Still to do your tax return?

As we welcome 2025, there are still 5.4m taxpayers who have yet to file their 2023/24 self assessment returns, compared to 5.7m who were yet to file at the start of 2024.

This year, 300,000 more people have ticked this task off their to-do list before entering the New Year, with many opting to submit their return during the Christmas break.

However, the clock is ticking for those who still need to file, as the 31 January deadline approaches. Despite the festive filers, millions remain at risk of leaving it until the last minute.

Getting ahead during Christmas 

More taxpayers wanted to get their self assessment done and dusted before heading into 2025, with many using the week during Christmas to get organised.

HMRC has reported that 40,072 tax returns were filed over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day – 14,303 more than the same period last year.

This increase can be down to Christmas Eve falling on a weekday. With many choosing work over last-minute shopping, 23,731 tax returns were filed on 24 December, compared to just 8,876 filed the previous year. More people were therefore able to enjoy the festivities without tax looming over their Christmas dinners.

On Christmas Day itself, 4,409 returns were submitted followed by 11,932 filed on Boxing Day.

A strong finish to the year 

Taxpayers clearly felt more organised this year, with New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day seeing more returns filed than the year before.

HMRC revealed that 38,000 had squeezed theirs in before the bells rang on 31 December, which was 12,407 more returns filed than last year. A total of 310 submitted their return in the nick of time, filing between 23:00 and 23:59.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA): Important Threshold Changes

The latest announcement regarding Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA) has brought significant changes to the digital tax landscape. HMRC has announced a reduction in the income threshold to £20,000, meaning more businesses and individuals will need to prepare for this transformative shift in tax reporting. Here’s everything you need to know about the changes and how to prepare your personal tax planning.

When Does Making Tax Digital Start? Understanding the Timeline

The implementation of Making Tax Digital for income tax will proceed with revised thresholds:

  • April 2026: Businesses, self-employed individuals, and landlords with annual income above £50,000
  • April 2027: Those with annual income between £20,000 and £50,000

This means significantly more taxpayers will need to prepare for digital tax reporting than initially anticipated.

Key Changes to the MTD for ITSA Programme

Revised Threshold Changes
The most significant modification is the lowered income threshold approach:

  • Initial phase: £50,000+ income threshold
  • Second phase: £20,000+ income threshold (reduced from the previously announced £30,000)

This broader scope means more businesses and individuals need to start preparing sooner.

How Will Making Tax Digital Work?

Under the new system, eligible taxpayers will need to:

  1. Keep digital records of income and expenses
  2. Use MTD-compatible software for tax reporting
  3. Submit quarterly updates to HMRC
  4. Provide an end-of-period statement and final declaration annually

Recommended Software Solution: Xero
We strongly recommend Xero as your MTD-compatible software solution. Xero offers:

  • Full MTD compliance
  • User-friendly interface
  • Comprehensive cloud accounting features
  • Real-time financial visibility
  • Automated bank feeds
  • Mobile app for on-the-go management
  • Robust reporting capabilities

Wo Christina

Preparing for MTD Implementation

Essential Steps to Take Now

Assess Current Systems

  • Review existing accounting processes
  • Identify gaps in digital capability
  • Begin Xero implementation if not already using it

Plan for Digital Transformation

  • Set up your Xero account
  • Configure automated bank feeds
  • Establish digital record-keeping processes

Consider Professional Support

  • Engage with MTD-compliant accountants
  • Seek expert guidance on Xero setup and optimisation
  • Plan for a seamless transition

Why Professional Support Matters

Working with an MTD-compliant provider like Wellden Turnbull offers significant advantages:

  • Expertise in Digital Transformation: Access to experienced professionals who understand both traditional and digital accounting
  • Xero Implementation Support: Expert guidance in setting up and optimising your Xero account
  • Tax Efficiency: Professional guidance on reducing tax burden while maintaining compliance
  • Futureproofing: Ensure your business is prepared for upcoming digital requirements

Next Steps

With more businesses falling within the MTD scope, early preparation is crucial. Consider these actions:

Review Your Income Level

  • Determine which implementation date applies to you
  • Plan accordingly based on your threshold category

Begin Xero Implementation

  • Start your Xero subscription
  • Set up your chart of accounts
  • Configure bank feeds and automation

Seek Professional Guidance

  • Contact MTD-compliant accountants
  • Discuss personalised transition strategies
  • Get support with Xero setup

Start Gradual Implementation

  • Begin digital record-keeping in Xero
  • Train relevant staff members
  • Establish new workflows

With more businesses now falling within the scope of MTD for ITSA, it’s crucial to start preparing early. While 2026/27 might seem distant, implementing robust digital systems like Xero and seeking professional guidance now will ensure a smooth transition when the requirements come into effect.

