Tax Insider Newsletter Bundle

Taxed on Income You Never Received? It Can Happen

It is relatively common for assets such as investment properties to be jointly held in the names of a married couple (or civil partners).  

Mark McLaughlin highlights a case in which a taxpayer might have prevented being taxed on income they never actually received. 

Some assets are exempt from capital gains tax (CGT), and it is always worth being aware of these. The exemption for an only or main residence (immovable property) is probably the most well-known, but there are also exemptions for chattels and wasting assets (moveable property). 
 
Richard Curtis outlines the capital gains tax exemptions for chattels and wasting assets. 

Invalid VAT Numbers: The Input Tax Claim You Could Lose

When a business sets up a new client or supplier, it is good practice to check the supplier’s VAT number because, if it is invalid, so is the tax invoice they issue, and HMRC may disallow the input tax claim. It is equally important in Northern Ireland when dealing with sales to businesses in other EU Member States, because if a business gets the VAT number wrong it should not zero-rate the sale and HMRC will assess the business if it has.  

Andrew Needham looks at how to check if a VAT number for a supplier or customer is valid. 

Incorporation Relief: No Longer Automatic From April 2026

The first point to note is that for business incorporations on or after 6 April 2026, FA 2026, s 39 amends the capital gains tax incorporation relief provisions in TCGA 1992, s 162, requiring a claim to be made. Previously, the application of s 162 was automatic if the requirements of s 162 were met, the main one being that what is transferred to the company is a ‘business’ and not merely a collection of assets.  

Ken Moody looks into the practicalities and mechanics of incorporation relief under TCGA 1992, s 162 and finds it is not quite as straightforward as he remembered.

Employing Your Spouse or Children: Are You Doing It Properly?

Family businesses have a unique tax planning opportunity – the ability to bring one’s spouse, civil partner or children into the business and share in the profits.  

Done properly, it can significantly reduce the overall tax bill.  Some find it morbid to think about planning for their own death, so put off writing a will.

Tristan Noyes explores the opportunities and risks for business owners of employing their spouse or other family members in the business to reduce the family’s overall tax bill.  

Working From Home: Are You Claiming the Right Way?

With remote and hybrid working now firmly embedded in British working life, understanding the tax treatment of working from home remains important.  

The rules differ depending on whether the worker is an employee, self-employed or a company director and choosing the right method can make a noticeable difference to the overall tax position. 

Jennifer Adams considers some tax implications of working from home.   

Excepted Assets: The BPR Trap Sitting on Your Balance Sheet

An ‘excepted’ asset for inheritance tax (IHT) business property relief (BPR) purposes is defined within IHTA 1984, s 112 as follows: 

‘(2) An asset is an excepted asset in relation to any relevant business property if it was neither— 

(a) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the business concerned throughout the whole or the last two years of the relevant period defined in subsection (5) below, nor 

(b) required at the time of the transfer for future use for those purposes.’ 

‘(5) For the purposes of this section the relevant period, in relation to any asset, is the period immediately preceding the transfer of value during which the asset……..was owned by the transferor or, if the business concerned is that of a company, was owned by that company or any other company which immediately before the transfer of value was a member of the same group.’ 
Chris Thorpe outlines how discretionary trusts can be used to gift assets tax-free.

Q&As with Arthur Weller

Dividends or bonuses? We can work it out!

Consider the following scenario:

'On a wintry sunny morning, Alan was reviewing his company’s January 2024 management accounts. Alan was the sole director and 100% shareholder of Llandudno Hotels Ltd, which operated two large hotels in Llandudno. The business was on course to healthy pre-tax profit of around £650,000 for the year ended 31 March 2024. Alan had been planning to pay himself a substantial ‘bonus’ before the year-end'. 

What does Alan do?

Peter Rayney examines an owner-manager’s cash extraction following the numerous tax and National Insurance contributions changes.

Use them or lose them: 2023/24 tax allowances

As the tax year draws to a close, it is prudent to review one’s 2023/24 tax allowances and consider whether there is scope for utilising any unused allowances so they are not lost. 

Sarah Bradford explores options for using 2023/24 tax allowances so they are not wasted.

Record-keeping in a digital age

Lee Sharpe looks at taxpayers’ record-keeping obligations in light of HMRC’s inexorable march to digital everything (almost).

Historically, HMRC has been quite relaxed about whether original records must be maintained or digital facsimiles (scans, etc.). 

Trap for business owners seeking CGT incorporation relief

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recently commenced a ‘One to Many’ campaign, targeting taxpayers who incorporated property businesses in the tax year 2017/18 but reported no capital gains tax (CGT) liability in their tax returns on the basis that ‘incorporation relief’ applied in full. 

Mark McLaughlin highlights a potential trap for business owners seeking capital gains tax incorporation relief.

Q&As with Arthur Weller