Taxation

News by Service

Does giving children shares now save you tax in the long term?

28th October 2019
Your long-term plan is for your children to take over the family company but they are far too young at the moment. Nevertheless, is it worth giving them shares in the business now as a tax-saving measure? Brona MacDougall advises. For almost as long as income tax has existed, parents have tried different ways to...

Selling your business – how to avoid tax traps

25th October 2019
You’re selling your business and as part of the deal you’ll stay on in a managerial role for three years. You’ll then be paid an additional sum based on the profits made over that period. How should you structure the payment to avoid tax traps? Our Senior Tax Manager Brona MacDougall provides advice on the...

October Q&A

1st October 2019
Is hiring golf clubs to a non-resident taxable? Q. We hire golf clubs to private individuals. A customer came into our shop last week and insisted that the fee for hiring a set of golf clubs for a week should not be subject to VAT because he is a US resident. He produced evidence of...

Tax breaks for holiday lets

30th September 2019
Last tax year you started letting a property as a holiday let. The trouble is that to qualify for the special tax breaks it must be let for 105 days in the tax year and you didn’t reach this figure. Is there a way around this rule? Brona MacDougall takes a closer look. You may...

How to claim the new Structures and Buildings Allowance

26th September 2019
HMRC has recently published new guidance on the Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA) following changes to the rules. This includes important information about how to claim it. What’s involved? John Craig discusses below. The 2018 Budget announced that businesses would be entitled to a new tax relief, the Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA) would apply...

Plans to accelerate capital gains tax

4th September 2019
Major changes to the tax regime for gains made from the sale of residential property will take effect from April 2020. They will affect how and when you’re required to report and pay capital gains tax. What’s the full story? Brona MacDougall finds out. Current CGT deadlines Currently, capital gains made by individuals are reported...

Buying a property through a limited company?

16th August 2019
There is currently a huge shift towards buying property within companies and according to recent figures, up to 80% of new buy to let mortgage applications are now for limited companies. Until 2015, there was no compelling need for most people to make this choice and mortgages for companies were much less competitive. But then...

Accidental landlords’ costs set to spiral

10th August 2019
New capital gains tax rules could cost accidental landlords thousands of pounds when they sell their former home in changes that were confirmed by HMRC. The new rules could affect over half a million landlords when they come to sell, Brona MacDougall takes a closer look at the details and the implications. Measures announced earlier...

Should you be charging your company rent?

3rd July 2019
You and your fellow directors own your company’s trading premises. Currently it occupies the property rent free. If this is the case, you should probably think about charging rent to your company as a tax-efficient source of income. But what is the income tax efficiency versus entrepreneurs’ relief? Tax expert Helen Johnstone takes a closer...

Structures and Buildings Allowance

1st July 2019
After some delay HMRC have now published the draft rules for consultation on Structures and Buildings Allowance and in this article we update you with some of the details. This change, announced in the 2018 Budget, provides for capital allowances for expenditure incurred on or after 29th October 2018 on the construction of a building...