Author: Emily Wilson

Savings income and the rise in higher rate taxpayers

Bank of England base rate increases, coupled with higher savings rates and frozen tax thresholds, are seeing more people pushed into the higher rate taxpayer category, or paying more tax on savings income. Tax-efficient investments could mitigate this burden. National […]

Inheritance tax penalties soar

The value of inheritance tax (IHT) penalties to government receipts has increased by more than half over the past two years, with higher property values and the frozen IHT nil rate band pushing more estates into the IHT net. Increase […]

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 collected under PAYE. However, this […]

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 out. Draft legislation, to take […]

Wealth tax, take two?

Hard on the heels of the 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 examine the options for a […]

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% (or £35.8 billion), although in […]

Attention self-employed: get ready for a longer tax year. 

The government has changed the taxation system for self-employed individuals and partners in partnerships, requiring them to pay tax on their trading profits earned during the tax year instead of the accounting year.  The tax year 2023/24 will act as […]

Cash basis reform: potential turnover threshold changes

With basis period reform now underway, HMRC is looking at further tax simplification for sole traders and partnerships by increasing the cash basis turnover threshold. The cash basis scheme removes complexities such as accruals and most capital allowances. The cash […]

Demise of paper tax returns

More than 12 million taxpayers file self-assessment tax returns, but less than 3% do so using a paper return. Given this low demand, HMRC is reviewing the current paper filing service. HMRC stopped sending out paper tax returns three years […]

The Budget Surprise: changes to the pension tax rules

New measures affecting pension allowances announced in the March Budget could mean your retirement planning strategy needs to be reviewed. If Jeremy Hunt did produce a ‘rabbit-out-the-hat’ in his Spring Budget, it was the announcement of the effective abolition of […]

ammu hubs