Mercer & Hole’s Business blog - Personal Tax
No Support For Prop
Date: 19th March, 2008 | Author: David Mansell | Comments: 0
Former professional rugby player, Simon Emms, has failed in his attempt to get a tax deduction for expenditure on dietary supplements and extra food, which both sides accepted he needed, to allow him to compete at (very nearly) the highest level. In a case that once again exemplified how difficult it is for employees to claim tax relief for costs incurring in enabling them to do their job, the Special Commissioner, Michael Tildesley, found that Mr Emms’ expenditure had put him in a position to play as a prop for both Bath and Llanelli but had not been incurred ...
Budget 2008 - Trade losses for individuals…
Date: 12th March, 2008 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 0
... are being restricted for tax purposes. At present an individual who carries on a trade, on however part-time a basis, can, subject to certain detailed restrictions, set this loss off against other income and gains. Anti-avoidance legislation introduced in the 2007 Finance Act restricted the offset of tax losses for non-active or limited partners. In the Revenue’s view this merely resulted in individuals entering into loss-making trades on a sole trader basis purely for the tax relief on the losses. As a result this legislation is being introduced with effect from 12 March 2008 for individuals who spend less than ten...
Inheritance tax on overseas property
Date: 31st January, 2008 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 0
The European Court of Justice recently decided a case, Theodor Jager v Finanzamt Kusel-Landstuhl, regarding tax reliefs on inheritance tax. The Court held that making such relief was made subject to the condition that the asset acquired by inheritance be situated in the national territory constituted a restriction on the free movement of capital contrary to EU law. This may well have an impact on the UK’s inheritance tax framework. The fact that agricultural property relief only applies to land in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man is almost certainly now contrary to European...
HMRC to develop a new Taxpayers’ Charter
Date: 18th January, 2008 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 0
In response to the comments made on the consultation on Taxpayers’ Safeguards, HMRC has announced that it will start working on the development of a Taxpayers’ Charter, which will set out both taxpayer rights and responsibilities in one single accessible document. Dave Hartnett, HMRC Acting Chairman, said: “Making sure that taxpayers’ rights are properly protected, whilst providing HMRC with the powers needed to ensure that today’s tax system is properly administered, are key HMRC commitments. This is what the Review of Powers consultation, together with the Taxpayers’ Charter, are about and I urge...
Three important new consultations from HMRC on penalties and powers
Date: 16th January, 2008 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 0
HMRC has recently published three further consultations on its Powers, Deterrents and the accompanying Safeguards. Penalties Reform – proposals to extend the new framework for penalties on incorrect returns and the introduction of a new penalty for failure to notify HMRC of taxable activities. A New Approach to Compliance Checks – proposals on a framework for HMRC to check that taxpayers are paying the correct amount of tax. Payments, Repayments and Debt – changes in the way that HMRC collects tax debt. These documents herald some potentially significant changes. If you would like further information all the documents are available...
Date: 23rd November, 2007 | Author: Rachel Haddow | Comments: 0
Some years ago I was involved, in a minor way, in the writing of a Government report on the merging of PAYE and National Insurance. If my memory serves, the report highlighted 5 major (i.e. politically sensitive) hurdles to the merger of these two “taxes”....
Rumours
Date: 4th September, 2007 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 0
There has been a lot of press speculation recently that, following the calls for a shake up in the tax breaks enjoyed by the private equity industry, the Chancellor may change capital gains tax for everyone. ...
Losses - making the best of a bad situation
Date: 23rd April, 2007 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 0
Every one makes the odd bad investment - despite all of the promises, all of the hype and all of the expectation, sometimes things just do not work out. Instead of kicking the nearest cat, try and look on the bright side and see what use can be made of the losses generated. It will not get your money back, but if it can save you 40% then it has got to be better than nothing. It is important that you make the best use of your capital losses – even if you have not been able to sell shares. If...
Inheritance Tax (IHT) - Ignoring exemptions could be expensive
Date: 20th April, 2007 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 2
Many estates are now worth more than the IHT nil rate band threshold of £285,000. With any excess potentially being chargeable at 40% it is clearly sensible for you to take full advantage of all available reliefs – always provided you can afford to do so. Every individual can transfer up to a total of £3,000 per tax year exempt from IHT. Where gifts (if any) fall short of the £3,000, the unused amount is carried forward to the next year and added to the £3,000 allowance for that year only. This means that a couple who are married or...
