Monthly Archives: April 2017

A note for driving instructor clients E and learner drivers

The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency has released its response to a consultation with the industry to “Improve the car driving test”. In their conclusion they say: “This paper reports the outcome of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) consultation about changes to the car driving test. The consultation was held between 14 July […]

Tax free capital gains

Is there such a thing as a tax-free capital gain? In fact, there is… Every UK resident tax payer is allowed to make tax-free gains of up to £11,300 during the current tax year, 2017-18. Additionally, you can sell personal possessions and make a gain of up to £6,000 without paying capital gains tax (CGT). […]

Is the State Pension taxable

Short answer, yes it is… The State Pension is worth between £6,359.60 (the old version), and £8,296.60 (the new version), and many pensioners may receive additional payments based on additional contributions made in prior years. In both cases, this pension income is treated the same as earned income for income tax purposes. For 2017-18, every […]

Utilising tax losses

We have listed below a few of the ways you can make best use of tax losses. Generally speaking, a tax loss arises when a claim for expenses and other allowances (for example capital allowances for equipment purchases) exceeds the income of the relevant trade. Many losses arise as a direct result of a difficult […]

Dividend tax set-back

The final matter we want to showcase for this month is the proposed reduction in the dividend allowance from April 2018. At present, shareholders with dividend income below £5,000 will pay no Income Tax on their dividend income. From April 2018, Mr Hammond looks set to reduce this to £2,000. The average dividend yield for […]

Simplified cash basis

For some time now, unincorporated businesses have been able to submit simplified accounts in order to settle their tax liabilities. The main advantage of using this system is that income and expenditure is based on money received from customers and money paid to suppliers. In other words, the accruals basis, where income and outgoings are […]

Class 4 NICs

The Chancellor announced two increases in Class 4 NI contributions for the self-employed in his budget and in the following week withdrew the increases for the term of the current parliament. His original notion was to start the process of equalising the NI contributions made by the employed and self-employed now that State Benefits, particularly […]