Jon Stow Consulting – Tax Solutions

The reality is that many married couples are liable to very different rates of income tax. It is not uncommon to have one who is a 40% payer while the other is liable only at 20% or has no liability at all. Therefore you might think that there would be some mileage in arranging property affairs to take advantage of this.

It is of course conceivable that the person with the higher level of income could be a 50% payer but most people in this position would and should … Continue Reading

If you are buying a property with your spouse or civil partner or even just a business partner and you intend to let it out, make sure your solicitor or conveyancer knows this and arranges the most suitable ownership status. Generally for tax reasons this will be as tenants in common. As a tenant in common you will each own a specific share of the property, which may be half, or a different specified percentage.

The other sort of joint ownership is known as a joint tenancy. In that … Continue Reading

If you have Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) business losses in the current tax year ending on 5th April 2011 this is the last year (2010-11) in which you will be have the ability to set them off against other general income.    i.  e. earnings, investment income and non-FHL lettings profits etc.

If you already have losses or if you would have losses if you brought forward the timing of necessary expenditure such as repairs to properties to spend before 5th April, you should consider doing so as in future losses post 5th April 2011 will only be offset against other FHL … Continue Reading

Plant and machinery at the funfair

If you are thinking of selling your business or thinking of buying one, please do get tax advice at the outset. Of course commercial considerations are paramount, but once you have decided in principle upon making a move to sell, or a move to buy and started looking at the numbers, do take into account that those numbers may be affected in a major way by tax considerations.

Selling the owner managed company

In most circumstances a small owner-managed … Continue Reading

Following the Coalition’s decision not to abolish the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) tax category with all its advantages over the letting of investment property, we now know what the Government does intend for the future.

Donegal cottage

The regime for FHL is not going to be quite as generous as it was in the past, but we should be thankful that it is not going to be axed altogether. The previous qualifications for a letting to be an FHL were:

• the property should be available for holiday … Continue Reading
  

Most business owners will tell you what they think their accountants do: they prepare the accounts and do the tax return. They probably think of this as pretty much a process. There are two misunderstandings implicit in that sort of thinking; the first is there is a sort of sausage machine at work and that you put in the figures and get a certain result, and the second is that there is no room for manoeuvre.

Most SMEs, by which I mean the larger ones within the official definition down to much smaller almost micro-businesses, are owned by families or family … Continue Reading

Recently I have written posts on Furnished Holiday Lettings and on the new Capital Gains regime. Such is the enthusiasm for property investment and development even in these troubled times (and I share that interest myself) that I thought I should write a brief summary of the taxation implications of these interests and activities.

Property still offers the prospect of profits and long-term investment gains at a time when share markets are uncertain and yields on savings are generally poor. … Continue Reading

Making the tax system simpler is an admirable aspiration but it does not necessarily make it fair. The recent changes in the capital gains tax rules, or at least in calculating the charge to capital gains tax demonstrate this amply.

As expected and as heralded well in advance by the Coalition, the rates of capital gains tax were increased. Although effectively for basic rate taxpayers the main rate stayed at 18%, for the majority including the basic rate taxpayers deemed to go into the higher rate threshold by dint of … Continue Reading

Following George Osborne’s “Emergency” Budget in June and still in the middle of a downturn, it is been hard to assess the immediate impact of the changes announced on small businesses. This practice acts for many who are wondering how they will be affected, and whilst there was a good deal of immediate reaction in the aftermath, there has been time for some more considered thought.

I am not blessed with second sight, but will dive into the debate anyway. Firstly, here are the basic measures:

• For small incorporated businesses the … Continue Reading
  

Rather than bore you with another “Emergency” Budget Summary, and many of us including me have been inundated with very similar emails and documents containing the “key” facts, I am going to be picking out and expanding on a few items of interest. I think Furnished Holiday Lettings are a good place to start because they are an area of entrepreneurial potential and should be of interest to many.

In the 2009 Budget Chancellor Darling announced that the special arrangements distinguishing Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) from other types of letting … Continue Reading