Articles in "Tax"

When the cross-party Treasury Committee made a series of recommendations to Government in March 2021, there were specific suggestions, some of which were introduced in the spring Budget, but also a more general plea for a clear tax strategy.

Capital gains tax (CGT) affects lots of key, often pressured, circumstances for individuals – selling your home, getting divorced, running or investing in a business, or developing a small piece of land. Despite this, many people don’t realise how the tax works, or how to report and calculate any tax that’s due.

Since 1 April, companies have been able to take advantage of the temporary increase to capital allowances for corporate expenditure which was announced in the Spring Budget to encourage businesses to invest, thus boosting the economy. Given that the hospitality and leisure industry has been hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis, relief of £130 for every £100 spent sounded as good as the ‘super-deduction’ title implies, but businesses still need to think about the implications before either assuming their expenditure will qualify or committing to new expensive purchases.

It may feel like an alien world, full of complicated jargon and unseen digital transactions, but HMRC has been considering how cryptoassets should be taxed for years and have recently pulled together all their existing guidance into a new Manual. There isn’t any new legislation to go with it because they consider that existing rules cover this new way of trying to make money – many would disagree but how do you know what to do about your tax in the meantime?

The government issued a consultation paper at the end of April proposing a new ten-year tax on property developers which will help cover the cost of the cladding remediation work required following the Grenfell disaster. However, the targeting at all developers, not just those who may have affected properties and the £25 million definition of large, may not be far out of reach.

While changes to capital tax on business disposal was hot on the press agenda before the Budget, there were no changes announced to the current rates of capital gains tax in the Budget for 2021.

The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) has stated that the recent changes to the rules relating to off-payroll workers, commonly known as IR35, 'undermine the self-employed at the worst possible time'.

Employees who are working from home will need to make new claims for tax relief for the 2021/22 tax year, HMRC has stated.