National insurance contribution (NIC) changes for the self-employed announced in the Autumn Statement come in from 6 April 2024 and will be welcome news. But the reforms don’t go far enough to offset the continuing cost of frozen tax thresholds. NICs classes The self-employed currently pay two classes of NICs: Class 2 NICs are at […]
In July, the government was reported as holding talks on abolishing inheritance tax (IHT). This wasn’t given much credence at the time, but there are now reports that the March 2024 Budget will include a reduction to the 40% IHT rate as a prelude to future abolishment. IHT is charged at the rate of 40% […]
New HMRC statistics have shed some light on how many companies are affected by the recent hike in corporation tax rates. Just over 1.5 million companies paid corporation tax for the financial year to 31 March 2022, but only 7% fell above the £50,000 small profits threshold. Although fewer than 100,000 companies are likely to […]
You do not have to take your state pension at state pension age The current state pension age (SPA) – the earliest age at which you can draw your state pension – is 66. It will be gradually increased to 67 between April 2026 and April 2028. A further rise to 68 is due, probably […]
The 50th anniversary of the UK’s introduction of VAT was earlier this year, but despite being around for a while, many VAT-registered businesses still find VAT too complex and confusing. No surprise then that more businesses than ever are getting hit with penalties for inaccuracies. Inflation and frozen thresholds Two things that are not helping […]
HMRC is chasing taxpayers who have submitted tax returns for 2021/22 containing unresolved provisional figures, while also extolling the benefits of filing early for 2022/23. What are provisional figures? A provisional figure is not the same as an estimated one. An estimated figure is used when it is not possible to provide a more accurate […]