You made it and filed your self-assessment return for 2018/19 by the 31 January 2020. However, having felt pleased with yourself, you realise to your horror that you have made a mistake and need to correct your return. Can you do this and if so, how and by when? Yes, you can If you have…
Incidental overnight expenses
A tax exemption enables an employer to meet small personal expenses when an employee stays away from home for work, without the employee suffering a tax charge and without any need to report the expenses to HMRC. What are incidental overnight expenses? Incidental overnight expenses are personal (i.e. non-business) expenses incurred when an employee travels…
Making the most of pension tax allowances
Pension savings can be tax efficient as contributions to registered pension schemes, attracting tax relief up to certain limits. Limit on tax relief Tax relief is available on private pension contributions to the greater of 100% of earnings and £3,600. This is subject to the annual allowance cap. Tax relief may be given automatically where…
Trivial benefit traps – Contractual obligations
The trivial benefits exemption allows employers to provide employees with low cost benefits free of tax and National Insurance and any reporting obligations. For the purposes of the exemption, a benefit is trivial if the cost per head is not more than £50. Where trivial benefits are provided to an officer of a close company…
Reporting low emission vehicles – Changes from April 2020
From 6 April 2020, new appropriate percentage bands – and new lower charges for low emissions cars – will apply for company car tax purposes. From the same date, the way in which carbon dioxide emissions are measured is also changing. This means that in order to find the correct appropriate percentage for working out…
Properties not let at a commercial rent
There may be a number of reasons why a property is occupied rent-free or let out at rent that is less than the commercial rate. This may often occur where the property is occupied by a family member in order to provide that person with a cheap home. For example, a parent may purchase a…
Freeagent Bronze Partner Status
Check out our shiny new badge! Proud to be working through the ranks of the partner program with the UK’s voted #1 accounting software for freelancers and small businesses. As a client of Gold Stag Accounts, you can get up and running with FreeAgent in no time and will even receive the software at a…
Allowable finance costs
Although the way in which landlords obtain relief for finance costs on residential properties is changing, there is no change to the type finance costs that are eligible for relief. What qualifies for relief The basic rule is that relief is available for expenses that are incurred wholly or exclusively for the purposes of the…
Legal and professional fees – Capital or revenue?
At some point, a landlord is likely to incur legal and professional fees in connection with the running of their property rental business. It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming that these costs can be computed in calculating taxable profits if they are incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the…
Recording directors’ expenses correctly
It is only permissible for a company to deduct expenditure in computing its taxable profits if incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. Since a company is a separate legal entity that stands apart from its directors and shareholders, it will not incur personal expenses. However, many companies, particularly ‘close’ companies (broadly…