Summer

Our lead article provides a planning perspective to the proposed reduction in the Dividend Allowance from April 2018. Investors with quoted shareholdings can take some action now to reduce the impact of the reduction in this ‘tax-free’ allowance.

In the article titled ‘Another tax rise will be with us soon‘ we comment on another tax rise – the increase in Insurance Premium Tax from 1 June 2017.

Despite protests from many parts of the business community, the Making Tax Digital project is still firmly on the agenda. In the Spring Budget there was only a small concession to the start date for some businesses. Powers to enable HMRC to make Regulations were contained in the Finance Bill but, due to the General Election, these were dropped from the Bill which was hurried through Parliament. At the start of the Commons debate, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jane Ellison, said the government remains ‘committed to the digital future of the tax system’ and would ‘pursue those measures in a Finance Bill in the next parliament’. Our article summarises what we know so far about the effects the Making Tax Digital project will have on businesses.

Many employees who could qualify for a useful tax break have not done so. The tax break is called the Marriage Allowance and is now worth £432 for many people. If you are an employer, it is a good idea to make your employees aware of the allowance.

The interest relief restrictions for landlords were enacted almost two years ago but are only now starting to take effect. We remind unincorporated landlords of how the restrictions will work in the 2017/18 tax year. What may be less well known are the government’s proposals to introduce the cash basis of reporting profits for the 2017/18 tax year. We summarise to whom this will apply under the proposals.

In our other articles we consider:

• some points to think about if you are a business owner or manager to help you create, develop and manage a successful team

• tax planning issues if your company or a company of a relative requires additional finance
• the new car tax rates which apply to post 1 April car registrations – but the purchase of an ‘ex-demo’ may well be tied into the old VED rates.

We are sure you will find the newsletter an interesting read. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding any of the articles we have included in our newsletter or if you would like further information on a topic we haven’t covered. Your views are always important to us and we would welcome your feedback.