Business Tax Insider Monthly Newsletter

Lee Sharpe looks at the key points to beware when transferring shares to make dividend payments to other family members. 

Smaller owner-managed companies may be feeling a little unloved by the Chancellor right now. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused financial hardship for many businesses and individuals. In recognition of this, the government has put in place various measures to allow taxpayers to delay tax payments. In setting out his Winter Economy Plan in late September 2020, the Chancellor outlined further measures to give taxpayers the option to defer payment of VAT and tax due under self-assessment in installments.   

Sarah Bradford explores the options available for those struggling to pay their tax bills.

Always ready to tax you on any kind of profit or gain you’ve made, HMRC are much slower to allow relief for losses; a prime example is in the area of loans that an individual has made to someone else for the purpose of a trade, which turn out to be bad. 

Alan Pink looks at ways of achieving and maximising effective tax relief for irrecoverable loans to other businesses by individuals.

Sole traders or partnerships often incorporate, so that the business operates through a company. This can be done in various ways. 

Mark McLaughlin highlights a case in which the valuation of a business on incorporation proved costly to the vendor. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit many family businesses hard. Depending on the nature of the business, they may not have been able to trade during lockdown.

Sarah Bradford looks at options for extracting funds from a family company to pay bills where there are no retained profits.

There are many different payment methods for goods and services. When it comes to individuals making contributions to registered pension schemes, how must payments be made to qualify for tax relief?   

Mark McLaughlin looks at a case on how pension contributions should be ‘paid’ for tax purposes, where HMRC’s arguments and the tribunal’s decision seemed contrary to HMRC’s guidance.

In my practice as a tax adviser over the years, I’ve noticed that most entrepreneurs fall into one of two categories: the compulsive former of new companies on the one hand, and the ‘simplicity is everything’ brigade. 

Alan Pink looks at the advantages or otherwise of running more than one limited company.

The majority of UK businesses are close companies, owned by director-shareholders. A close company is a company owned and controlled by five or fewer individual participators or controlled by any number of participators who are also directors.

Iain Rankin explains why it is important to tread carefully when borrowing money from a closely-controlled company.

The end of a marriage (or civil partnership) is often difficult and stressful. Unfortunately, the tax rules could make a bad situation worse.

Mark McLaughlin points out that transfers of business assets as part of court orders in divorce proceedings can have unwelcome capital gains tax consequences. 

The tax legislation provides various reliefs for business losses, both for income tax and corporation tax purposes. The provisions include a specific relief for terminal losses.

Sarah Bradford outlines the tax relief available to business owners for terminal losses.

Stamp duty is in many ways a strange and archaic tax, although a lot of work has been done recently on bringing it more ‘up to date’.  

Alan Pink explains the new rules imposing market value on transactions in shares for stamp duty purposes, as included in Finance Act 2020.

Prior to February 2019, making research and development (R&D) claims was something of a minefield for small firms. Some claims were submitted with no more than a single figure included in the tax computation, representing the total qualifying R&D expenditure, while others contained extremely detailed information about the individual projects undertaken and the costs to justify the claim.

Iain Rankin looks at changes in HMRC’s new simplified claims procedure for research and development, and how small firms may benefit.