For tailored advice on preparing for MTD for ITSA, Xero implementation, and ensuring your business remains compliant while optimising tax efficiency, consider partnering with experienced professionals who can guide you through this significant change in tax reporting. Need expert guidance on Making Tax Digital and Xero implementation? Contact Wellden Turnbull today for personal tax planning advice on preparing your business for the digital tax future.

Autumn Budget 30.10.24 Tax Rates

Tax Rates 2024/25

Tax Cards

Welcome to the 2024-25 Tax Rates

Income Tax

Allowances 2024/25 2023/24
Personal Allowance (PA)* £12,570 £12,570
Marriage Allowance† 1,260 1,260
Blind Person’s Allowance 3,070 2,870
Rent a room relief** 7,500 7,500
Trading income** 1,000 1,000
Property income** 1,000 1,000

*PA is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 by which ‘adjusted income’ exceeds £100,000. There is no allowance given above £125,140.

†The part of the PA that is transferable to a spouse or civil partner who is not a higher or additional rate taxpayer.

** If gross income exceeds this, the limit may be deducted instead of actual expenses.

Rate bands 2024/25 2023/24
Basic Rate Band (BRB) £37,700 £37,700
Higher Rate Band (HRB) 37,701 – 125,140 37,701 – 125,140
Additional rate over 125,140 over 125,140
Personal Savings Allowance (PSA)
– Basic rate taxpayer 1,000 1,000
– Higher rate taxpayer 500 500
Dividend Allowance (DA) 500 1,000

BRB and additional rate threshold are increased by personal pension contributions (up to permitted limit) and Gift Aid donations.

Tax rates 2024/25 2023/24
Rates differ for General/Savings/Dividend income
G S D G S D
Basic rate % 20 20 8.75 20 20 8.75
Higher rate % 40 40 33.75 40 40 33.75
Additional rate % 45 45 39.35 45 45 39.35

General income (salary, pensions, business profits, rent) usually uses personal allowance, basic rate and higher rate bands before savings income (mainly interest). Scottish taxpayers are taxed at different rates on general income (see below).

To the extent that savings income falls in the first £5,000 of the basic rate band, it is taxed at nil rather than 20%.

The PSA taxes interest at nil, where it would otherwise be taxable at 20% or 40%.

Dividends are normally taxed as the ‘top slice’ of income. The DA taxes the first £500 (2023/24 £1,000) of dividend income at nil, rather than the rate that would otherwise apply.

Income tax – Scotland   2024/25 2023/24
Starter rate 19%(19%) £2,306 £2,162
Basic rate 20%(20%) 2,307 – 13,991 2,163 – 13,118
Intermediate rate 21%(21%) 13,992 – 31,092 13,119 – 31,092
Higher rate 42%(42%) 31,093 – 62,430 31,093 – 125,140
Advanced rate 45%(N/A) 62,431 – 125,140 N/A
Top rate 48%(47%) over 125,140 125,140

Savings and dividend income are taxed at normal UK rates.

High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC)

1% of child benefit for each £200 (2023/24: £100) of adjusted net income between £60,000 and £80,000 (2023/24: £50,000 and £60,000).

Remittance basis charge 2024/25 2023/24
For non-UK domiciled individuals who have been
UK resident in at least:
7 of the preceding 9 tax years £30,000 £30,000
12 of the preceding 14 tax years 60,000 60,000
15 of the preceding 20 tax years Deemed to be UK domiciled

Pensions

Registered Pensions 2024/25 2023/24
Annual Allowance (AA)* £60,000 £60,000

Annual relievable pension inputs are the higher of earnings (capped at AA) or £3,600.

