A change in the way loans are treated for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes could increase the taxable value of your estate on death, and the amount of IHT payable. This change will affect IHT calculated on deaths occurring after the Finance Act 2013 is passed, (expected mid-July 2013) but applies to loans which are already in place.
At present any debts owed by the estate are deducted from the net estate after reliefs, such as business property relief (BPR), have been given. Broadly BPR provides 100% or 50% relief from IHT of the value of your business assets and unquoted shares. After the Finance Act 2013 is passed, the value of a loan must be deducted from the asset it was used to acquire.
Say in the past you increased the loan on your home to invest in your business, and that loan is still outstanding on your death. To calculate the IHT due that business part of the loan must be deducted from the value of your business and not from the value of your home. This reduces the value of your estate exempt from IHT under business property relief, and increases the taxable value of the remaining estate.
Also if the loan owing at death is not actually repaid by the estate to the creditor after death, that loan can't be deducted from the estate at all, unless there is some commercial reason for not repaying the loan.
Remember IHT is payable at 40% on the taxable value of your estate that exceeds £325,000. A lower rate may be payable if you leave at least 10% of your net estate to charity. There are other ways of mitigating IHT, but we need to discuss you individual circumstances to formulate a plan.
Friday 31 May 2013
Letting Business Tax Reliefs
The tax treatment of businesses which involve the letting of property is not consistent across all taxes and tax reliefs. It's not logical, but just because the letting business qualifies for one tax relief it will not necessarily qualify for an apparently similar tax relief.
For example if you have a property letting enterprise which you wish to transfer into a company in return for shares in the company, a capital gain will arise in your hands when you transfer the properties to the company. This gain can be rolled into the value of shares of the company if the property enterprise is deemed to be a 'business'. This relief is known as incorporation relief, but it will only apply if the business owner is more than just a passive property investor. The courts have decided that the business must have some substance in terms of turnover, be conducted on sound business principles with a view to a profit, and be activity pursued with reasonable continuity.
The holding of let properties is considered to be a 'business' for the inheritance tax, but it is excluded from the IHT relief called business property relief (BPR), as letting is considered to be mainly the holding of investments (i.e. the let properties). In order to qualify for BPR the business owner has to offer the tenants additional services which would generally only be available in a holiday letting business, bed and breakfast, or hotel business. Even then the owners of self-catering holiday cottages have to jump through some hoops to get the letting business to qualify for BPR.
Losses made in a property letting business cannot be set against profits or income from other sources, such as other trading businesses, interest or dividends.
Check with us as to whether your property business qualifies for a particular tax relief and don't assume anything.
For example if you have a property letting enterprise which you wish to transfer into a company in return for shares in the company, a capital gain will arise in your hands when you transfer the properties to the company. This gain can be rolled into the value of shares of the company if the property enterprise is deemed to be a 'business'. This relief is known as incorporation relief, but it will only apply if the business owner is more than just a passive property investor. The courts have decided that the business must have some substance in terms of turnover, be conducted on sound business principles with a view to a profit, and be activity pursued with reasonable continuity.
The holding of let properties is considered to be a 'business' for the inheritance tax, but it is excluded from the IHT relief called business property relief (BPR), as letting is considered to be mainly the holding of investments (i.e. the let properties). In order to qualify for BPR the business owner has to offer the tenants additional services which would generally only be available in a holiday letting business, bed and breakfast, or hotel business. Even then the owners of self-catering holiday cottages have to jump through some hoops to get the letting business to qualify for BPR.
Losses made in a property letting business cannot be set against profits or income from other sources, such as other trading businesses, interest or dividends.
Check with us as to whether your property business qualifies for a particular tax relief and don't assume anything.
RTI Growing Pains
The Taxman is also causing RTI pains for employers and employees by issuing duff data.
Incorrect NI numbers
When you submit a FPS or NI number verification request (NVR), the Taxman should reply with any missing or corrected NI numbers. However, in some cases the NI numbers the Taxman has returned to employers have no suffix letter (A, B, C or D).
The Taxman says you should use the NI number he has sent to you in your payroll software, but to leave the last digit blank by typing a space using the space bar. This may not be a workable solution, because most payroll software will reject any NI number with less than nine characters. We're hoping for an HMRC update on this issue!
Sometimes a long standing NI number has been replaced, but the old NI number is quoted on official notices. This indicates a possible data corruption problem within the HMRC machine. You should exercise caution when amending any NI numbers notified by HMRC since 6 April 2013, and talk to us if in doubt.
