Autumn Budget - Duty Changes
Tobacco duty increases confirmed
The rates for duty for all tobacco products increased by inflation plus 2% from 6pm, 29 October 2018.
Autumn Budget - Housing
Rent-a-room relief change cancelled
The expected change to require shared occupancy to qualify for rent-a-room relief is not to be introduced.
Autumn Budget - Personal Tax and Miscellaneous
Personal Tax allowance
The personal Income Tax allowance for 2019-20 will be increased to £12,500 (2018-19 £11,850). It will remain at this increased level for two years.
Tax diary October/November 2018
1 October 2018 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 December 2017.
Passport issues if a “no-deal” Brexit
Guidance on the use of a British passport to travel abroad after 29 March 2019, if there is a “no-deal” Brexit, was issued by government last month. The pertinent facts are reproduced below:
What is a reasonable excuse?
HMRC is still required to obtain certain returns from you even if there is no income or tax to declare. Failure to submit will likely trigger late filing penalties and unfortunately, pleading ignorance of your obligations to file “nil” returns is not a reasonable excuse.
Invoice discounting with larger customers
Suppliers who sell goods and services to larger concerns often find that the terms of their supply, limits or bans the process of factoring the debts to release funds into cash flow.
About turn, you can use spreadsheets
HMRC has about-faced regarding the ban on using spreadsheets to work out your VAT return data from 1 April 2019, when the new requirement to file VAT returns using Making Tax Digital (MTD) format is introduced.
Tax Diary September/October 2018
1 September 2018 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 November 2017.
Grants Available for Food Producers and Suppliers
Up to £20 million is being made available to increase productivity and sustainability in crop and ruminant agriculture systems through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Buy-to-let Mortgages
The gradual restriction of tax relief for buy-to-let mortgage interest has received much publicity since the process commenced 5 April 2017. From that date, tax relief is converted from a straight forward deduction against business profits into a basic rate tax deduction.
What is Side-Ways Loss Relief?
If a business owner makes a loss as a self-employed person, they can set off the losses against any other earnings of the same year. In effect, the business losses are moved side-ways against other earnings.