Wokingham Accountants

Newsletter

Tax Updates

Budget - March 2020

Business

  • Corporation tax remains at 19%.

  • Entrepreneurs' relief will be retained, but the lifetime allowance will be reduced from £10 million to £1 million.

  • VAT on the sale of digital publications such as e-books, e-magazines & academic journals will be cut from to 20% to 0% from 1 December 2020.

  • R&D tax credit relief to increase from 12% to 13%.

  • Employment allowance for small businesses to increase from £3,000 to £4,000 from April 2020.

  • The business rates for premises with a rateable value below £51,000 for businesses in the retail, hospitality & leisure industries will be 100% discounted for 12 months starting from 1 April 2020.

  • Employees who claim a fixed cost for working from home will be able to claim £6 per week from 6th April 2020 - this is up from £4 per week.

  • IR35 changes will go ahead as planned.


Personal tax

  • The point that employees national insurance kicks in will rise from £8,632 to £9,500, this will save individuals just over £100 a year. However, the point that employers start paying national insurance remains the same.

  • From 1st January 2021, women’s sanitary products will be reduced from to 20% to 0%.

  • The capital gains tax allowance will rise from £12,000 to £12,300 from April 2020.

  • Individuals with income below £200,000 will not see their annual pensions allowance being tapered away - this threshold was previously £110,000.

  • Additional 2% stamp duty on non-UK residents purchasing residential property from April 2021.

  • Reliefs on the sale of residential properties (lettings relief and principal private residence relief) have been reduced significantly. From April 2020, landlords who sell their property may face a higher tax bill.


Coronavirus

  • Statutory sick pay will be paid to all those who choose to self-isolate from day 1, even if they don't have symptoms.

  • Firms with fewer than 250 staff will be refunded for sick pay payments for two weeks.

  • A new “time to pay” helpline has been established so that taxpayers can discuss instalment arrangements for payment of their tax liabilities.

  • Small firms will be able to access "business interruption" loans of up to £1.2 million.

Millward, May & Co