Archives for September 2024

Date	What’s Due
1 September	Corporation tax for year to 30/11/23 unless pay by quarterly instalments
19 September	PAYE & NIC deductions, and CIS return and tax, for month to 5/9/24 (due 22 September if you pay electronically)
1 October	Corporation tax for year to 31/12/23 unless pay by quarterly instalments
5 October	Deadline for notifying HMRC of chargeability for 2023/24 if you are not within Self-Assessment and receive income or gains on which tax is due
19 October	PAYE & NIC deductions, and CIS return and tax, for month to 5/10/24 (due 22 October if you pay electronically)

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have issued a press release debunking some common myths about whether or not someone needs to register to complete a self-assessment tax return.

 

The basic requirement is that anyone who needs to complete a self-assessment return for the first time to cover the 2023-24 tax year, needs to tell HMRC by 5 October 2024.

 

Here are the myths and the realities highlighted by HMRC:

 

Myth: I don’t need to file a return because HMRC hasn’t been in touch.

The reality is that it is each taxpayer’s responsibility to determine whether or not they need to complete a tax return.

You may need to register and complete a tax return if you:

• have started to be self-employed and earned gross income of more than £1,000.
• earned below £1,000 but want to pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions to protect your pension and benefit entitlements.
• have become a new partner in a partnership.
• have received untaxed income above £2,500.
• need to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge because you receive Child Benefit and you or your partner earned more than £50,000.

Myth: Tax has to be paid at the same time as the return is filed

The deadline for paying tax for the 2023-24 tax year is 31 January 2025. Tax can be paid any time before this date, it does not need to be paid at the same time the return is filed.

 

Myth: I don’t need to file a return because I don’t owe any tax

Tax returns need to be completed to claim tax refunds and to claim tax relief on business expenses, charitable donations, and pension contributions. A return also needs to be completed to be able to pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance Contributions if you want to protect your pension and benefit entitlements.

 

Myth: HMRC won’t expect a return from me if I don’t need to file one

Taxpayers need to tell HMRC if they no longer need to file a tax return, perhaps because they’ve stopped being self-employed or stopped renting out a property. Especially if HMRC have sent you a notice to file a tax return they will expect one and keep reminding you and may charge a penalty if they don’t receive it.

If you think you don’t need to complete a return it is best to tell HMRC as soon as your circumstances change.

 

Myth: I have to file a tax return and pay tax on things I sold after clearing out the attic

Although there has been speculation on this, the tax rules are that selling old clothes, books, CDs and other personal items through online marketplaces do not trigger a requirement to file a return or pay income tax on the sales.

 

If you are not sure whether you need to file a tax return for the 2023-24 tax year, please just get in touch with us. We’ll be happy to let you know what you need to do and to contact HMRC on your behalf.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/need-to-register-for-self-assessment-top-5-myths-debunked

 

The table below sets out the HMRC advisory fuel rates from 1 September 2024. These are the suggested reimbursement rates for employees’ private mileage using their company car.

 

Engine Size	Petrol	Diesel	LPG
1400cc or less	13p (14p)		11p (11p)
1600cc or less		12p (13p)
1401cc to 2000cc	15p (16p)		13p (13p)
1601 to 2000cc		14p (15p)
Over 2000cc	24p (26p))	18p (20p)	21p (21p)

 

Where there has been a change the previous rate is shown in brackets.

You can also continue to use the previous rates for up to 1 month from the date the new rates apply.

Note that for hybrid cars you must use the petrol or diesel rate.

For fully electric vehicles the rate is 7p (9p) per mile.

 

Where the employer does not pay for any fuel for the company car these are the amounts that can be reimbursed in respect of business journeys without the amount being taxable on the employee.

 

Input VAT

Within the 45p/25p payments the amounts in the above table represent the fuel element. The employer is able to reclaim 20/120 of the amount as input VAT provided the claim is supported by a VAT invoice from the filling station. For a 2000cc diesel-engine car, 3 pence per mile can be reclaimed as input VAT (18p x 1/6)

 

Employees using their own cars

For employees using their own cars for business purposes the Advisory Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) tax-free reimbursement rate continues to be 45 pence per mile (plus 5p per passenger) for the first 10,000 business miles, reducing to 25 pence a mile thereafter.  Note that for National Insurance contribution purposes the employer can continue to reimburse at the 45p rate as the 10,000 threshold does not apply.

