Bennetts Accountancy Mansfield

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Gifts paid out of disposable income

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It is possible for wealthier taxpayers to make tax exempt gifts and payments that are funded as normal expenditure out of income. This is a very flexible exemption from IHT as there are no specific requirements, for example by making fixed regular gifts to the same person. With proper planning this can be a very useful tool including enabling grandparents to help pay school fees for their grandchildren.

However, careful consideration has to be given to ensure that these payments form part of the transferor’s normal expenditure and is made out of income and not out of capital. The person gifting the money must also ensure that they are left with enough money for them to maintain their normal standard of living out of their regular income after making the gift.

HMRC’s internal manual states that although the normal expenditure gifts must have left the transferor with ‘sufficient income’ to maintain their usual standard of living, they do not need to have actually used this for living expenses. The transferor may in fact choose to use capital to meet their living expenses and use the income remaining, after making the gifts, for some other purpose. It is enough, for the exemption to apply, that the income was enough to meet both the normal expenditure gifts and the usual living expenses.

If the income that is left after making the gifts is not enough to meet the usual living expenses, the exemption is not available in full, but part of the gifts may still qualify for the exemption.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 14-11-2022

Private pension contributions tax relief

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Under current rules, you can claim tax relief for your private pension contributions within certain limitations.

The current annual allowance for tax relief on pension contributions is £40,000. You can also carry forward any unused amount of your annual allowance from the last three tax years if you have made pension savings in those years.

Additionally, there is a lifetime limit for tax relief on pension contributions. The limit is currently £1,073,100.

You can qualify for tax relief on private pension contributions worth up to 100% of your annual earnings, subject to the overriding limits. Tax relief is paid on pension contributions at the highest rate of Income Tax paid.

This means that if you are:

  • A basic rate taxpayer qualifies for 20% pension tax relief.
  • A higher rate taxpayer qualifies for 40% pension tax relief.
  • An additional rate taxpayer qualifies for 45% pension tax relief.

The first 20% of tax relief is usually applied by your employer with no further action required. If you are a higher rate or additional rate taxpayer, you can claim back any further reliefs on your Self-Assessment tax return.

The above applies for claiming tax relief in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. There are regional differences if you are based in Scotland.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 14-11-2022

VAT – partly exempt businesses

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A business that incurs expenditure on taxable and exempt business activities is partially exempt for VAT purposes.

This means that the business is required to make an apportionment between the activities using a 'partial exemption method' in order to calculate how much input tax is recoverable.

Businesses that make both taxable and exempt supplies must keep a separate record of exempt supplies along with details of how much VAT has been reclaimed.

There are a number of partial exemption methods available. The standard method of recovering any remaining input tax is to apply the ratio of the value of taxable supplies to total supplies, subject to the exclusion of certain items which could prove distortive. The standard method is automatically overridden where it produces a result that differs substantially from one based on the actual use of inputs. It is possible to agree a special method with HMRC.

The VAT incurred on exempt supplies can be recovered subject to two parallel de-minimis limits.

The tests are met where the total value of exempt input tax:

  1. Is under £625 a month (£1,875 a quarter/£7,500 a year); and
  2. Is less than half of the total input tax incurred.

If both tests are met the VAT can be recovered. Businesses that are partially exempt, need to complete this calculation on a quarterly and annual basis.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 14-11-2022

Declare COVID support payments received

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HMRC is reminding Self-Assessment taxpayers that they must declare COVID-19 grant and support payments in their tax return for the 2021-22 tax year.

Most COVID support scheme grants are treated as taxable income in the same way as other taxable receipts and need to be reported to HMRC. This means that if you received a taxable support payment during the 2021-22 this needs to be reported on your tax return. This applies to self-employed, partnerships and businesses.

Many of the grants fell into the previous tax year but more than 2.9 million people claimed at least one Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) payment in the 2021-22. These grants are taxable and should be declared on tax returns for the 2021-22 tax year before the deadline on 31 January 2023.

The SEISS application and payment windows during the 2021-22 tax year were:

  • SEISS 4: 22 April 2021 to 1 June 2021
  • SEISS 5: 29 July 2021 to 30 September 2021

HMRC’s guidance is clear that whether or not any tax is paid will depend on the business profits of the grant recipient (taking into account the grant and other business income and expenditure under normal tax rules), any other taxable income they may have and their personal and any other allowances to which they are entitled.

HMRC also has the power to recover payments and charge penalties where claimants have made support grant claims to which they were not entitled. There is no requirement to report COVID welfare payments made by a council such as those that were made to help with council tax payments and housing benefit.

HMRC may be able to help those who are unable to pay their tax bill in full by arranging an affordable payment plan, known as a Time to Pay arrangement. Most taxpayers can apply online to make this arrangement.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 14-11-2022

More on HMRC payment plans

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Businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time To Pay service.

An online payment plan for Self-Assessment tax bills can be used to set up instalment arrangements for paying tax liabilities up to £30,000. Taxpayers that qualify for a Time to Pay arrangement using the self-serve Time to Pay facility online, can do so without speaking to an HMRC adviser. The service will create a bespoke monthly payment plan based on how much tax is owed and the length of time needed to pay. The service was used by over 142,000 taxpayers for the 2021-22 tax year to spread the cost of over £475m in tax.

Taxpayers that want to use the online option for their 2021-22 tax return must meet the following requirements:

  • have filed their tax return for the 2021-22 tax year;
  • owe less than £30,000;
  • plan to pay their debt off within the next 12 months or less.

Taxpayers with Self-Assessment tax payments that do not meet the above requirements need to contact HMRC to request a Time To Pay arrangement. These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities.