*Usually tapered down, to a minimum of £10,000, when adjusted income exceeds £260,000.

The maximum tax-free pension lump sum is £268,275, unless a higher amount is “protected”.

State pension (per week) 2024/25 2023/24
Old state pension £169.50 £156.20
New state pension 221.20 203.85

 Annual investment limits

  2024/25 2023/24
Individual Savings Account (ISA)
– Overall limit £20,000 £20,000
– Lifetime ISA 4,000 4,000
Junior ISA 9,000 9,000
EIS – 30% relief 2,000,000 2,000,000
Seed EIS (SEIS) – 50% relief 200,000 200,000
Venture Capital Trust (VCT) – 30% relief 200,000 200,000

 

National Insurance Contributions

Class 1 (Employees)

Employee Employer
Main NIC rate 8% 13.8%
No NIC on first £242pw £175pw
Main rate charged up to* £967pw no limit
2% rate on earnings above £967pw N/A
Employment allowance per business** N/A £5,000

*Nil rate of employer NIC on earnings up to £967pw for employees aged under 21, apprentices aged under 25 and ex-armed forces personnel in their first twelve months of civilian employment.

**Some businesses do not qualify, including certain sole director companies and employers who have an employer’s Class 1 NIC liability of £100,000 or more for 2023/24.

Employer contributions (at 13.8%) are also due on most taxable benefits (Class 1A) and on tax paid on an employee’s behalf under a PAYE settlement agreement (Class 1B).

Class 2 (Self employed)

Flat rate per week if profits below £6,725 (voluntary) £3.45

Class 3 (Voluntary)

Class3: Flat rate per week £17.45

Class 4 (Self employed)

On profits £12,570 – £50,270 6%
On profits over £50,270 2%

Employees with earnings above £123pw and the self-employed with profits over £6,725 (or who pay voluntary Class 2 contributions) can access entitlement to contributory benefits.

Vehicle benefits

Cars

Taxable benefit: List price of car multiplied by chargeable percentage.

2024/25 & 2023/24
CO2
g/km
Electric Range
miles
All Cars
%
0 N/A 2
1-50 >130 2
1-50 70 – 129 5
1-50 40 – 69 8
1-50 30 – 39 12
1-50 <30 14
51-54 N/A 15

Then a further 1% for each 5g/km CO2 emissions, up to a maximum of 37%.

Diesel cars that are not RDE2 standard suffer a 4% supplement on the above figures but are still capped at 37%.

Vans

Chargeable value of £3,960 (2023/24: £3,960) if private use is more than home-to-work. Zero-emission vans charged at £Nil (2023/24: £Nil)

Fuel

Employer provides fuel for private motoring in an employer-owned:

Car: CO2-based percentage from above table multiplied by £27,800 (2023/24: £27,800).

Van: £757 (2023/24: £757).

Employee contributions do not reduce taxable figure unless all private fuel is paid for by the employee (in which case there is no benefit charge).

 

Tax-free mileage allowances

Employee’s own transport per business mile
Cars first 10,000 miles 45p
Cars over 10,000 miles 25p
Business passengers 5p
Motorcycles 24p
Bicycles 20p

 

 Capital Gains Tax

  2024/25 2023/24
Annual exemption amount
Individuals, estates £3,000 £6,000
Most trusts 1,500 3,000
Tax rate – Disposals Up to 30.10.24 From 31.10.24
Individual up to Basic Rate Limit (BRL)
– Residential property and carried interest 18% 18% 18%
– Other assets 10% 18% 10%
Individual above BRL, trusts and estates
– Residential property 24% 24% 28%
– Carried interest 28% 28% 28%
– Other assets 20% 24% 20%
Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR)** 10% 10% 10%

*BADR is available on qualifying gains up to a lifetime limit of £1 million.

