19 October 2022 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 October 2022. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 October 2022.)

19 October 2022 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 October 2022.

19 October 2022 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 October 2022 is payable by today.

31 October 2022 – Latest date you can file a paper version of your 2021-22 self-assessment tax return.

1 November 2022 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 January 2022.

19 November 2022 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 November 2022. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 November 2022.)

19 November 2022 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 November 2022.

19 November 2022 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 November 2022 is payable by today.

The amount you receive will include a ‘Pensioner Cost of Living Payment’. This is between £150 and £300. You will only get this extra amount in winter 2022 to 2023. This is in addition to any Cost-of-Living Payment you get with your benefit or tax credits.

You will get your Winter Fuel Payment automatically (you do not need to claim) if you are eligible and either:

• receive the State Pension; or
• receive another social security benefit (not including Adult Disability Payment from the Scottish Government, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Child Benefit or Universal Credit).

If you do not receive either of these, or if you live abroad, you may need to make a claim.

If you’ve got a Winter Fuel Payment before, you do not need to claim again unless you’ve deferred your State Pension or moved abroad.

Energy Grant

In addition to the Winter Fuel Support, all UK households will receive a grant which will automatically reduce their energy bills by a total of £400 during the coming winter period.

The grant will automatically be credited to energy suppliers’ accounts in equal instalments of £66 from October – November 2022 and in instalments of £67 from December 2022 to March 2023.

To make payments on the same or next day

• online or telephone banking (Faster Payments)
• through your online bank account
• CHAPS

To make payments within three working days

• Direct Debit
• Bacs
• standing order (only for businesses using the Annual Accounting Scheme or Payments on Account)
• online by debit or corporate credit card
• at your bank or building society

If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday, your payment must arrive in HMRC’s bank account on the last working day before (unless you pay by Faster Payments).

However, there are three hoops that these claims need to jump through. The tax deduction is worked out as the lower of:

• 20% of any finance costs – costs not deducted from rental income in the tax year plus any unrelieved finance costs brought forward, in the above example £2,000;
• 20% of property business profits – the profits of the property business in the tax year (after using any brought forward losses); and
• 20% of adjusted total income – the income (after losses and reliefs and excluding savings and dividends income) that exceeds your personal allowance.

It is the final condition that can catch taxpayers out and deny relief. For example, if the majority of earnings are dividend income, and other earnings in total are lower than the annual personal tax allowance, currently £12,570, then no relief for finance charges can be claimed.

This could impact director shareholders of smaller companies with personal property income and finance costs, who many have adopted the high-dividend low-salary approach to taking remuneration from their company

This is a further justification for ongoing tax planning to ensure that all options are considered and reviewed to minimise overall tax payments.

You can let out as much of your home as you want.

The tax exemption is automatic if you earn less than £7,500. This means you do not need to do anything.

If you earn more than this, you must complete a tax return. You can then opt into the scheme and claim your tax-free allowance. You do this on your tax return.

You can choose not to opt into the scheme and instead record your income and expenses on the property pages of your tax return.

You may need to calculate the tax effects of both options if your gross rental income from letting a room or rooms at home is more than £7,500.

If most taxpayers cannot match price increases by keeping earnings in sync with these increases, then their purchasing power will gradually reduce.

This autumn, cost pressures are likely to continue, particularly utility costs. And will force many of us re-examine our budgets and try to figure out how to balance our books without meeting excess expenditure by maxing-out credit cards or entering into expensive loans.

One solution may be to investigate creating additional income streams. For example:

• Turn a hobby into a part-time business.
• Rent out your driveway as a day-time parking area.
• Rent a spare room in your house.

There are tax concessions that may make these activities tax-free. See the “£2,000 tax-free income” and “Rent-a-room” articles in this newsletter.

You could also search for ideas and assistance online. HM Government Money and Pensions Service has launched a Money Helper website at https://moneyhelper.org.uk.

Trading allowance

The trading allowance is a tax exemption of up to £1,000 a year for individuals with trading income from:

• self-employment.
• casual services, for example, babysitting or gardening.
• hiring personal equipment, for example, power tools.

This allowance does not apply to trading income from a partnership.

Property allowance

The property allowance is a tax exemption of up to £1,000 a year for individuals with income from land or property.

If you own a property jointly with others, you are each eligible for the £1,000 allowance against your share of the gross rental income.

If you have two businesses and claim the property allowance in one business, you may not claim actual expenses in respect of the other business.

You cannot use this allowance on income from letting a room in your own home under the Rent a Room Scheme.

This places undue pressure on couples to complete these transfers in time to qualify for the CGT exemption. Based on recommendations from the Office for Tax Simplification, the Finance Bill 2022-23 aims to correct this by enacting the following changes:

• separating spouses or civil partners be given up to three years after the year they cease to live together in which to make no gain or no loss transfers.
• no gain or no loss treatment will also apply to assets that separating spouses or civil partners transfer between themselves as part of a formal divorce agreement.
• a spouse or civil partner who retains an interest in the former matrimonial home to be given an option to claim Private Residence Relief (PRR) when it is sold.
• individuals who have transferred their interest in the former matrimonial home to their ex-spouse or civil partner and are entitled to receive a percentage of the proceeds when that home is eventually sold, be able to apply the same tax treatment to those proceeds when received that applied when they transferred their original interest in the home to their ex-spouse or civil partner.

If these changes are confirmed, they will apply to disposals that occur on or after 6 April 2023.