The Tax-Free Childcare scheme, recently launched by the government, will top up the amount eligible parents spend on childcare by 25% to a maximum contribution of £2000 per child. Who is eligible? The Tax-Free Childcare scheme should benefit many self-employed parents as well as employees who do not… read more
Whether it be online shopping, gaming, advertising or socialising everything we now do is made “simpler” by the digital world and even HMRC are on board, with their plans to make tax digital. By 2020 HMRC plan to move to a full digital tax system, which they tell… read more
As the Chancellor stood up to deliver his ‘budget for the long term’ he announced that the British economy is ‘fit for the future’ but he didn’t deliver as many changes as many expected. Prior to the budget there had been announcements that the expected proposals to reform… read more
In February I blogged about some of the major changes to tax legislation which are going to affect those letting residential property in the next few years, including restriction of tax relief on interest, an increase in stamp duty and the requirement to report and pay CGT on… read more
Interest relief on mortgages for buy to let properties Over three years from April 2017 the way landlords receive tax relief on their mortgage or loan interest will change. Landlords will no longer be able to deduct their mortgage interest relief from rental income before calculating their tax… read more
Chancellor George Osbourne delivered the first purely Conservative government budget in more than 18 years today aimed at encouraging work and discouraging those who wish to live on benefits or avoid tax. Welfare reforms announced should save £12 billion by 2019/20 including a reduction in the benefits cap… read more
The bible tells us that Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be registered as part of a census. Caesar Augustus ordered that everyone be registered so that so he could ensure that he maximised his tax revenues. This coupled with the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh… read more
The Chancellor appeared very pleased with himself as he announced that this government’s long term economic plans have delivered stability and security during tough economic times and as a result the UK has grown faster than any other economy in the G7. Promises to back business and enterprise,… read more
When I commenced my training as a Chartered Accountant back in 1993 one of the first principles that I was taught was that for an item of expenditure to be allowable as a deduction when calculating the tax liability arising in relation to employment income it must be… read more
On Budget day in March this year the Chancellor announced controversial plans to give HMRC new powers to recover debts directly from taxpayers’ bank accounts. HMRC, the government body that has previously lost discs containing millions of tax payers’ information, regularly manages to mislay post and has issued… read more