Introduction The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Shona Robison, faced some difficult decisions in drawing up her first Budget. Inflation had taken its toll on spending, to which had been added new commitments such as a promised […]
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Scottish Budget: Economic Update
The Scottish Budget arrived against a backdrop of mixed UK economic news in the previous week: · On the Thursday the Bank of England had announced its third consecutive interest rate freeze. The day before the US Federal Reserve had […]
Planning for directors and employees
Bringing forward income could be a sensible approach if you are not currently an additional rate taxpayer but expect to become one next year. You could consider a similar strategy to keep your income below the level at which you […]
Income tax saving opportunities
Switching income from one spouse or partner to the other can help save tax. Everyone should make sure they use their personal allowance (a maximum of £12,570 in 2023/24, and frozen at this level until 2027/28). For couples, if either […]
Autumn Statement – 22 November 2023
Introduction Jeremy Hunt’s second Autumn Statement was set against a much less financially turbulent background than his first. However, politics still loomed large with a likely election in the next 12 months prompting calls for tax cuts from within the […]
economic update
overview The economic backdrop to the Autumn Statement was not as bad as might have been expected from a reading of the March 2023 projections by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In the spring, the OBR’s first Economic and […]
Autumn Statement: Income Tax and National Insurance
INCOME TAX Main personal allowances and reliefs 2024/25 2023/24 Personal allowance* £12,570 £12,570 Marriage/civil partner’s transferable allowance £1,260 £1,260 Married couple’s/civil partner’s allowance at 10%† – maximum(if at least one born before 6/4/35) – minimum £11,080 £10,375 £4,280 £4,010 Blind […]
Autumn Statement: Business Taxes
Capital allowances: full expensing Full expensing, which was originally due to expire on 31 March 2026, is to be made permanent. This allows companies incurring qualifying expenditure on the provision of new plant and machinery to claim a 100% first-year […]
Autumn Statement – Personal Tax
Income tax The personal allowance will remain at £12,570 for 2024/25 and the higher rate threshold will stay at £50,270, both levels that first took effect in 2021/22. The blind person’s allowance will be increased to £3,070 for 2024/25. In […]
Is the cash basis right for you?
Ten years ago, HMRC introduced the cash basis accounts preparation system for the self-employed to calculate their trading profits. It’s voluntary, but take-up remains low, so HMRC plans to expand its availability. Why might businesses prefer traditional accruals basis over […]
Making the dividend or bonus decision
The end of the tax year is drawing near and many owner-directors of companies are putting their minds to deciding which is more tax-efficient: a bonus or a dividend. Tax laws and rates that will affect your decision have changed […]
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 […]
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