Demergers
There are special statutory demerger provisions that are designed to make it easier to divide and place into separate corporate ownership the trading activities of a company or group of companies. Using these provisions, an exempt demerger will be deemed to take place and the distribution will normally be exempt for Income Tax purposes and usually not give rise to any CGT as the gains are effectively rolled over.
The provisions do not apply where a trading activity is to be sold or becomes
Planning for Basis Period reform
The basis period reforms will change the way trading income is allocated to tax years. The reforms will change the basis period from a ‘current year basis’ to a ‘tax year basis’. Under the current rules there can be overlapping basis periods, which charge tax on profits twice and generate corresponding ‘overlap relief’ which is usually given on cessation of the business. The new method of using a ‘tax year basis’ will remove the basis period rules and prevent the creation of further overlap
Basic principles of domicile
Domicile is a general legal concept which in basic terms is taken to mean the country where you permanently belong. However, actually determining domicile status can be complex. In fact, HMRC’s guidance states that domicile cannot be defined precisely, but the concept rests on various basic principles.
Every individual must have a domicile at all times. The law ascribes a domicile to those individuals it regards as lacking capacity to choose one.
An individual cannot have more than one
Tax-free mileage expenses
If you use your own vehicle for business journeys, then you may be able to claim a tax-free allowance from your employer known as a Mileage Allowance Payment or MAP. The allowance is paid when employees use their own car, van, motorcycle or bike for work purposes. It is important to note that this tax-free allowance is not available for journeys to and from work but is available where employees use their own vehicles to do other business-related mileage.
Employers usually make payments based
Dividend tax increase from 6 April 2022
A reminder that the 1.25% increase in NIC contributions that came into effect on 6 April 2022 are reflected in a similar increase in the tax charge on dividends.
This means that the dividend tax rates for 2022-23 are as follows (all rates having increased by 1.25% over the 2021-22 rates):
Basic rate taxpayers will pay tax on dividends at 8.75%.
Higher rate taxpayers will pay tax on dividends at 33.75%.
Additional rate taxpayers will pay tax on dividends at 39.35%.
This change applies
Asset disposals not subject to Capital Gains Tax
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is a tax on the profit made from selling certain assets such as property, shares or other investments. CGT is usually charged at a flat rate of 20% and applies to most chargeable gains made by individuals.
If taxpayers only pay basic rate tax and make a small capital gain, they may only be subject to CGT at a reduced rate of 10%. Once the total of taxable income and gains exceed the higher rate threshold, the excess will be subject to 20% CGT. An 8% surcharge applies to