fle...
HMRC Enquiry Dragging On? Can You Force It to Close?
Mark McLaughlin looks at HMRC tax return enquiries and applications by taxpayers to the tax tribunal for a direction that HMRC must close an enquiry. Individuals who file self-assessment returns are ...
Overdrawn Director's Loan Accounts: Managing the Section 455 Charge
In this excerpt from the report 'Personal Companies – Tips and Traps', Sarah Bradford explains the section 455 charge on overdrawn director's loan accounts in close companies, cover...
Incorporating Your Property Portfolio: Is It Actually a Business?
Sarah Bradford looks at the meaning of ‘business’ in the context of capital gains tax incorporation relief. Unincorporated landlords have been hit with a raft of adverse tax changes in re...
Passing on the Family Home: Navigating the Tax Minefield
Debbie Reyland attempts to navigate the tax minefield of passing the family home to the next generation. The family home is often the most valuable, and indeed valued, of a parent’s assets. As ...
Residential Landlord: Can You Ever Claim Capital Allowances?
Nick Wright examines the restriction on capital allowances for residential property, the case law meaning of 'dwelling house', and the limited circumstances in which residential landlords can...
IHT Exemptions: The Detail That Makes or Breaks the Relief
Mark McLaughlin highlights the importance of following the rules closely when seeking to obtain an important inheritance tax exemption. As a general rule, a cash gift from one long-term UK resident i...
Succession Planning: A £8m Business at a Crossroads
Peter Rayney shares the start of a recent succession planning project. During an oppressively hot July afternoon, Violet Buckle was ‘hiding’ in her air-conditioned office and thinking abo...
Paying Dividends: Are You Sure They're Lawful?
Sarah Bradford explains how to keep dividends lawful and highlights pitfalls to avoid. A dividend is a distribution of a company’s retained profits to its shareholders. Paying dividends can be ...
Family Investment Companies: The BPR Position Isn't What You Think
Nick Wright examines how a family investment company can deliver long-term inheritance tax and succession planning advantages. This fourth article in a five-part series considers freezer and growth s...
Employee Share Awards: The Corporate Tax Relief Companies Miss
Mark McLaughlin highlights a useful tax relief for companies that is perhaps less well-known than it should be. Company shares are often issued to employees for less than market value as a reward or ...