You’ll be classed as a ‘limited cost business’ if your goods cost less than either:
2% of your turnover
£1,000 a year (if your costs are more than 2%)
This means you’ll pay a higher rate of 16.5%.
If you aren’t a limited cost business, continue to use your business type to work out your flat rate.
Am I a Limited cost business?
There’s a calculator available to help businesses work out whether they’re a limited cost business – if you want to use the calculator, see the VAT Flat Rate Scheme – How much you pay page
Before you start you’ll need some basic information – use the information that relates to your most recent VAT return period. If you submit quarterly returns this will cover a 3 month period. If you submit annual returns this will cover a full year. You’ll need to know:
your relevant turnover –
the cost of goods – goods must be used exclusively for the purpose of your business and certain goods are excluded from this test.
You’re a limited cost business if the amount you spend on relevant goods including VAT is either:
less than 2% of your VAT flat rate turnover
greater than 2% of your VAT flat rate turnover but less than £1000 per year
If your return is less than one year the figure is the relevant proportion of £1000. For a quarterly return this is £250.
For some businesses this will be clear, other businesses –particularly those whose goods are close to 2% – may need to complete this test each time they complete their VAT return. This is because you can move from a limited cost rate of 16.5% in one period to your relevant sector rate in another. This would happen if your costs fluctuate above and below 2%.
If you’re a limited cost trader this means that you may pay more VAT than you do on standard accounting – you may want to check to make sure the Flat Rate Scheme is still right for you.
Example
A business has a flat rate turnover of £10,000 a quarter. It spends £260 on relevant goods.
This is more than 2% of the flat rate turnover and more than £250 so the rate they need to use is the sector rate for their business.
Currently only higher or additional rate taxpayers pay tax on dividends. However from April 2016 the Dividend Tax Credit will be replaced by a new tax-free Dividend Allowance.
This means that you won’t have to pay tax on the first £5,000 of your dividend income, no matter what non-dividend income you have.
The allowance is available to anyone who has dividend income.
Headline rates of dividend tax are also changing.
You’ll pay tax on any dividends you receive over £5,000 at the following rates:
7.5% on dividend income within the basic rate band
32.5% on dividend income within the higher rate band
38.1% on dividend income within the additional rate band
We can advise you on how this will affect you and your business.
For Example
“I have a non-dividend income of £6,500, and a dividend income of £12,000 from shares outside of an ISA”
With a Personal Allowance of £11,000, £4,500 of the dividends are under the threshold for tax. A further £5,000 comes within the Allowance, leaving tax to pay at Basic Rate (7.5%) on £2,500.
Welcome to our monthly tax newsletter designed to keep you informed of the latest tax issues.
We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter; remember, we are here to help you so please contact us if you need further information on any of the topics covered.
BUYING A BUSINESS? NO RELIEF FOR GOODWILL NOW
Ever since April 2002 when a limited company acquires the trade and assets of another business it has been possible to obtain a tax deduction for the goodwill and other intangible assets of the acquired business, generally in line with the accounting treatment. So, if the goodwill of the acquired business was worth say £500,000 and the directors assess the useful economic life as 5 years there would be an allowable tax deduction of £100,000 a year over the 5 year period.
The Summer Budget has blocked this deduction where the goodwill is acquired on or after 8 July 2015, although where the acquisition was prior to that date relief continues to be available. Note that the new restriction applies to goodwill and “customer-related assets” which would include client lists and customer databases. The restriction does not apply to other intangibles such as patents and manufacturing “know –how” so the allocation of the purchase price of assets in the sale and purchase agreement may have an impact on the availability of tax relief.
BUYING A BUSINESS? WHAT ABOUT CAPITAL ALLOWANCES?
Another important consideration when buying a business is tax relief for the plant and machinery of the target company. Where the shares of the target company are acquired, the new owners will inherit the tax written down value in the target company’s capital allowances pool which will normally be a lot lower than the market value of the machinery.
