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…
Let’s talk about the National insurance gap extension
The normal time limit for a person to fill gaps in their national insurance (NI) record is six years, but transitional arrangements allow gaps to be filled back to 2006/07. The deadline for making such…
Action to counter increase in UK wide fraudulent activity
The government has announced a new initiative to counter fraudulent activity, particularly in the financial sector. You might not be surprised to learn that fraud is now the most common crime in England and Wales,…
Tax and your home solar panel system
With continuing high electricity prices, now could be a very good time to install solar panels at your property. Unless a solar battery is part of the system, it makes sense to sell excess electricity…
Increase in number of estates paying IHT
The combination of a frozen inheritance tax (IHT) nil rate band and considerably higher property values has pushed more estates into the IHT net. The average IHT bill is now nearly £62,000, with much larger…
Self-assessment threshold rises from 2023/24
There is a long list of reasons why it is necessary to complete a self-assessment tax return, but PAYE taxpayers are generally exempt from the requirement. Previously, exemption was subject to a £100,000 income ceiling,…