 Corporation Tax

Year to 31.3.2025 31.3.2024
Main rate (profits above £250,000) 25% 25%
Small profits rate (profits up to £50,000) 19% 19%
Marginal relief band (MRB) £50k – £250k £50k – £250k
Fraction in MRB (effective marginal rate) 3/200 (26.5%) 3/200 (26.5%)

 

Research and development relief
Accounting periods beginning on or after 1.4.2024
R&D Expenditure Credit (RDEC) scheme* 20%
R&D-intensive SMEs enhanced expenditure scheme** 86%

*Taxable expenditure credit for qualifying R&D.

**Additional deduction for qualifying R&D

R&D-intensive companies are those that have R&D expenditure constituting at least 30% of total tax-deductible P&L expenses plus capitalised R&D costs. Loss-making R&D intensive companies can claim a payable credit rate of 14.5% from HMRC in exchange for their losses (capped at £20,000 plus 3 x [PAYE & NIC]).

Previously, most SMEs used the enhanced expenditure scheme, but with a payable tax credit rate for losses of 10% (or 14.5%, from 1 April 2023, for those with R&D expenditure constituting at least 40% of total expenditure).

 

Main capital allowances

Plant and machinery allowances Year to
31.3.25
Year to
31.3.24
Companies only
– First-year allowance (main pool) 100% 100%
– First-year allowance (special rate pool) 50% 50%
Annual Investment Allowance (AIA)
– expenditure up to £1m 100% 100%
New electric vans 100% 100%
Writing down allowance: main pool 18% 18%
Writing down allowance: special rate pool 6% 6%

 

Motor cars purchased
  From 1.4.21
CO2 (g/km)
Allowance
New cars only Nil 100%
In general pool up to 50 18%
In special rate pool above 50 6%

 

Structures and buildings allowance  
Fixed deduction per annum 3%

 

 Property taxes

Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED)

ATED applies to ‘high value’ residential properties owned via a corporate structure, unless the property is used for a qualifying purpose. The tax applies to properties valued at more than £500,000.

Property value Annual charge to
  31.3.2025 31.3.2024
£0.5m – £1m £4,400 £4,150
£1m – £2m 9,000 8,450
£2m – £5m 30,550 28,650
£5m – £10m 71,500 67,050
£10m – £20m 143,550 134,550
Over £20m 287,500 269,450

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Land Transaction Tax (LTT)

Residential property (1st property only)
SDLT – England & NI
£000
Rate LBTT – Scotland
£000
Rate LTT – Wales
£000
Rate
Up to 250 Nil Up to 145 Nil Up to 225 Nil
250 – 925 5% 145 – 250 2% 225 – 400 6.0%
925 – 1,500 10% 250 – 325 5% 400 – 750 7.5%
Over 1,500 12% 325 – 750 10% 750 – 1,500 10.0%
Over 750 12% Over 1,500 12.0%

A supplement applies for all three taxes where an additional residential property interest is purchased for more than £40,000 (unless replacing a main residence). It is also payable by all corporate purchasers. For SDLT, up to 30.10.24 the supplement is 3% of total purchase price; from 31.10.24 it is 5%. For LBTT it is 6%. LTT has specific higher rates in bandings: up to 180k: 4%, 180 – 250k: 7.5%, 250 – 400k: 9%, 400 – 750k: 11.5%, 750-1,500k: 14%, >1,500k: 16%.

For SDLT:

– First-time buyers purchasing a property of up to £625,000 pay a nil rate on the first £425,000 of the purchase price.

– A 2% supplement applies where the property is bought by certain non-UK residents.

– A rate of 17% (pre 31.10.24: 1%) may apply to the total purchase price, where the property is valued above £500,000 and purchased by a ‘non-natural person’ (e.g. a company).

For LBTT, first-time buyer relief increases the nil rate band to £175,000.

Non-residential or mixed use property
SDLT – England & NI
£000
Rate LBTT – Scotland
£000
Rate LTT – Wales
£000
Rate
Up to 150 Nil Up to 150 Nil Up to 225 Nil
150 – 250 2% 150 – 250 1% 225 – 250 1%
Over 250 5% Over 250 5% 250 – 1,000 5%
Over 1,000 6%

 Value Added Tax

Standard rate (1/6 of VAT-inclusive price) 20%
From 1.4.2024 Pre 1.4.2024
Registration level – Taxable turnover £90,000 p.a. £85,000 p.a.
Deregistration level – Taxable turnover 88,000 p.a. 83,000 p.a.

