Spring 2018

Our lead article on Paying Dividends is of particular relevance to corporate clients, and covers the correct procedure to be followed when making dividend payments. Highlighting some common errors, the article offers guidance on best practice, and how best to avoid challenge from HMRC. Read more

Dividend payment is a primary vehicle to extract cash from owner-managed businesses, but it’s an area coming increasingly under HMRC’s spotlight. Mistakes in procedure can have expensive tax consequences – so how do you get it right? Read more

The government has announced that plans to abolish Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NIC) are being put off for 12 months. Read more

Back at the start of the last football season, one leading tax body put out the call for amateur sports clubs to think of the cheering fans as their 12th man – and the tax rules as their 13th. Read more

Inheritance Tax (IHT) is charged at 40% and may be due from an estate when someone dies, unless the estate is left to a spouse or civil partner. However, there are a number of key planning points and tax reliefs to bear in mind. There is often scope to reduce significantly a taxpayer’s IHT liability, provided that appropriate and timely action is taken. Read more

The UK Budget set out an increase in the personal allowance, which rises from £11,500 in 2017/18 to £11,850 in 2018/19. The basic rate band is £33,500 in 2017/18 and £34,500 in 2018/19. So the threshold at which the 40% band applies increases from £45,000 to £46,350 for those who are entitled to the full personal allowance. For taxpayers treated as resident in Scotland, it’s a different story. Read more

In the biggest rise in National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for those under 25 for a decade, new rates apply from 1 April 2018. Read more

If you’re one of the UK’s nearly five million self-employed people, you may know how tricky it can be to get a mortgage. ‘All borrowers are jumping through more hoops than ever, but the self-employed will have to leap far higher,’ said a spokesperson at analyst, Moneyfacts. Read more

‘Tax is changing in Wales’, advise HMRC: and indeed it is. From April, the Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales take on responsibility for some taxes paid in Wales, and property acquisition is one major area of change.

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Adjusting to life after the death of a spouse is not easy especially when you suddenly find yourself responsible for Tax affairs. Of the many things to consider we look at ISAs and the Marriage Allowance. Read more

Uber, TaskRabbit, Deliveroo – names fast becoming familiar that would have been complete unknowns only a few years ago. The world of work is changing. Read more