Are You Winding Me Up?
When HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) encounters an arrangement that it regards as tax avoidance (or ‘unacceptable’ tax planning), the government will often seek to block it by introducing targeted anti-avoidance legislation. Rising from the ashes? For example, a targeted anti-avoidance rule (TAAR) was introduced (in Finance Act 2016) to prevent ‘phoenixism’. In very broad […]
Property Rental Expenses: Your Guess Is As Good As Mine!
Keeping full and proper records of property rental business expenses is an important task for landlords. For example, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) could seek to disallow such expenses if there is insufficient evidence that the expenditure has been incurred, and may impose penalties for record keeping failures. Property rental business owners are subject to […]
Director’s Tax Returns: Don’t Believe Everything You Read!
The majority of owner-managed or family company directors receive a notice to file a tax return from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) each year. Most of those directors will regularly extract profits from the company (e.g. as salary and/or dividends). However, in some cases a director may not have received anything from the company, and […]
Director’s Loan Accounts: No Turning Back!
Many company owners have director’s loan accounts (DLAs), and generally understand how they operate. However, there are pitfalls for the unwary. These can sometimes result in tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) liabilities for the company and/or themselves. For example, an overdrawn DLA can give rise to a tax charge for a closely-controlled company under […]
Company Tax Relief For Shares – A ‘Hidden’ Gem!
Share transactions invariably have tax consequences. For example, when an individual subscribes for shares in their employer company for less than market value, it is generally necessary to consider the income tax (and possibly National Insurance contributions) implications of the share acquisition. A pleasant surprise? However, it is sometimes overlooked that the employer company can […]
Company Tax Relief For Shares – A ‘Hidden’ Gem!
Share transactions invariably have tax consequences. For example, when an individual subscribes for shares in their employer company for less than market value, it is generally necessary to consider the income tax (and possibly National Insurance contributions) implications of the share acquisition. A pleasant surprise? However, it is sometimes overlooked that the employer company can […]
Loans To Traders: They Think It’s All Over…
An individual who makes a loan to a company they own will probably expect to obtain tax relief if the loan subsequently has to be written off. Capital gains tax relief on the loan write-off is potentially available if certain conditions are satisfied. One such condition is that the loan has become irrecoverable. This might […]
Share Disposals And Anti-Avoidance – Decisions, Decisions!
When an individual shareholder sells shares in a ‘close’ family or owner-managed trading company, he or she will probably expect the proceeds to be treated as a capital receipt. If the individual is liable to capital gains tax (CGT) on the share sale, in many cases the tax rate will be 20% (for 2018/19), although […]