HMRC will usually offer taxpayers the option of extra time to pay if they think they genuinely cannot pay in full now but will be able to pay in the near future. If HMRC do not think that more time will help, then they can require immediate payment of a tax bill and start enforcement action if payment is not forthcoming.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 14-11-2022

Basis of assessment changing

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Forthcoming 'basis of assessment' reforms will change the way trading income is allocated to tax years for the self-employed. The changes will affect sole traders and partnerships that use an accounting date between 6 April and 30 March. There is no change to the rule for companies.

The reforms will change the basis period from a ‘current year basis’ to a ‘tax year basis’. Under the current rules there can be overlapping basis periods, which charge tax on profits twice and generate corresponding ‘overlap relief’ which is usually given on cessation of the business. The new method of using a ‘tax year basis’ will remove the basis period rules and prevents the creation of further overlap relief.

The new rules will come into effect in the 2024-25 tax year with 2023-24 being a transitional year. During the transitional year, all businesses’ basis periods will be aligned to the tax year and all outstanding overlap relief can be used against profits for that tax year.

Affected businesses in 2023-24 will be assessed on the tax for profits for the:

  • 12-month accounting period they have previously been using; and
  • for the rest of the 2023-24 tax year — minus any overlap relief that may be due — spread over the next 5 tax years.

The changes do not affect sole traders and partnerships who already draw up annual accounts to a date between 31 March and 5 April.

Affected businesses should ensure they are prepared for the changes as there may be cashflow implications. 

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 14-11-2022

HMRC interest rate changes

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Following the recent increase in the Bank of England base rate from 2.25% to 3% HMRC has confirmed there will be changes to the rates of interest they charge.  

The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 in favour of raising interest rates by 75 basis points to 3% in a move to try and reign in upward pressures on inflation. Inflationary pressures in the United Kingdom has continued to intensify since the MPC’s previous meeting. This is the eighth time in a row that the MPC has increased interest rates.

Accordingly, the HMRC late payment interest rate applied to the main taxes and duties increases by 0.75% to 5.50%.

These changes will come into effect on:

  • 14 November 2022 for quarterly instalment payments; and
  • 22 November 2022 for non-quarterly instalments payments.

The repayment interest rates applied to the main taxes and duties that HMRC pays interest on will increase by 0.75% to 2% from 22 November 2022. The repayment rate is set at the Bank Rate minus 1%, with a 0.5% lower limit.

Source:HM Government| 07-11-2022

Claiming Corporation Tax losses

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Corporation Tax relief may be available where a company or organisation makes a trading loss. The loss may be used to claim relief from Corporation Tax by offsetting the loss against other gains or profits of the business in the same accounting period.

It is also possible to carry a trading loss back in order to claim relief from Corporation Tax by offsetting the loss against profits in previous years. Carrying back a trading loss allows companies to seek relief for the losses by carrying them back to an earlier profit-making period resulting in a reclaim of Corporation Tax.

Usually, such a claim can only be made once a Corporation Tax return has been prepared and submitted to HMRC. Losses may only be carried back against profits of a preceding accounting period if the company was carrying on the trade (in which the loss was incurred) at some time in that accounting period.

Any claim for trading losses forms part of the Company Tax Return. The trading profit or loss for Corporation Tax purposes is worked out by making the usual tax adjustments to the figure of profit or loss shown in the company’s or organisation’s financial accounts.

It is also possible for certain losses that a company has not used in the same accounting period or carried back to be offset against profits in future accounting periods.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 07-11-2022

HMRC launch offshore property owners campaign

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It has been reported by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) that HMRC is to launch a new campaign to tackle non-compliance linked to offshore corporates owning UK property. HMRC has conducted a review of non-resident corporate owners of UK property using data from the Land Registry and other sources. This review has helped HMRC identify offshore property owners that may not have fully met their UK tax obligations. 

HMRC is now expected to write to those identified, encouraging them to review their UK tax position and if necessary to make a disclosure to HMRC if any issues are identified. There are two different letters that may be sent. The first, titled ‘Disclosure for Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings/Non-Resident Landlord liabilities’ and the second titled ‘Disposal of interest in UK residential property’. Both letters also recommend that the companies should ask connected UK-resident individuals to ensure their personal tax affairs are up to date in respect of the related anti-avoidance provisions. 

There are higher penalties for offshore tax non-compliance. In certain circumstances, these penalties may be reduced. The largest reductions are for unprompted disclosures. The penalty also varies depending on whether the errors are careless, non-deliberate, deliberate or deliberate and concealed.

It should also be noted that a new Register of Overseas Entities was recently launched by Companies House. This register requires overseas entities that own land or property in the UK to declare their beneficial owners and / or managing officers. Overseas entities that already own UK property are required to register with Companies House and provide details of their registrable beneficial owners and / or managing officers by 31 January 2023. This applies to overseas entities who bought property or land on or after 1 January 1999 in England and Wales, 8 December 2014 in Scotland and on or after 1 August 2022 in Northern Ireland. 

Source:Other| 07-11-2022

Check a UK VAT number

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The ability to check a UK VAT number is available at: www.gov.uk/check-uk-vat-number.

This service allows users to check:

  • if a UK VAT registration number is valid; and
  • the name and address of the business the number is registered to.

The service also allows UK taxpayers to obtain a certificate to prove that they checked that a VAT registration number was valid at a given time and date. The certificate will provide valuable evidence for a taxpayer to prove that they acted in good faith should HMRC challenge input tax recovery or seek payment of lost VAT.

The European Commission website also includes an on-line service which allows taxpayers to check if a quoted VAT number from anywhere in the EU is valid. The on-line service is available at: https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 07-11-2022

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