This is another reason why a trade and asset purchase would be preferable for the buyer, as they would acquire the plant and machinery at the agreed market value. Where fixtures and fittings within buildings are acquired it is even possible, by agreement with the vendors, to acquire those items at the original purchase price. Remember that the current Annual Investment Allowance that gives 100% relief on plant and machinery reduces to just £200,000 from 1 January 2016.
Please contact us if you are planning to buy another business as we can help you maximise tax relief on the assets acquired.
SELLING YOUR COMPANY? SHARES OR ASSETS?
The corporation tax deduction for acquired goodwill and other intangible assets that has been available to companies since April 2002 mentioned above, has meant that companies buying other businesses have generally preferred to buy the trade and assets rather than the shares in the target business. However, the vendors would normally prefer to sell their shares in the company rather than a trade and asset deal, as they would usually pay more tax – corporation tax on the sale of assets, followed by a second tax charge getting the cash out of the company. A share sale would of course, mean just 10% CGT, where the shareholder qualifies for entrepreneurs’ relief.
The change in the tax treatment of acquired goodwill for the purchaser will mean that the will be less of a conflict between vendor and purchaser as to how the deal is structured. Where the business being sold has accumulated trading losses the purchasing company may be able to take advantage of those losses, if they buy shares, whereas those losses would lapse where just the assets are acquired.
Again, please contact us if you are planning to sell your business as we can help you minimise the tax payable on the sale.
UPDATED GUIDANCE ON EMPLOYEE TRAVEL (BOOKLET 490)
HMRC have updated their guidance on employees’ travel and subsistence in booklet 490, available on the Gov.uk website. The publication provides numerous examples illustrating which journeys do and do not qualify as business journeys and are eligible for tax relief.
No tax relief is available for ordinary commuting or private journeys. Ordinary commuting is where the employee travels to their normal workplace, however, where he or she travels to a temporary workplace then the journey qualifies as business travel.
A temporary workplace is a place where it expected that the employee will work for a period not exceeding 24 months and then usually return to the normal workplace after the temporary posting. A temporary workplace can also be a place where the employee works no more than 40% of their time even where this may be for a period exceeding 24 months. So an employee working at another location for no more than 2 days a week (out of 5 days) could treat that location as a temporary workplace.
Booklet 490 also confirms that where the journey counts as a business journey then any reasonable subsistence costs such as hotels and meals would also qualify for tax relief.
COMPANY CAR ADVISORY FUEL RATES
These rates are the suggested reimbursement rates for employees’ private mileage in their company cars and are reviewed each quarter on 1 March, 1 June, 1 September and 1 December. The rates that apply from 1 September 2015 are shown below, with the previous quarter’s rates shown in brackets, if changed:
engine size
petrol
diesel
LPG
1,400 cc or less
11p (12p)
7p (8p)
1,600 cc or less
9p (10p)
1,401cc to 2,000cc
14p
9p
1,601cc to 2,000cc
11p (12p)
over 2,000cc
21p
13p (14p)
14p
Remember also that if you reimburse your employees the tax free amount of 45p a mile (25p after 10,000 miles) for using their own car for business purposes then 20/120ths of the above amounts can be reclaimed as input VAT by your business. For example a petrol engine car over 2,000 cc = 21p x 1/6 = 3.5p VAT a mile
Welcome to our monthly tax newsletter designed to keep you informed of the latest tax issues.
We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter; remember, we are here to help you so please contact us if you need further information on any of the topics covered.
TAX RELIEF FOR REPLACING FURNITURE IN LET PROPERTIES
The government announced in the Summer Budget that from April 2016, the current 10% Wear and Tear Allowance for furnished lettings will be replaced with a relief that enables all landlords of residential dwelling houses to deduct the costs they actually incur on replacing furnishings in the property. This will give relief for capital expenditure to a wider range of property businesses.
The proposals are being consulted on during summer 2015 and will give greater consistency and fairness across the residential property letting sector.
