Tax

Monday 27 September 2021

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will now be introduced in April 2024

HMRC has announced that businesses will have an extra year to prepare for the digitalisation of Income Tax.

Recognising the challenges faced by many UK businesses and their representatives as the country emerges from the pandemic, and having listened to stakeholder feedback, the government will introduce Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) a year later than planned, in the tax year beginning in April 2024.

A later start for MTD for ITSA gives those required to join more time to prepare and for HMRC to deliver a robust service, with additional time for customer testing in the pilot.

Further information on this latest announcement from HMRC and what MTD for ITSA will mean for businesses can be found here.


 Thursday 9 September 2021

Tax changes for Health and Social Care

This week the government announced tax changes to fund £12 billion a year to be spent on the NHS and social care across the UK.

National Insurance contributions (NICs) will increase by 1.25% for one year only for employees, employers and the self-employed from‌‌ ‌April‌‌ ‌2022. This will cover both Class 1 (employee and employer), Class 1A and 1B and Class 4 (self-employed) NICs. Those above State Pension Age are not impacted by the April 2022 changes.

From April 2023, a new ringfenced Health and Social Care Levy of 1.25% will be introduced which will apply to those who pay Class 1 (employee and employer), Class 1A and 1B and Class 4 (self-employed) NICs and will also be extended to those over State Pension age who are in work. When the new levy comes into effect, National Insurance rates will revert back to current levels.

The levy will also apply to individuals above State Pension age with employment income or profits from self-employment above £9,568.

The levy will be administered by HMRC and collected through the current reporting and collection procedures for NICs – Pay As You Earn and Income Tax Self Assessment.

Like National Insurance, levy contributions will apply UK-wide, people will pay the same in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

From 2023-24, levy contributions will need to appear as a separate item on payslips. Where possible a generic message should be included on payslips for the next tax year (2022-23). More information on payslip requirements will be available in due course.

The government will also increase by 1.25% from April 2022 the rate of income tax which is paid by people who receive dividend income from shares.

Further information on the governments plan for Health and Social care can be found here.


 Tuesday 13 October 2020

Defer your Self Assessment payment on account due to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Check what you need to do after 31 July 2020 if you chose to defer your second payment on account for the 2019 to 2020 tax year.

You had the option to defer your second payment on account if you were:

  • registered in the UK for Self Assessment and
  • finding it difficult to make that payment by 31 July 2020 due to the impact of Coronavirus

You can still pay your deferred July 2020 payment on account any time up to 31 January 2021. There’ll be no interest or penalty as long as you pay in full by that date.

More details can be found here.


 Monday 5 October 2020

Self Assessment customers to benefit from enhanced payment plans

HMRC has increased the threshold for paying tax liabilities to £30,000 for Self Assessment customers to help ease any potential financial burden they may be experiencing due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Customers who wish to set up their own self-serve Time to Pay arrangements must meet the following requirements:

  • they need to have no:
    • outstanding tax returns
    • other tax debts
    • other HMRC payment plans set up
  • the debt needs to be between £32 and £30,000
  • the payment plan needs to be set up no later than 60 days after the due date of a debt

Customers using self-serve Time to Pay will be required to pay any interest on the tax owed. Interest will be applied to any outstanding balance from 1 February 2021.

Be aware of scams claiming to be from HMRC, offering to help you set up payment plans to pay any tax owed.

These scams are trying to harvest your details to steal your money. Check GOV.UK for information on how to recognise genuine HMRC contact.

Self Assessment customers can set up their own online payment plan to help spread the cost of their tax bill. Further details can be found here.

However, it must be appreciated that this is a measure to assist those suffering financial hardship due to the Coronavirus pandemic. HMRC expect taxpayers who have not suffered financial hardship and have sufficient funds available to make their payments on time.


 Wednesday 30 September 2020

Tax payment due 31 January 2021 – Time to Pay arrangements (updated)

During the Chancellor’s ‘Winter Economy Plan’ discussed last Thursday, Rishi Sunak announced that further measures would be put into place to help those who are unable to make the 2019/20 Self-Assessment tax payment deadline by 31 January 2021.

Specifically, taxpayers with liabilities of up to £30,000 can make use of HMRCs 'self-serve time to pay' facility to secure a payment plan over an additional 12 months. This means that liabilities ordinarily due by 31 January 2021 can be deferred up until 31 January 2022. This also means that payments due by 31 July 2020 that were previously deferred until 31 January 2021 can be further deferred up to 31 January 2022.

The self-serve time to pay scheme will be available through HMRCs website and eligible taxpayers will receive automatic and immediate approval.

HMRCs normal time to pay self-assessment helpline (details can be found here) is still available to taxpayers unable to use the online service, whose debts exceed £30,000 or require more than a year to repay their tax debts.

However, it must be appreciated that this is a measure to assist those suffering financial hardship due to the Coronavirus pandemic. HMRC expect taxpayers who have not suffered financial hardship and have sufficient funds available to make their payments on time.


