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For owners of a residential property business, operating the most efficient structure will be a key decision in helping them to manage risk, grow their portfolio and minimise their tax exposure.  

Joe Brough looks at some important tax considerations of incorporating a property portfolio.

The employment allowance is a National Insurance allowance which eligible employers can set against their secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) liability. The allowance is set at £10,500 for 2025/26. However, it is capped at the amount of the employer’s secondary Class 1 NICs liability for the year, where this is lower.

Sarah Bradford highlights the benefits of the employment allowance and outlines the eligibility conditions.

Readers will be aware that there is generally a ‘cooling-off period’ of about a year, during which a taxpayer can amend most aspects of their tax return. For an individual’s self-assessment, the time limit is 12 months following the statutory filing date of the return, usually 31 January following the tax year of the return (TMA 1970 s 9ZA).

Lee Sharpe looks at overpayment relief, which should be welcome in theory but, in practice, can be quite a slippery claim to pin down.

Early in 2025, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) ran a ‘Help for Hustles’ campaign to support people who earn extra income to understand the extent of any tax obligations.

Mark McLaughlin highlights the potential tax implications for individuals undertaking activities to earn extra income.

A company is a separate legal entity, distinct from the shareholders that own it. Consequently, if the directors and shareholders want to use the profits made by the company for their personal use, they will need to extract those profits first. There are various ways in which this can be done; some are more tax-efficient than others.  

Sarah Bradford considers options for extracting profits from a company in a tax-efficient manner in the 2024/25 tax year.

HMRC recently undertook a ‘One to Many’ letter campaign, wherein HMRC’s skilled data analysts undertake to mine nuggets from a huge range of sources to test for omissions or errors in tax returns. 

Lee Sharpe reports on HMRC getting all ‘Nancy Drew’ with its sleuthing over company reporting and shareholders’ dividend income returns. 

Some company shareholders may either be unaware or have forgotten about a relatively unknown capital gains tax (CGT) relief that offers a reduced CGT rate of only 10% on qualifying gains of up to £10m during their lifetime, if certain conditions are satisfied.  

Mark McLaughlin highlights a relatively unknown and infrequently used but generous capital gains tax relief.

Owner-managers can spend a significant amount of time and energy building a successful and profitable trading company.

Joe Brough looks at tax issues for business taxpayers and their tax advisers when a company is coming to an end.