The new relief will apply to all landlords of residential dwelling houses, no matter what the level of furnishing. Those operating furnished holiday lettings businesses will continue to claim capital allowances instead of the new replacement basis. If enacted, the new rules will apply from 6 April 2016 for income tax purposes and 1 April 2016 for corporation tax.
The new replacement furniture relief will only apply to the replacement of furniture, furnishings, appliances and kitchenware provided for the tenant’s use in the dwelling house. The initial cost of furnishing a property would not be included.
This will put the old concessionary basis that applied up until 5 April 2013 on a statutory footing, and is welcome news for those letting properties unfurnished and providing white goods, carpets and curtains, where relief had been withdrawn for a three year period. It is also good to see the government responding to lobbying from the accounting profession and letting sector to restore the tax relief. Please contact us if you are potentially affected by these changes
EMPLOYMENT INTERMEDIARIES -CONSULTATION ON WORKERS’ TRAVEL
The government is also proposing to remove tax relief for ordinary commuting (in general, home-to-work travel) for workers who are:
supplying personal services
engaged through an employment intermediary (including PSCs); and
subject to (or to the right of) the supervision, direction or control of any person
The effect of this will be that individuals whose relationship with their engager is such that they look and act like employees cannot claim relief on the everyday cost of travelling to work, when employed through an intermediary.
This is intended to ensure a level playing field for access to tax relief for travel and subsistence and, if enacted, will take effect from 6 April 2016.
BANK AND OTHER INTEREST TO BE PAID GROSS FROM APRIL 2016
As announced in the spring 2015 Budget, a new personal savings allowance will be introduced from 6 April 2016. This will be £1,000 a year tax free for basic rate taxpayers and £500 a year for higher rate taxpayers, but nil for those with income over £150,000.
As a consequence, tax will no longer be deducted at source from bank and building society interest. HMRC have launched a consultation to review whether changes should also be made to the rules on deduction of tax from other types of savings income such as “peer to peer” loans.
Remember also that the first £5,000 of dividend income will be tax free from 6 April 2016, but it remains to be seen whether this will apply to directors of their own companies
TERMINATION PAYMENTS UNDER REVIEW
A further consultation taking place this summer is into the simplification of the tax and national insurance treatment of termination payments.
There is a widespread but mistaken belief amongst employees and employers that the first £30,000 of any pay-off is not subject to income tax and NICs. This often leads to difficulties when employees discover that the exemption does not apply to their circumstances and that income tax and NICs are due on the full amount.
Please contact us before you make any workers redundant as it is still possible to structure termination payments in a tax-efficient way if you get the documentation correct.
Latest news issued from HMRC for residents living in Scotland
The Scottish rate of Income Tax will come into effect from 6 April 2016. On 2 December 2015, HMRC will start to contact customers living in Scotland where records show that this is their main address, to inform them they have been identified as being a Scottish taxpayer.
Scottish taxpayers will have a tax code prefixed by an ‘S’. Scottish tax codes will be issued as part of the annual coding routines to employers, so the correct rate of income tax can be deducted based on each individual’s taxpayer status.
If any of your employees live in Scotlandyou will be sent the ‘S’ Tax code in the annual coding run.
You must ensure that your payroll software is up to date and able to apply the new ‘S’ codes.
You will need to apply the new ‘S’ tax code to all employees identified as being a Scottish taxpayereven if the rates of Income Tax in Scotland remain the same as the rest of the UK.
There will be no change to the way you report or make payments for income tax to HMRC, other than applying the ‘S’ tax code to Scottish taxpayer employees.
You do not need to take any action to identify whether any of your employees are Scottish taxpayers, as this will be done by HMRC using the address information held on record.
Please tell HMRC if your address changes, to enable them to correctly identify any Scottish taxpayers and ensure they pay the right amount of tax.
The tax tables will be updated on GOV.UK in February 2016 to show the Scottish rates of Income Tax for basic, additional and higher rate taxpayers.
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