Incorrect PAYE codes
Where you have submitted an FPS or employer alignment submission (EAS), which did not include all the employees normally on your payroll, without indicating that the EAS was a part submission, the Taxman has assumed that any missing employees have left your employment.
Subsequently when you submit a FPS including one of those missing employees, that employee is treated as a new starter, with a new employment record. Any details of benefits in the PAYE code belonging to that employee haven't been carried over to his new employment record. Thus his new PAYE code may be wrong.
The Taxman has advised employers in this position to use the old PAYE code for the employee. However, under the PAYE regulations employers are not permitted to take a view on which PAYE codes to apply and which to ignore. Many payroll software packages download the PAYE codes directly from HMRC and apply them automatically, with no human intervention.
The employer helpline will not discuss employee's tax codes with an employer, so the only way to straighten out the mess is to get the employee to contact the Taxman directly.
Incorrect NI numbers
When you submit a FPS or NI number verification request (NVR), the Taxman should reply with any missing or corrected NI numbers. However, in some cases the NI numbers the Taxman has returned to employers have no suffix letter (A, B, C or D).
The Taxman says you should use the NI number he has sent to you in your payroll software, but to leave the last digit blank by typing a space using the space bar. This may not be a workable solution, because most payroll software will reject any NI number with less than nine characters. We're hoping for an HMRC update on this issue!
Sometimes a long standing NI number has been replaced, but the old NI number is quoted on official notices. This indicates a possible data corruption problem within the HMRC machine. You should exercise caution when amending any NI numbers notified by HMRC since 6 April 2013, and talk to us if in doubt.
Incorrect PAYE codes
Where you have submitted an FPS or employer alignment submission (EAS), which did not include all the employees normally on your payroll, without indicating that the EAS was a part submission, the Taxman has assumed that any missing employees have left your employment.
Subsequently when you submit a FPS including one of those missing employees, that employee is treated as a new starter, with a new employment record. Any details of benefits in the PAYE code belonging to that employee haven't been carried over to his new employment record. Thus his new PAYE code may be wrong.
The Taxman has advised employers in this position to use the old PAYE code for the employee. However, under the PAYE regulations employers are not permitted to take a view on which PAYE codes to apply and which to ignore. Many payroll software packages download the PAYE codes directly from HMRC and apply them automatically, with no human intervention.
The employer helpline will not discuss employee's tax codes with an employer, so the only way to straighten out the mess is to get the employee to contact the Taxman directly.
No RTI Reports Made?
Employers were told that they had to use real time information (RTI) to report PAYE deductions from the first pay day on or after 6 April 2013. But what if there has been no pay day since 6 April, because no one has been paid? In that case RTI does apply from 6 April 2013 onwards. You need to make an RTI report for every tax month, unless your PAYE scheme has been registered as an annual scheme. Annual PAYE schemes can make just one RTI report for the month in which the salary is paid.
If you are within RTI you can't use the link on the HMRC website to report that no PAYE is due. You have to submit an employer payment summary (EPS) after the end of the tax month (5th) and before the payment date of the 19th.
Even if you pay your PAYE over to HMRC on a quarterly basis, you still have to submit an EPS or a full payment submission (FPS) for every tax month.
If in earlier tax years you had a history of paying PAYE to HMRC for every month or quarter, and you haven't submitted any RTI reports so far, HMRC may well send you an estimated PAYE demand called a specified charge. The only way to get out of paying a specified charge is to submit an EPS or FPS under RTI for the missing periods in 2013/14.
If you are within RTI you can't use the link on the HMRC website to report that no PAYE is due. You have to submit an employer payment summary (EPS) after the end of the tax month (5th) and before the payment date of the 19th.
Even if you pay your PAYE over to HMRC on a quarterly basis, you still have to submit an EPS or a full payment submission (FPS) for every tax month.
If in earlier tax years you had a history of paying PAYE to HMRC for every month or quarter, and you haven't submitted any RTI reports so far, HMRC may well send you an estimated PAYE demand called a specified charge. The only way to get out of paying a specified charge is to submit an EPS or FPS under RTI for the missing periods in 2013/14.
