Julie Robertson warns that owning a home abroad is not quite as easy as they make out on programmes like ‘A Place in the Sun’. With the popularity of these lifestyle shows on television, it is perhaps unsurprising there are more than one million homes owned by UK residents in the EU alone. These properties...

In this article, Kevin Ferguson looks at how employers can now tax expenses and benefits through their payroll by adding the value of them to their taxable income (payrolling), rather than having to provide them separately. Some employers were already applying this process by using their own informal arrangements but HMRC has now streamlined the...

Are you missing out on tax free mileage allowances? by John Craig MA CA The AA estimates that the true cost of running a £25,000 car for 15,000 miles per year is 61p per mile – a figure which demonstrates just how stingy HMRC’s mileage rates of 45p and 25p really are. So if you...

With more and more people now facing an Inheritance Tax charge on their estate, good planning can protect your estate from the taxman. By Kenneth Logan, MA (Hons) CA Inheritance Tax (IHT) is paid if a person’s estate (their property, money and possessions) is worth more than £325,000 when they die. This is called the...

By Julie Robertson BA FCCA, JRW Chartered Accountants As we start a new year, this is often a time for reflection and making fresh starts. But if you have ambitions that go way beyond renewing your gym membership then this article might be of real interest to you. If you have always dreamt of starting...

The keenly anticipated Help to Buy ISA finally arrived on the 1st December 2015. But who can open one and what does the account offer that other ISA’s don’t? The Help to Buy ISA (HBISA) differs from others in that it was created with just one group of investors in mind: first time home buyers....

How will the crack down on mortgage interest relief affect buy to let landlords? By Alan Marlow, JRW Chartered Accountants This year, buy to let lending has accounted for more than 15% of mortgages taken out. If you are a buy to let landlord, you will no doubt be well aware that your earnings are...

The new dividend tax regime and how it could affect you. In the Summer Budget, George Osborne announced fundamental changes to the way in which dividends are taxed. The changes will not take place until dividend receipts from 6 April 2016 but individuals who extract profits from their company as dividends may need to consider...

By Joanne Gibson BA CA, Associate, JRW Chartered Accountants Putting savings away for your children’s future definitely won’t impress a young child much now – especially when they realise they can’t access that pot of money till they are 18. But as the old saying goes ‘they grow up fast’ and they most certainly do,...

After someone dies, the people looking after their affairs have to add up the value of what is left behind and take off any debts and expenses. Depending on how much is left in the person’s estate (their property, money and possessions) there might be Inheritance Tax to pay. Inheritance Tax is paid if a...