Author: Bray Accountants

Main items of interest to the majority of small businesses will be:

• Personal allowances and national insurance rates, please view the tax data information page above.
• Don’t forget the £1,000 a year in tax-free allowances for property or trading income available since April 2017.
• The Corporation Tax rates remain at 25% for Profits over £250,000, Profits below £50,000 will remain taxed at 19%. A tapered rate applies for Profits between £50,000 and £250,000 to merge the two rates.
• VAT registration limit raised to £90,000 from April 2024 and the deregistration limit raised to £88,000.
• The rules for Class 2 NIC have changed again. For the 2023/24 tax year, you pay Class 2 NIC if your profits are above the Lower Profits Threshold of £12570, this liability has been removed in 2024/25 but you will be be given an NIC credit for the year. If your profits are below the Small Profits Threshold of £6,725 then you can choose to pay Voluntary Class 2 NIC. If your profits from self-employment in 2023/24 are between the Small Profits Threshold and the Lower Profits Limit then there is no Class 2 NIC to pay but you will again be be given an NIC credit for the year.

From 1st March 2021 supplies of Building and Construction services must operate under new Reverse Charge Regulations. The rules can be quite complicated so please contact us if you have any concerns or queries on how they will apply to you.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restrictihttps://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-domestic-reverse-charge-for-building-and-construction-servicesng-finance-cost-relief-for-individual-landlords/restricting-finance-cost-relief-for-individual-landlords

The CIS scheme contains many penalties and risks to Contractors. For more information on how the scheme works, click on the link below for HM Revenue Customs guidance but preferably please contact us for a more detailed explanation. Beware of H M Revenue interpretation on self employed status, it is not law and incorrect, there have been many tax cases on this issue in the last couple of years which detail the current law. Also, care must be taken to ensure gross payment status is not lost through late payments of tax.

https://www.gov.uk/topic/business-tax/construction-industry-scheme

VAT registered businesses are required to follow the Making Tax Digital rules by keeping digital records and using software to submit their VAT returns with Digital Links.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-notice-70022-making-tax-digital-for-vat/vat-notice-70022-making-tax-digital-for-vat

New rules on Personal Pension withdrawals and annuities were introduced in April 2015, we recommend consulting your IFA on the specific changes but contact us with a view to tax efficient timing of future contributions and withdrawals:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pension-changes-2015