No trading company – No problem?
Many company owners hope to claim business asset disposal relief (BADR) (formerly known as entrepreneurs’ relief) on an eventual sale of their shares, to benefit from the special capital gains tax rate of only 10%. The small print In most cases, the BADR provisions on a share disposal require that certain conditions are satisfied for […]
Are capital gains tax rates about to increase?
Simply put, capital gains tax (“CGT”) is paid when an asset, other than your main residence, is sold at a profit. Currently there are four rates of CGT being 18% and 28% on UK residential property and 10% and 20% on all other assets (the rates depending on whether the taxpayer pays basic or higher […]
Incorporating a buy-to-let property LLP into a company
A limited liability partnership (LLP) is treated like an ‘ordinary’ partnership in many respects. However, an important distinction arises where a business incorporates into a company. Separate legal entities Like a company, an LLP is a separate legal entity. When (for example) a business carried on by an ordinary partnership of individuals is incorporated into […]
Selling your company? How dare you!
A targeted anti-avoidance rule (TAAR) was introduced (from 6 April 2016) to prevent ‘phoenixism’. In broad terms, this practice involves company owners winding up their ‘old’ companies and extracting profit reserves as capital (instead of income) and repeating the exercise in one or more successive businesses. The effect of the TAAR applying is that an […]
Sale of goodwill: income or capital?
It is common in many occupations and professions (e.g. law, medicine) for individuals to be engaged as self-employed consultants. Some consultants will build up their own practices before eventually selling them. From a tax perspective, the question arises how the practice disposal proceeds should be treated. For example, is it an income or capital receipt? […]
It’s the quality not the quantity!
A change in personal circumstances can have tax implications, such as affecting the availability of capital gains tax principal private residence (PPR) relief. For example, a house might be occupied for only a short time before sale, due to a change of plans following a relationship breakdown. ‘Safe’ occupation? A common question asked by house […]
Say it with…tax breaks
Some professions could be described as ‘sexy’. Unfortunately, tax is not one of them. It would also require a monumental stretch of the imagination to describe tax as ‘romantic’. However, romance can be found in the tax legislation; or to be more precise, tax can be used to fuel romance in a relationship. Of course, […]
Claiming private residence relief: A sting in the tail?
The concept of capital gains tax (CGT) relief on the disposal of an individual’s home is straightforward enough. However, in practice errors by taxpayers (and agents) in private residence relief claims are seemingly common. In its ‘Capital Gains Tax for Land and Buildings Toolkit’ (tinyurl.com/HMRC-L-B-Toolkit), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) describes the omission of chargeable […]
Loans to traders: There’s no guarantee!
The number of capital loss relief claims made in respect of irrecoverable loans to businesses and guarantee payments has seemingly increased significantly since the commencement of the financial crash in 2007/08. Does it qualify? The conditions for claiming capital loss relief on loans to traders are relatively well known. For example, the relief applies to […]