HMRC is chasing taxpayers who have submitted tax returns for 2021/22 containing unresolved provisional figures, while also extolling the benefits of filing early for 2022/23. What are provisional figures? A provisional figure is not the…
Behind the numbers on income tax
New income tax statistics from HMRC appear to be good news, but the numbers are not what they seem. Taxpayer’s marginal rate Basic Rate Higher Rate Additional Rate 2020/21 Average tax rate 9.5% 21.8% 38.3%…
Abolishing the pensions lifetime allowance
Although the lifetime allowance was effectively abolished from April 2023 as the lifetime allowance charge was removed, it has been retained on statute for a year to allow time for the intricacies to be ironed…
Inheritance Tax: Intestacy entitlement increased
If an English or Welsh domiciled person dies without leaving a will, the amount that a surviving spouse or civil partner can inherit as a statutory legacy under the intestacy rules has – from 26…
Agri-tax reliefs set for restrictions
Draft legislation has been published that will, from 6 April 2024, restrict the geographical scope of agricultural relief and woodlands relief to property in the UK. Currently, property can qualify for either agricultural relief or…
New PAYE process for High Income Child Benefit Charge
One of the many criticisms aimed at the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is that anyone caught by the charge needs to submit a self-assessment tax return even if all of their tax is…
Take Two on Wealth tax…………
Hard on the heels of May's Sunday Times Rich List, will new proposals for a wealth tax gain any traction? In 2020, a group of economic research bodies set up the Wealth Tax Commission to…
Tax gap at all-time low
The tax gap is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. For 2021/22, the gap was at an all-time low of 4.8%…
Businesses failing to pay minimum wage
Just over 200 businesses – including some of the country’s best-known retailers – have failed to pay the minimum wage and will have to repay workers and face penalties of up to £7 million. The…
HMRC offers options on undeclared wealth
HMRC is offering taxpayers named in the leaked Pandora Papers a chance to correct their tax affairs. The October 2021 leak involved almost 12 million documents revealing hidden wealth and tax avoidance. The papers revealed…