Flat Rate Scheme (FRS)

Annual taxable turnover to enter scheme Up to £150,000
Must leave scheme if annual gross turnover Exceeds £230,000

If using FRS, the VAT paid by the business is a fixed percentage (based on business category) of ‘FRS turnover’ rather than the net of output tax over input tax. Input tax is usually not recoverable.

Cash accounting and Annual accounting schemes

Annual taxable turnover to enter scheme Up to £1.35m
Must leave scheme if annual taxable turnover Exceeds £1.60m

Inheritance Tax

2024/25 2023/24
Nil rate band (NRB)* £325,000 £325,000
NRB Residential enhancement (RNRB)†* 175,000 175,000
Tax rate on death** 40% 40%
Tax rate on lifetime transfers to most trusts 20% 20%

*Up to 100% of the proportion of a deceased spouse’s/civil partner’s unused NRB and RNRB band may be claimed to increment the current NRB and RNRB when the survivor dies.

†RNRB is available for transfers on death of a main residence to (broadly) direct descendents. It tapers away at the rate of £1 for every £2 of estate value above £2m.

**Rate reduced to 36% if at least 10% of the relevant estate is left to charity. Unlimited exemption for transfers between spouses/civil partners, except if UK domiciled transferor and foreign domiciled transferee, where maximum exemption £325,000.

100% Business Property Relief (BPR) for all shareholdings in qualifying unquoted trading companies, qualifying unincorporated trading businesses and certain farmland/buildings.

Reduced tax charge on gifts within 7 years before death

Years before death 0-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7
% of full death tax charge payable 100 80 60 40 20

Annual exemptions for lifetime gifts include £3,000 per donor and £250 per recipient.

 Key dates and deadlines

Payment dates
Self assessment 2024/25 2023/24
1st payment on account 31 January 2025 2024
2nd payment on account 31 July 2025 2024
Balancing payment 31 January 2026 2025
Capital Gains Tax* 31 January 2026 2025

 

Other payment dates
Class 1A NIC 19 July 2025 2024
Class 1B NIC 19 October 2025 2024

Corporation tax is due 9 months and 1 day from the end of the accounting period, unless a ‘large’ company paying by quarterly instalments.

2023/24 Filing deadlines
Issue P60s to employees 31 May 2024
P11D, P11D(b) 6 July 2024
Self Assessment Tax Return (SATR) paper version 31 October 2024
Online SATR if outstanding tax to be included in 2025/26 PAYE code (if under £3,000) 30 December 2024
Online SATR 31 January 2025

*A CGT return is due within 60 days of completion of sale of UK land and buildings by a non-resident and of sale of UK residential property with a tax liability by a UK resident. Any CGT payable is also due within 60 days.

 National Minimum Wage

Rate per hour From
1.04.24
From
1.04.23
Aged 21* and over (National Living Wage) £11.44 £10.42
Aged 21 – 22 N/A 10.18
Aged 18 – 20 8.60 7.49
Aged 16 – 17 6.40 5.28
Apprentices 6.40 5.28

*In 2023/24, the National Living Wage applied to those aged 23 and above.

 

You are advised to consult us before acting on any information contained herein.

Autumn Statement Tax Tables 2024/25

Autumn Statement Tax Tables 2024/25

Income Tax Rates and Allowances (Table A)

Main allowances 2024/25 2023/24
Personal Allowance (PA)*† £12,570 £12,570
Blind Person’s Allowance 3,070 2, 870
Rent a room relief § 7,500 7,500
Trading income § 1,000 1,000
Property income § 1,000 1,000

*PA will be withdrawn at £1 for every £2 by which ‘adjusted income’ exceeds £100,000. There will therefore be no allowance given if adjusted income is £125,140 or more.

†£1,260 of the PA can be transferred to a spouse or civil partner who is no more than a basic rate taxpayer, where both spouses were born after 5 April 1935.

§If gross income exceeds this, the limit may be deducted instead of actual expenses.