It was originally proposed that from 2025/26, employers would be required to provide more detailed information on employee hours worked via real time information (RTI) PAYE reporting. It has now been announced that this additional information will not now need to be reported until 2026/27 at the earliest.

With the ever-increasing costs of childcare, a very attractive benefit provided by more and more employers is a creche or nursery for employees’ children. If correctly structured, this is a tax-free benefit and will help employers attract and retain staff. Larger employers may provide an on-site nursery but for smaller employers it is more common to enter into partnership with a local nursery provider.

Two key elements of the partnership requirements for tax exemption are:

Responsibility for financing – Employers must take real responsibility for the financing of the childcare provision – for example by committing to fund an agreed proportion of the total costs, and by bearing their share of any losses. Employers simply paying a fixed cost per employee’s child are unlikely to meet this test.

Responsibility for management – Employers should be closely involved in the management of the childcare provision – for example, having close involvement in appointing and managing nursery staff, and in allocating places. Employers occasionally giving advice or ‘rubber stamping’ decisions are unlikely to meet this test. If an employer representative is appointed to the management board of a nursery, there must be evidence that they actively represent the employer in the running of the nursery.

HMRC have recently been checking these arrangements to ensure that the conditions for tax exemption are met. They have identified that some intermediaries promote schemes encouraging employers to offer childcare provisions to their employees, often under salary-sacrifice arrangements.

Those promoting the scheme often deal with all the necessary arrangements, meaning that the employer has very little involvement in providing the childcare and potentially fails the tests for tax exemption. Please contact us if you have any concerns over whether your childcare arrangements satisfy the conditions for tax exemption.

For the self-employed and those working for an organization that does not provide nursery facilities, the alternative is to set up a government tax-free childcare account.

Many wealthy individuals are apparently passing on substantial amounts of their wealth in anticipation of possible changes to inheritance tax (IHT) in Labour’s first Budget on 30 October. This allegedly includes a number of high-profile individuals such as TV presenter Anne Robinson who confirmed that she had passed on £50 million to her children and grandchildren. Should you consider doing the same?

Firstly, you need to check with us the value of your estate and potential IHT exposure under the current rules. Currently each individual receives a nil rate band of £325,000 and potentially up to a further £175,000 against the value of the family home, provided it, or assets to its value, is left to direct descendants on death. This additional £175,000 allowance is referred to as the residence nil rate band (RNRB).

There is currently an unlimited exemption where assets are transferred during lifetime or on death to the surviving spouse or civil partner. If the deceased spouse’s nil rate bands are unused then they are available to the survivor, potentially increasing the tax-free amount on the death of the second spouse to £1 million. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple as where the estate exceeds £2 million the RNRB is reduced by £1 for every £2 that the estate exceeds £2 million. Consequently, for wealthy couples the RNRB reduces to nil where the value of the estate exceeds £2.7 million leaving just the combined nil rate bands of £650,000. Note that the current rate of IHT on the death estate is 40% once the nil rate band has been used.

There is currently 100% relief from IHT where business and farming assets are transferred during lifetime and on death and it is hoped that these reliefs will continue so that survivors do not need to sell off assets to pay the tax. However, those generous reliefs may not continue under the new government.

Transfers during lifetime

Under the current rules there is no IHT payable where the donor survives for at least 7 years following the date that assets are transferred. Such transfers are referred to as potentially exempt transfers (PETs) and IHT is payable should the donor die within 7 years. Note that the transfer needs to be an outright gift with no continued use or enjoyment of the asset by the donor. Hence giving away the family home but continuing to live there will generally be ineffective unless other conditions, such as paying market rent, are satisfied.

There may also be capital gains tax (CGT) consequences of a lifetime gift, although it may be possible to hold over the gain so that no CGT is payable on the increase in value from when the asset was acquired. Holdover relief is currently available in the case of business assets and on transfers of assets into trust.

Please get in touch with us if you have concerns about IHT and want to consider taking action before Budget Day.