HMRC received £345m in late payment interest charges The amount of late payment interest paid to HMRC has soared in recent years to £345.8m, nearly three times higher than the £127m recorded in the year to October 2021. A freedom of information (FOI) request has revealed the true amount of late payment interest paid to…

Creative Tax Relief Increased TV, film and video game production companies are set to benefit from an expansion of tax reliefs for the creative sector, with effect from January 2024, children’s TV, animated TV and animated film production will be able to claim an extra £42,500, while high-end TV, film and video game producers will…

Capital Gains Tax allowance reduces to £3,000 from April 2024 The capital gains tax (CGT) allowance is going to be halved from £6,000 to £3,000 in April 2024. The reduced allowance will come into effect from 6 April 2024 and due to the freezing of tax thresholds more people will pay CGT. Figures released indicate…

VAT investigations up 23% last year in 2023 The number of VAT investigations which were undertaken in 2023 was up by 23% as HMRC launched nearly 105,000 enquiries into unpaid VAT, particularly targeting mid-sized businesses. This follows a downturn in investigations during the pandemic. The volume of compliance investigations yielded an extra £11.4bn in unpaid…

Expansion of the VAT zero rate available on the installation of certain energy saving materials The VAT relief will cover electrical battery storage, water source heat pumps and diverters retrofitted to energy saving materials such as solar panels and wind turbines. The rules which will come into force on 1 February 2024 will be in…

Enterprise Investment Scheme Extended In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor advised that the government will legislate to extend the lifetime of enterprise investment schemes and venture capital trusts for at least 10 years. This is excellent news for thousands of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) who will continue to be supported each year,…

National Living Wage increases in April 2024 From April 2024, there will be a 9.7% rise in the national living wage worth over £1,800 a year for a full-time worker. The hourly rate will increase from £10.42 to £11.44, the biggest increase in the national living wage in more than a decade. The eligibility for…

Payments on Account – Self Assessment Tax Returns With the deadline to file your self-assessment tax return looming – it’s important that you understand your self-assessment tax bill and particularly if you need to make ‘Payments on Account.’ So, what are ‘Payments on account?’ The easy answer is that they are advance payments towards your…

Changes to National Insurance contributions for the Self Employed from April 2024 In the 2023 Autumn Statement, The Chancellor abolished Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICS) for self-employed workers and cut the rate of Class 4 NICs for the tax year starting April 2024. At the moment, self-employed workers pay £3.45 a week in Class…

Have you got more in your January 2024 pay? In the Autumn Statement, The Chancellor cut the rate of employee National Insurance by 2% to 10% which takes effect this January. The new 10% rate will come into play from 6 January 2024, meaning the average worker earning £35,400 a year will benefit from a…