 

Rate Bands

2024/25

2023/24

Basic Rate Band (BRB) £37,700 £37,700
Higher Rate Band (HRB) 37,701-125,140 37,701-125,140
Additional rate over 125,140 over 125,140
Personal Savings Allowance (PSA)
– Basic rate taxpayer 1,000 1,000
– Higher rate taxpayer 500 500
Dividend Allowance (DA) 500 1,000

BRB and additional rate threshold are increased by personal pension contributions (up to permitted limit) and Gift Aid donations.

Rate Bands

2024/25 2023/24
Rates differ for General, Savings and Dividend income within each band:
G S D G S D
% % % % % %
Basic 20 20 8.75 20 20 8.75
Higher 40 40 33.75 40 40 33.75
Additional 45 45 39.35 45 45 39.35

General income (salary, pensions, business profits, rent) usually uses personal allowance, basic rate and higher rate bands before savings income (mainly interest). To the extent that savings income falls in the first £5,000 of the basic rate band, it is taxed at nil rather than 20%.

The PSA taxes interest at nil, where it would otherwise be taxable at 20% or 40%.

Dividends are normally taxed as the ‘top slice’ of income. The DA taxes the first £500 (2023/24 £1,000) of dividend income at nil, rather than the rate that would otherwise apply.

High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC)

1% of child benefit for each £100 of adjusted net income between £50,000 and £60,000.

Income Tax – Scotland Rate 2023/24
Starter Rate 19% £2,162
Basic Rate 20% 2,163 – 13,118
Intermediate Rate 21% 13,119 – 31,092
Higher Rate 42% 31,093 – 125,140
Top Rate 47% over 125,140

The Scottish rates and bands do not apply for savings and dividend income, which are taxed at normal UK rates.  The Scottish rates for 2024/25 have not yet been announced.

 

Remittance basis charge 2024/25 2023/24
For non-UK domiciled individuals who have been UK resident in at least:
7 of the preceding 9 tax years £30,000 £30,000
12 of the preceding 14 tax years 60,000 60,000
15 of the preceding 20 tax years Deemed to be UK domiciled for tax purposes

 

Registered Pensions (Table B)

  2024/25 2023/24
Annual Allowance (AA) £60,000 £60,000

Annual relievable pension inputs are the higher of earnings (capped at AA) or £3,600.

The AA is usually reduced by £1 for every £2 by which relevant income exceeds £260,000, down to a minimum AA of £10,000.

The AA can also be reduced by £10,000, where certain pension drawings have been made.

For 2023/24 and 2024/25, there is no Lifetime Allowance (LTA) charge on high pensions savings.

The maximum tax-free pension lump sum is £268,275 (25% of £1,073,100), unless a higher amount is “protected”.

 

Car and Fuel Benefits (Table C)

Cars

Taxable benefit: List price multiplied by chargeable percentage.

2024/25 and 2023/24
CO2 emissions
g/km
Electric range
Miles
All cars
%
0 N/A 2
1-50 >130 2
1-50 70 – 129 5
1-50 40 – 69 8
1-50 30 – 39 12
1-50 <30 14
51-54 N/A 15

Then a further 1% for each 5g/km CO2 emissions, up to a maximum of 37%.

Diesel cars that are not RDE2 standard suffer a 4% supplement on the above figures but are still capped at 37%.

Car Fuel

Where employer provides fuel for private motoring in an employer-owned car, CO2-based percentage from above table multiplied by £27,800.

National Insurance Contributions 2024/25 (Table D)

Class 1 (Employees)

Employee

Employer

Main NIC rate 10% 13.8%
No NIC on first £242pw £175pw
Main rate charged up to * £967pw no limit
2% rate on earnings above £967pw N/A
Employment allowance per qualifying business N/A £5,000

*Nil rate of employer NIC on earnings up to £967pw for employees aged under 21, apprentices aged under 25 and ex-armed forces personnel in their first twelve months of civilian employment.

Employer contributions (at 13.8%) are also due on most taxable benefits (Class 1A) and on tax paid on an employee’s behalf under a PAYE settlement agreement (Class 1B).

Class 2 (Self-employed)

From 6 April 2024, self-employed people with profits above £6,725 are no longer required to pay Class 2 NICs, but will continue to receive access to contributory benefits, including the State Pension.

