In a welcome move from the Treasury, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) came into force on 6 April 2012. In essence, the scheme allows individuals to invest up to £100,000 as seed capital for a fledging business looking to raise finance. There are some generous tax reliefs available for the individual in exchange for

While there were some surprises in the Chancellor’s speech, a lot was widely predicted in advance and the usual story of “winners and losers” seems to have prevailed. The headlines from our perspective are largely as follows: Income tax It was nice to see both an increase in the personal allowance and a reduction in

The lifetime allowance is the maximum value a pension fund can be at your nominated retirement date without the excess being subject to tax charges. From 6 April 2012 this allowance will be reduced from £1.8m to £1.5m, and individuals who expect the amount of their pension savings to be more than £1.5m by the

In the absence of a crystal ball, there is no way of knowing for sure how tax relief will be affected by the upcoming Budget on 21 March. Having said that, there is always the possibility that higher rate relief will be withdrawn altogether in which case, now is the time to contribute to your

As the 5th April approaches it is time to review your affairs and explore some of the opportunities available to reduce your UK tax bill! The following table summarises the main tax allowances available, in most cases they are wasted if they are not used before the end of the tax year: Type of Relief

Heather Miller, our new tax consultant, has been published this week in Taxation magazine – click here to read her article on partnerships and basis periods. The article discusses a medical practice and the admission of new partners; in particular, overlap profits, opening year rules, and the amount of profits taxed on each partner in

Inevitably, the main focus of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement was the state of the UK’s finances and the outlook for future growth. The most interesting announcement from a tax perspective was the proposed relief for investments via a new “Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme” (SEIS) which is intended to give UK business a much needed jump-start.

Changes to HMRC’s penalty regime mean that taxpayers who submit their 2010/11 Tax Return late, face far heftier fines than ever before – regardless of whether they ultimately have a tax liability or indeed even if they are due a repayment. HMRC are understandably keen to encourage tax payers to submit prompt returns, particularly in

Contribute more than £50,000 to your pension in 2011/12 AND get higher rate tax relief As of 6th April 2011, the government reduced the annual pension allowance to ensure that only the first £50,000 of an individual’s gross pension contributions will attract higher rate tax relief at 40% or 50%. But if you have not

2010/11 Self Assessment Tax Return Filing The economic climate of recent years and austerity measures introduced by the government have resulted in a spotlight being turned on the collection of UK tax. We are increasingly seeing a hard line approach being taken in respect of a taxpayer’s failure to comply with very complex and ever