It's the start of a brand new tax year today in the UK, wishing all our clients and Non-clients a prosperous year.
Get in touch with our wonderful team if you require any help or advice regarding the new tax year.
From today, The Minimum & National Living Wage rates increase as follows:
- for 23+ to £9.50
- for 21-22 yr olds to £9.18
- for 18-20 yr olds to £6.83
- for 16-17 yr olds to £4.81
Apprentices to £4.81
- The threshold for National Insurance is to be increased from July. This means you won’t any pay income tax or NI until you’re earning £12,570
- Although self employed individuals who earn below £12,570 will no longer pay Class 2 NICs on profits between the Small Profits Threshold (£6,725) and Lower Profits Limit, they will continue to build up National Insurance credits.
- Basic rate income tax planned to drop from 20% to 19% in April 2024
- Fuel duty was cut by 5 pence per litre, among other measures aimed at easing the pressure on drivers
- The Employment Allowance, which gives relief to smaller businesses' National Insurance payments, will increase from £4,000 to £5,000 from April
It has been widely reported that the Chancellor could be looking at several measures to assist with the cost of living.
The Chancellor has hinted that one of the economic levers he could be about to pull is a cut in fuel duty by up to 5p-a-litre, with The Independent reporting he believes prices at the pump should not be “prohibitively expensive”.
The government could also look to make changes to the energy bills rebate, either delaying when the loan repayment starts or seeking to make the policy more generous.
There could also be a U-turn on the 1.25% national insurance increase, there was widespread outrage after the Government announced a 1.25 percentage point hike to national insurance, due to take effect in April, with many concerned about how this will affect their income.
The increase will cost the average worker £250 a year at a time when prices are soaring, with the squeeze on income expected to worsen in the coming months.
The budget is expected at noon tomorrow (23rd March)
From 1st April 2022, Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT will be extended to all UK VAT registered businesses – regardless of their size and whether they are registered for VAT purely on a voluntary basis.
To sign up to Making Tax Digital VAT, businesses, or an agent on a businesses’ behalf, need to:
- Visit the Gov.uk Web Site by clicking here and and choose Making Tax Digital-compatible software.
- Keep digital records starting from 1 April 2022 or the beginning of their VAT period.
- Sign up and submit their VAT Return through Making Tax Digital.
From 25 March 2022, the normal SSP rules apply and waiting days are reinstated, which means employers revert to paying SSP from the fourth qualifying day their employee is off work, regardless of the reason for their sickness absence.
From 1 October 2021 the reduced rate for these supplies was a reduced rate of VAT of 12.5% which will remain in effect until 31 March 2022, at which point it is due to move back up to 20%.
However more than 250 business leaders have urged the Government to keep VAT at 12.5% to help the recovery of fragile hospitality and leisure firms.
In a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak 261 hospitality and leisure business leaders warn that April’s planned rise to 20% will “exacerbate the squeeze on household finances”.
The former Girls Aloud singer was found to have used her personal company CC Entertainments as part of a tax avoidance scheme.
The judge in the case said that Tweedy engaged in "straightforward profit extraction" through a fraudulent employee bonus scheme that meant the company paid capital gains tax instead of National Insurance and income tax.
Tweedy started the company under her married name, Cheryl Cole, at the height of her music successes that included five solo number one singles.
The HMRC released a statement on the ruling saying: "We welcome this ruling which confirms these were tax avoidance schemes. We are committed to ensuring that everyone pays the right tax at the right time to help fund our vital public services."
All you need is…
Marriage Allowance
The Marriage Allowance allows married couples or those in civil partnerships to share their personal tax allowances if one partner earns an income under their Personal Allowance threshold of £12,570, and the other is a basic rate taxpayer.
Couples can reduce the tax they pay by up to £252 a year. Couples can apply any time, backdate their claims for any of the 4 previous tax years and receive a payment of up to £1,220.
This sums up our usual January..making sure all clients tax returns are filed on time even when 12 jobs have only come in from last Wednesday onwards (won't name any names)
Pleased to say no-one has been left behind!
And it all starts again in 9 weeks time.