Those with profits under £6,725 can pay Class 2 NICs voluntarily to get access to contributory benefits including the State Pension. The amount is £3.45 per week.

Class 3 (Voluntary)

Flat rate per week £17.45

Class 4 (Self-employed)

On profits £12,570 – £50,270 8%
On profits over £50,270 2%

 

Probate is no longer a protected legal service

Historically only solicitors were allowed to offer Probate services, but since 1st November 2014, accredited accountants are now able to offer this assistance. We were amongst the first firms to gain probate accreditation.

It goes without saying that not having a will in place can have major consequences for those that are left behind as an estate may not be distributed as originally intended.

Furthermore there can be increased administration costs to the estate, with additional tax implications.

It has also been widely reported recently that problems and disputes about probate are on the rise. There are a number of probable reasons for this increase, ranging from suspected executor fraud to negligence, from executors being obstructive to disputes where a Will creates a trust and the executors are also the trustees.

 

Since we become accredited, and thus allowed to offer probate assistance, we have seen a gradual increase in the number of clients wishing to use these services. Dealing with probate on death is a natural extension to our services, as a clients financial information will be readily available to us.

Apart from applying for probate and acting as an executor and assisting executors, we have also been identifying the assets and liabilities of estates and dealing with all the administration.

It goes without saying that we also deal with all aspects of personal tax planning, claiming all reliefs to which the estate is entitled.

We are always pro-active when it comes to structuring our clients assets for tax purposes, and we have been advising our clients on a number of areas including:

  • Will trusts or lifetime trusts
  • Tax-effective clauses to include in a will
  • Maximising lifetime inheritance tax thresholds in your will
  • Optimising all inheritance tax reliefs, (including personal business assets)
  • Bespoke will planning for wealthy estates

Being able to offer probate services has increased the wide range of assistance we offer, and as a result improves still further the level of service we provide to our clients.

 

Welcome to a simpler dividend tax regime (but be prepared to pay more tax)

In the Summer 2015 Budget, George Osborne announced fundamental changes to the way in which dividends are taxed. The changes take place for dividends received from 6 April 2016. Some individuals who extract profits from their company as dividends may need to consider whether to increase dividend payments before this date.

When a dividend is paid to an individual, it is subject to different tax rates compared to other income due to a 10% notional tax credit being added to the dividend. So for an individual who has dividend income which falls into the basic rate band the effective tax rate is nil as the 10% tax credit covers the 10% tax liability. For a higher rate (40%) taxpayer, the effective tax rate on a dividend receipt is 25%.

From 6 April 2016:

• The 10% dividend tax credit is abolished with the result that the cash dividend received will be the gross amount potentially subject to tax.
• New rates of tax on dividend income will be 7.5% for basic rate taxpayers, 32.5% for higher rate taxpayers and 38.1% for additional rate taxpayers.
• A new Dividend Tax Allowance will remove the first £5,000 of dividends received in a tax year from taxation.

Many owner-managers running their business through a limited company will pay more tax next year if most of the profits are paid out as dividends rather than as a salary. This prospect raises a number of questions which we answer below.

Will trading as a limited company still be the best option?

There is still a benefit in tax terms for most individuals to continue to trade as a limited company. The tax saved by incorporation compared to being unincorporated will be reduced next year but there is still an annual tax saving.

Will it be better to take a dividend rather than an increase in salary?

There is still a benefit for a director-shareholder to take a dividend rather than a salary. The amount of the tax saved will be less than under the current regime.

Should dividends be paid before 6 April 2016?

If you do not currently extract all your company’s profits as dividends, you may wish to increase dividend payments before 6 April 2016. However, this decision should be made with careful tax planning, considering factors such as:

  • The potential loss of personal tax allowance if your adjusted net income exceeds £100,000.
  • The availability of company funds and profits to pay the dividend.
  • Other tax considerations within your personal tax planning strategy.

Please contact us before you make any decisions about changing the amount of dividends taken. Please note our answers above are based on only limited information that has been supplied by the government on the new regime. We expect draft legislation for the regime to be published by the end of the year.

We can also provide you with expert inheritance tax and VAT tax advice.