The allowance gives relief from Employer NIC up to £2,000 rising to £3,000 from April, and can be claimed at the start of the tax year.

However....

This allowance will not be available to to employers if they,

• Employ someone for household work ie Nanny, gardener, cleaner
• Already claim the allowance through a connect company or charity
• Are a public authority such as a council
• Carry out functions either wholly or mainly of a public nature such as NHS Services, debt collection for a government department, GP . This doesn't include supplying IT services, providing security or cleaning for a government building. 

Further restriction for one director only companies...

The July Budget (and again in consultation in January 2016) announced that from 2016, employers who are director only companies will be excluded from claiming the employers allowance.

If you are a one director company and wish to take on a member of staff, they must be paid over £8,060 in order to claim the allowance.

For further information on any topics covered in our blogs, or if you would like to speak to us about our pro-active Accountancy & Tax Services, contact Brian or Caroline on 0845 303 1144 for a chat or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk. 

Cooper Curtis Accountants have offices in Warwick, Birmingham and Manchester. 

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Please note, all our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published.

With the Budget taking place yesterday, there were a number of significant changes announced and confirmed coming in from April....

Some of these were expected, such as the Travel and Subsistence tax relief restriction for those employed via an employment intermediary. We expect the re-percussion of this will be a skills shortage for workers unwilling to travel. 

A surprising announcement was a drop in capital gains tax to 10% and 20%. This is the chancellor's move to encourage enterprise investments. But, this does not apply to residential properties or carried interest, which remain at the 18% & 28% tax rates. 

We knew the new dividend tax regime from April was going ahead so this comes as no surprise. We have been busy reviewing our clients' records over the past few weeks to seek out any tax saving opportunities. 

Read our Guide to the Budget Summary here

If you have any concerns about any of the announcements made in the recent Budget and would like a confidential chat to an advisor, please call 0845 303 1144 now or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk 

If you're thinking of making a large personal pension contribution before the end of the year, you can take advantage of the pension carry forward rules in order to benefit from any unused allowances from the previous three tax years. 

This is generally the difference between the old £50,000 annual pension allowance and your pension input that year and can be added to your relief for 2015/16. 

Note that the annual pension allowance is £40,000 for 2015/16 and 2016/17.

To avoid losing pension relief brought forward from 2012/13 which lapses 5 April 2016, why not consider making an additional pension payment before 5 April 2016? If your pension input was £24,000 in 2012/13 then there is £26,000 unused relief available to add to your 2015/16 allowance. You would need to make gross pension contributions of at least £66,000 (£40,000 plus £26,000) to avoid losing this relief.

If you have income over £150,000 your annual pension allowance will be reduced by £1 for every £2 over £150,000.

For further information on any topics covered in our blogs, or if you would like to speak to us about our pro-active Accountancy & Tax services, contact Brian or Caroline on 0845 303 1144 for a chat or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk. 

Cooper Curtis Accountants have offices in Warwickshire, Birmingham and Manchester. 

Knowledge - Support - Succeed

Please note, all our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published.

If you are a landlord, then you're probably aware of the forthcoming changes to allowable expenses. 

Now is the time to be considering your options. 

In our latest blog, we outline these changes and offer some food for thought. 

Say farewell to your generous Loan Interest deduction.... 

Large property portfolio with high levels of interest on borrowings? This will affect you. 

You can still have 100% deduction of loan interest on a mortgage for 2016/17, however from 2017 it will be phased out as follows....

2016/17      100% deduction

2017/18       80% deduction

2018/19       60% deduction

2019/20     40% deduction

2020/21     20% deduction

2021/22       0% deduction

You could consider....

1.   Full incorporation - by moving properties and loans into a company.

2.  Pay down your borrowings.

3.  Sell up!

 

Is there any good news...?

Wear & Tear Allowance...  

The 10% deduction which was allowed against total rent income is being abolished.

Landlords will now be able to claim a deduction as and when they spend money on the property. 

Tax Point....!

Why not consider delaying any property expense until April 2016 to get the full deduction! 

Rent-a-room relief

Thinking about de-cluttering that spare room? Why not let it out and take on a lodger....or even start a small B&B in your own home? You can have tax free rent of £7,500 per year from April 2016.....! 

Do you have a large property portfolio and unsure what to make of these changes?

We can advise you on the best course of action to take. 

For further information on any topics covered in our blogs, or if you would like to speak to us about our pro-active Accountancy & Tax services, contact Brian or Caroline on 0845 303 1144 for a chat or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk. 

Cooper Curtis Accountants have offices in Warwickshire, Birmingham and Manchester. 

Knowledge - Support - Succeed

Please note, all our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published.

 

HMRC have confirmed that all dispensations agreed until 5 April 2016 will not apply after this date and there will be no requirement to report business expenses on a form P11D.

In the current year, employers can request a dispensation from HMRC to cover all genuine business expenses such as travel, business entertainment, and company car fuel avoiding the requirement to declare these on a P11D.

These changes will ease the burden of employers from the strict July deadline and hefty penalties issued for non-compliance.

We would recommend that you continue to have a system in place for checking that all claims made as a deduction are valid business expenses. 

All other non-allowable expenses and benefits in kind will be subject to tax and National Insurance as normal and continue to be reported on a form P11D. Any expenses or benefits provided under salary sacrifice arrangement will need to be paid after deducting tax and National Insurance. 

For more information on the above or advice on getting better controls in place for your business please call Cooper Curtis Accountants on 0845 303 1144.

Cooper Curtis is different in that they specialise in growing successful recruitment businesses through their Accounting Advisory service.

Contact Brian or Caroline on 0845 303 1144 for a chat to see how we can help you raise your game. 

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Please note, all our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published. 

From 1 April 2016 employees that are 25 years old and over are legally entitled to receive a'National Living wage' of £7.20 per hour, seeing a 50p increase. 

This new minimum pay rate is set to support the government’s vision of a 'higher wage, lower welfare, lower tax society.'

Those employers that don't comply will risk being named and shamed and tough penalties of up to 200% of arrears and a maximum of £20,000 per worker. 

We would recommend you take action before this date and review whether or not you should be making any changes to your payroll. Make sure you also inform your employees of any changes in pay. 

Other changes from April 2016

The personal allowance is set to increase to £11,000 from April removing more lower paid workers out of the tax bracket. 

For employees under 25, the 'National Minimum Wage' will still apply, the rates will be rising to; 

• £6.70 for 21s and over
• £5.30 for 18 to 20-year-olds
• £3.87 for under 18s
• £3.30 for apprentices (the rate applies to all apprentices in year 1 of an apprenticeship, and 16-18 year old apprentices in any year of an apprenticeship)

For further information on any topics covered in our blogs, or if you would like to speak to us about our pro-active Accountancy & Tax services, contact Brian or Caroline on 0845 303 1144 for a chat or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk. 

Cooper Curtis Accountants have offices in Warwickshire, Birmingham and Manchester. 

Knowledge - Support - Succeed

Please note, all our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published.