 Friday 25 September 2020

Self Assessment Taxpayers – Time to Pay Extension

Approximately 11 million self assessment taxpayers will be able to benefit from a separate additional 12-month extension from HMRC on the “Time to Pay” self-service facility, meaning payments deferred from July 2020, and those due in January 2021, will now not need to be paid until January 2022.

However, it must be appreciated that this is a measure to assist those suffering financial hardship due to the Coronavirus pandemic. HMRC expect taxpayers who have not suffered financial hardship and have sufficient funds available to make the payment on time.

Further guidance will be issued in due course. See: Winter Economy Plan


WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020

Changes to Property Taxes in the United Kingdom

During the recent Economic Update, the Chancellor announced changes to Property Taxes which will affect purchasers of residential property. Further information on these changes were detailed in our July newsletter. The 2020/21 tax rate card has been updated to reflect these changes. Please download your copy below.

Tax Rates 2020/21

 TUESDAY 14 JULY 2020

Summer Economic Update

On 8th July, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak made a speech entitled “Summer Economic Update” where he unveiled further Government supports and he unveiled the Government’s plan for jobs which he described as the “Second phase in the Government’s economic response to the crisis.” 

Please see our July e-news for the highlights on the following announcements:

  • Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Job Retention Bonus
  • Kickstart Scheme and Measures to Help People Find Work
  • Value Added Tax Reduced Rate for Hospitality and Tourism Sectors
  • Eat Out To Help Out Scheme
  • Stamp Duty Land Tax Holiday
  • Residential Rates on Purchases from 8 July 2020 to 31 March 2021

Reporting of Capital Gains on UK Property – the Practicalities

The change in reporting requirements for the sale of UK residential property by UK residents from 6 April 2020 requires the taxpayer, or their agent, to report the gain to HMRC online within 30 days of the completion of the property sale. A payment of the capital gains tax is also required within this 30 day window.

For non-UK residents the requirement to report within 30 days is the same but the reporting is for all UK property sales, not just residential, and a report is required even if there is no capital gains tax payable.

The reporting can be done by the taxpayer or their accountant, on their behalf. Either way it is necessary for the taxpayer to use their Government Gateway account to report the gain or to authorise their accountant to report the gain on their behalf. Therefore if a Government Gateway account does not exist for that taxpayer it is important to create one online; ideally in advance of the completion of the sale of the property so there is sufficient time for us as accountants, if requested, to be authorised to report on behalf of clients.

For further information please get in touch with your usual Humphrey & Co contact.

Please note the late filing penalty for late submission of property reporting to HMRC since 6 April was waived for all transaction up to 30 June due to Coronavirus. Therefore from 1 July all such property disposals must be reported within 30 days to avoid a late filing penalty.


MONDAY 29 JUNE 2020

Tax payments due 31 July 2020 – do you really need to defer? - Additional text in bold below

In response to the Coronavirus outbreak, HMRC announced that taxpayers required to make a second payment on account towards their 2019/20 income tax liability by 31 July 2020 can defer their payment until 31 January 2021. The deferral is automatic, so there is no need to inform HMRC and no interest or penalties will be charged during the deferral period.

However, it must be appreciated that this is a measure to assist those suffering financial hardship due to the Coronavirus pandemic. HMRC expect taxpayers who have not suffered financial hardship and have sufficient funds available to make the payment on time and this remains the case despite the fact that the statements they are currently issuing show a due date of 31 January 2021 for the second payment on account.


Thursday 18 June 2020

Tax payments due 31 July 2020 – do you really need to defer?

In response to the Coronavirus outbreak, HMRC announced that taxpayers required to make a second payment on account towards their 2019/20 income tax liability by 31 July 2020 can defer their payment until 31 January 2021. The deferral is automatic, so there is no need to inform HMRC and no interest or penalties will be charged during the deferral period.

However, it must be appreciated that this is a measure to assist those suffering financial hardship due to the Coronavirus pandemic. HMRC expect taxpayers who have not suffered financial hardship and have sufficient funds available to make the payment on time.


Thursday 4 June 2020

How to Treat Certain Expenses and Benefits Provided to Employees during Coronavirus (Covid-19)

To find out about taxable expenses and benefits when they are paid to employees because of Coronavirus and how to report them to HMRC please click here.

This guidance is about Income Tax treatment only. National Insurance contributions treatment may vary depending on the individual benefit or expense.

Please talk to us if you need clarification in any of these areas.


Wednesday 15 April 2020

Genuine HMRC contact and recognising phishing emails and texts

Please beware of emails and messages pertaining to be from HMRC. Take extra caution at this time and do not click on links or share personal details. Please talk to us if you want to confirm whether any correspondence is genuine. Find out how to recognise when contact from HMRC is genuine, and how to recognise phishing or bogus emails and text messages by clicking here.


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