Wednesday 1 May 2013
Don't Rely on HMRC VAT Advice
If you are uncertain about whether you can make a claim for VAT you have incurred, or how to treat a certain transaction for VAT purposes, you could try searching the HMRC website for a solution to your query. Alternatively you may ring the HMRC VAT helpline but the adviser is likely to send you a copy of a VAT leaflet which is available on the HMRC website. This may, or may not, answer your query.
If you do get a straight answer out of the VAT helpline, be careful to record what you said, and exactly what the HMRC adviser to told you. This is important as if the advice from the helpline is later found to be incorrect you need to be able to prove you presented the full facts for the reply which you relied on. Even then a subsequent VAT inspection may determine you were wrong all along and charge you penalties and interest on any under-paid or over-claimed VAT.
The courts have recently decided that taxpayers cannot legitimately expect the advice given verbally by HMRC to be 100% correct, and this can include advice given in a VAT leaflet or online on the HMRC website. The only way you can count on advice given by HMRC is to apply for a written ruling known as a 'clearance'. To get a clearance you have to set out the full facts in writing, in a clear and unequivocal fashion.
We can help you with this clearance application, or we may be able to answer your VAT question ourselves.
If you do get a straight answer out of the VAT helpline, be careful to record what you said, and exactly what the HMRC adviser to told you. This is important as if the advice from the helpline is later found to be incorrect you need to be able to prove you presented the full facts for the reply which you relied on. Even then a subsequent VAT inspection may determine you were wrong all along and charge you penalties and interest on any under-paid or over-claimed VAT.
The courts have recently decided that taxpayers cannot legitimately expect the advice given verbally by HMRC to be 100% correct, and this can include advice given in a VAT leaflet or online on the HMRC website. The only way you can count on advice given by HMRC is to apply for a written ruling known as a 'clearance'. To get a clearance you have to set out the full facts in writing, in a clear and unequivocal fashion.
We can help you with this clearance application, or we may be able to answer your VAT question ourselves.
Beware Pension Liberation
Have you been approached by firms that promise you instant cash from your pension fund? This known as pension liberation, and involves taking cash from your pension fund before you reach the retirement age set by your pension scheme.
Unscrupulous firms persuade individuals to apply to move their pension funds out of their current scheme, in order to permit an early release of funds, either by a direct transfer out or by a loan. In some case the individual is told there are no tax implications - but there are.
If an individual gains access to their pension savings before their scheme-set retirement age, that individual will be liable to a 55% tax charge on the extracted funds. This tax rate applies to all taxpayers whatever their marginal rate of income tax. It also applies if the monies are repaid back to the pension scheme. It is the individual who must pay this tax charge, not the new or old pension scheme, or the firm that organised the switch of funds.
Pension funds can be safely transferred from one scheme to another, but if you want to do this you should get advice from a qualified financial adviser who is registered on the financial services register.
Unscrupulous firms persuade individuals to apply to move their pension funds out of their current scheme, in order to permit an early release of funds, either by a direct transfer out or by a loan. In some case the individual is told there are no tax implications - but there are.
If an individual gains access to their pension savings before their scheme-set retirement age, that individual will be liable to a 55% tax charge on the extracted funds. This tax rate applies to all taxpayers whatever their marginal rate of income tax. It also applies if the monies are repaid back to the pension scheme. It is the individual who must pay this tax charge, not the new or old pension scheme, or the firm that organised the switch of funds.
Pension funds can be safely transferred from one scheme to another, but if you want to do this you should get advice from a qualified financial adviser who is registered on the financial services register.
Sleeping Partners and NI
In the past sleeping partners and inactive partners didn't have to pay NI contributions on their partnership profits. However, HMRC changed its view on this in April 2013 and it now considers that all partners are liable to pay NICs in respect of their taxable profits, whatever their level of activity within the business. The implications for inactive and sleeping partners are:
- if not already registered as self-employed, the person must register with HMRC and arrange to pay class 2 NICs from 6 April 2013;
- exemption from paying class 2 NICs can be claimed if the taxable profits are low, or the individual has another employment; and
- class 4 NICs will be due on their profits from 2013/14 onwards and will collected through the normal self-assessment for 2013/14.
- if not already registered as self-employed, the person must register with HMRC and arrange to pay class 2 NICs from 6 April 2013;
- exemption from paying class 2 NICs can be claimed if the taxable profits are low, or the individual has another employment; and
- class 4 NICs will be due on their profits from 2013/14 onwards and will collected through the normal self-assessment for 2013/14.
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