WILL THERE BE A MINI BUDGET ON 23 MARCH?
Whilst most of us were wrapping our Christmas presents on 23 December 2021, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to produce an economic and fiscal forecast for Wednesday 23 March 2022.
The main Budget is scheduled for Autumn each year, but it is anticipated that the Chancellor will take the opportunity to make a number of tax announcements.
Many are hoping that the Chancellor will zero rate VAT on domestic power to ease the burden of households struggling to pay their energy bills. Now that the UK has left the EU, we are free to set our own VAT rates and the Prime Minister made this one of his key Brexit promises!
NEW VAT PENALTY REGIME DELAYED TO JANUARY 2023
A new, and arguably fairer, system for determining penalties for late returns and late payment of VAT was due to be introduced from April 2022. However, it has been recently announced that the start has been delayed until January 2023. The same system will also apply to returns under MTD for income tax and those penalties will now start in April 2024.
Under the new regime taxpayers will accumulate points for late submissions, and only after reaching a certain threshold will an automatic penalty be imposed. The threshold will depend on how regularly the taxpayer is required to submit a return.
PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS FOR MAKING TAX DIGITAL (MTD) FOR VAT
Making Tax Digital for VAT becomes mandatory for all VAT registered businesses from 1 April 2022
Businesses with a taxable turnover above £85,000 have already been required to follow Making Tax Digital, keeping digital records and filing VAT returns using compatible software since April 2019.
From 1 April 2022, all VAT registered businesses must file digitally through Making Tax Digital from 1 April 2022, regardless of turnover.
We can sign you up to MTD, although you will be responsible for meeting your VAT obligations. Those who do not join Making Tax Digital for VAT may be charged a penalty for failure to do so.
If your business has not signed up to MTD compatible bookkeeping software then please talk to us urgently about how we can help your business comply with the new law.
TAX YEAR PLANNING IDEAS
At this time of year, once the self-assessment tax returns have been submitted, we think it’s a good time to start planning your tax affairs before the end of the current tax year on 5th April.
An obvious tax planning point would be to maximise your ISA allowances for the 2021/22 tax year (still £20,000 each).
You might also want to consider increasing your pension savings before 5 April 2022 as the unused annual pension allowance is lost after three years. For those looking to do some inheritance tax planning it would be a good time to review (or make) your Will.
PENSION PLANNING
In the run up to the Autumn Budget many were predicting that the chancellor might announce restrictions to pension tax relief. Thankfully nothing has changed -yet.
For most taxpayers the maximum pension contribution continues to be £40,000 each tax year. This limit covers both contributions by the individual and by their employer into their pension fund.
Note that the unused allowance for a particular tax year may be carried forward for three years and can be added to the relief for the current year, but then lapses if unused. Thus, the unused pension allowance for 2018/19 will lapse on 5 April 2022 if unused.
TIME TO REVIEW YOUR WILL?
Top of the new year to do list for many individuals is to make or update their will. Many think this is something to leave until later in life, but it is important to get things in place once property is acquired or when children come along.
In the absence of a will there are statutory rules which dictate how your assets are distributed on death. Those statutory intestacy rules may not be tax efficient, and you might to want to make specific provision in your will for your unmarried partner or for the guardianship of your children.
Talk to us about the tax implications of your plans before you instruct a solicitor to get your will drafted or updated.
PLANNING TO SELL YOUR BUSINESS IN 2022?
Now that the economy is starting to recover, this could be a good time to think about selling your business. Remember that under the current capital gains rules, the first £1 million of an individual’s gains potentially qualify for a 10% rate of tax, provided business asset disposal relief applies. We can check whether or not you and other business owners qualify for this generous relief. Note that the £1 million limit applies to all disposals during an individual’s lifetime.
If your business is worth more than £1 million, you might want to consider the transfer of shares to other family members, although they will need to satisfy the conditions for business asset disposal relief for at least 2 years prior to any sale.
PASSING ON YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT GENERATION
If you do not wish to sell your business but are looking to reduce your involvement, you may be considering passing on your business to the next generation, or maybe your management team.
Where you are passing on the business or some of your shareholding, there are generous tax reliefs that facilitate the transfer of ownership without tax charges arising. These tax reliefs are currently available on the transfer of a trading business although it may also be possible to pass on an interest in an investment business with careful planning. We can of course discuss your plans with you to ensure that you are able to take advantage of all available tax reliefs.