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One of the measures announced in the March 2017 Budget was the reduction in the annual Money Purchase Allowance (MPAA) from £10,000 to £4,000. This measure was subsequently dropped from the pre-election Finance Bill, but as expected, has now been included in the second Finance Bill of 2017 published earlier this month. Once the second Finance Bill receives Royal Assent, this measure will have effect from 6 April 2017. The MPAA effectively stops an individual accessing a money purchase pension arrangement to divert their salary into their...

In last year’s Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a new capital allowance for electric vehicle charging points. Capital allowances is the term used to describe the allowances which allow businesses to secure tax relief for certain capital expenditure. Most 'capital' items, such as computer equipment, vehicles, machinery etc, last for a lengthy period of time and the tax relief rules do not allow businesses to automatically deduct the full cost of such items in one go. However, there are rules that allow businesses to claim a 100%...

In most cases a business is unable to reclaim the VAT charged when they purchase a car. However, there are different rules for other types of commercial vehicles and in most cases VAT can be reclaimed when a business purchases a commercial vehicle. For example, vans usually have no rear seats, metal side panels to the rear of the front seats, a load area which is unsuitable for carrying passengers and opaque rear windows. However, there are a significant number of new vehicles where these distinctions are more difficult to make - is a vehicle...

It has been confirmed that the promised legislation to allow employees to reimburse their employers for benefits provided, and thereby avoiding a tax charge, will be included in the second Finance Bill 2017. These changes will align the dates for reimbursing an employer for benefits-in-kind (referred to in the legislation as ‘making good’). Employees will need to make the reimbursement before 6 July following the end of the tax year during which the benefit-in-kind was received in order to avoid a tax charge. Employees will still have the...

There are special rules which limit the ability to change a company’s year end date. A company’s year end date is also known as its ‘accounting reference date’ and is historically set by reference to the date the company was incorporated. Under certain circumstances it is possible to make a change to the year end. As a general rule, you can only change the year end for the current financial year or the one immediately before. Making a change to a year end date will also change the deadline for filing accounts (except during a new company’s...

There are a number of reasons why a limited company may no longer be required and can be shut down. The limited company structure is no longer suitable as: being incorporated is not the best option the business is no longer trading or the company is insolvent. It will usually be necessary to have the agreement of all the company’s directors and shareholders to close down a company. The method for closing down a limited company depends on whether it is solvent or insolvent. If the company is solvent you can apply to get the company...

Following the Statement of Intent published in August 2017, the new Data Protection Bill has now been introduced to Parliament and it had its first reading in the House of Lords on 13 September 2017. The second reading in the House of Lords, which will include a general debate on all aspects of the Bill, is due to take place on 10 October 2017. Once enacted, the Bill will replace the current Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) to provide a comprehensive updated legal framework for data protection in the UK, supplemented by the EU General Data...

The Chancellor has announced that the Autumn Budget 2017 will be held on Wednesday, 22 November 2017. The announcement was made on the GOV.UK website and included a video message from the Chancellor, Philip Hammond. In the video, the Chancellor said that the budget will 'set out our thinking on how to keep the economy strong and resilient and fair. An economy that works for everyone'. This will be the first Budget to take place in November following the government’s decision to switch to a new cycle with the annual Budget taking place in the...

Now that the second Finance Bill of 2017 has been published, we finally have confirmation that a number of measures announced earlier this year are to be included on the statute books. These measures were cut from the first Finance Bill of 2017 due to the snap election. These measures includes confirmation that the reduction in the dividend allowance from £5,000 to £2,000 will come in to effect from April 2018. The £5,000 dividend allowance was introduced in April 2016 and replaced the old dividend tax credit. The tax rate for dividends...

The new timetable for the introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) has been confirmed with the publication of the second Finance Bill. The MTD regime was originally due to start from April 2018. However, there were significant concerns that the roll-out of the MTD was moving too fast and a new timetable for the introduction of MTD was announced earlier this summer. The new timetable will allow more time for businesses, the self-employed and landlords to prepare for significant changes to the way they interact with HMRC in order to register,...