There is no specific requirement for employers to provide employees with transport home. Nevertheless, an employer has a duty of care to their employees, which means that they should take all steps which are reasonably possible to ensure their health, safety and wellbeing.

Ensuring that an employee gets safely home during unsocial working hours could fall within the employer's 'duty of care'. Often in these situations an employer will pay for a late night taxi for an employee to travel home from work. This can also happen where there is a breakdown in a car sharing arrangement.

There is usually a taxable benefit where an employer provides free transport or pays for transport for an employee’s journey between home and a permanent workplace. However, there is a special tax exemption available where employees are required to work late 'occasionally'.

The exemption applies only where the following conditions are satisfied:

• The employee is required to work later than usual and until 9pm or later.
• The occasions are irregular.
• By the time the employee ceases work, either public transport has stopped, or it would not be reasonable to expect the employee to use public transport.
• The transport is by taxi, hire car or similar private road transport.

There is also an overall maximum allowance of 60 qualifying journeys in a tax year. No tax relief is available where employees work late by choice, where late working is a regular feature of employment or where the employer does not reimburse travel expenses.

The Scottish rate of income tax (SRIT) is payable on the non-savings and non-dividend income of those defined as Scottish taxpayers.

The definition of a Scottish taxpayer is based on whether the taxpayer has a 'close connection' with Scotland or elsewhere in the UK. The liability to SRIT is not based on nationalist identity, location of work or the source of a person’s income e.g., receiving a salary from a Scottish business.

HMRC’s guidance states that for the vast majority of individuals, the question of whether or not they are a Scottish taxpayer will be a simple one – they will either live in Scotland and thus be a Scottish taxpayer or live elsewhere in the UK and not be a Scottish taxpayer. 

If a taxpayer moves to or from Scotland from elsewhere in the UK, then their tax liability for the tax year in question will be based on where they spent the most time in the relevant tax year. Scottish taxpayer status applies for a whole tax year. It is not possible to be a Scottish taxpayer for part of a tax year.

Residents may also need to pay Scottish Income Tax if they live in a home in Scotland and also have a home elsewhere in the UK. In this case, residents will need to identify which is their main home based on published guidance and the facts on the ground. Taxpayers may also be liable to SRIT if they do not have a home and stay in Scotland regularly, for example stay offshore or in hotels.

The letters in your tax code signify your entitlement (or not) to the annual tax free personal allowance. The tax codes are updated annually and help employers work out how much tax to deduct from an employee’s pay packet. 

The basic personal allowance for the current (and next) tax year is £12,570. The corresponding tax code for an employee entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance 1257L. This is the most common tax code and is used for most people with one job and no untaxed income, unpaid tax or taxable benefits (for example the use of a company car).

There are a range of numbers and letters that can appear in your tax code. For example, there are letters that show when an employee is claiming the marriage allowance (M) or where their income or pension is taxed using the Scottish rates (S). If your tax code numbers are changed this usually means your personal allowance has been reduced.

There are also emergency tax codes (W1 or M1) which can be used if a new employee does not have a P45. These codes mean that an employee’s tax calculation is based on what they are paid in the current pay period.

If your tax code has a 'K' at the beginning this means that deductions due for company benefits, state pension or tax owed from previous years are greater than your personal allowance. However, the tax deduction for each pay period cannot be more than half your pre-tax pay or pension.

It is important to check your tax code to ensure the correct information is being used. If you have any queries we can help, or you can check with your employer or HMRC.

Where a taxpayer owns a business as a sole trader or in partnership, a capital gain will be deemed to arise if the business is converted into a company by reference to the market value of the business assets including goodwill. This could give rise to a chargeable gain based on the difference between the market value of the assets and their original cost.

However, in most cases the incorporation of the business will be done in such a way as to satisfy the conditions necessary to secure incorporation relief. One condition is that the entire business with the whole of its assets (or the whole of its assets other than cash) must be transferred as a going concern wholly or partly in exchange for shares in the new company.

It is important to note that where the necessary conditions are met, incorporation relief is given automatically and there is no need to make a claim. The relief works by reducing the base cost of the new assets by a proportion of the gain arising from the disposal of the old assets.

Although the relief is automatic it is possible to make an election in writing for incorporation relief not to apply. An election must be made before the second anniversary of 31 January next following the tax year in which the transfer took place e.g., an election in respect of a transfer made in the current 2024-25 tax year must be made by 31 January 2028. The election deadline is reduced by one year if the shares are disposed of in the year following that in which the business was incorporated.

It is pretty much universally accepted that shareholders (usually directors) of small companies take out their remuneration as a small salary – a salary pitched high enough to secure NIC benefits but not high enough to that employee NIC contributions are payable – and any balance as dividends.

Unless directors have the need for remuneration in excess of the current basic rate Income Tax band (set at £50,270 for 2024-25) then salary plus dividends should be set at a level that does not exceed this limit.

But there are other ways that director/shareholders can extract profits from their company. For example, interest can be paid to directors if they have credit balances on loans made to their companies. In some cases, this interest will be covered by the Personal Savings Allowance.

Directors can also choose to leave accumulated profits and cash balances inside their companies and build up these reserves as rainy day funds. Dividends can be taken from accumulated reserves (after corporation tax has been paid) even if the company has ceased trading.

If you would like to revisit your present strategy for extracting profits, or your longer term exit planning from your business, please call so we can consider your options.

If you receive documents from overseas customers or suppliers and you need to translate text into English, have you used Google Translate?

It’s a free, but incredibly powerful facility.

You can select to translate:

• Individual blocks of text that you add to view in alternate languages.
• Images with text.
• Documents.
• And really useful, websites. Use this to view overseas sites in English or an English site in a non-English language.

Especially useful if you need to translate contracts to ensure you fully understand terms and conditions.

And if you are courting an overseas customer use this facility to generate your website into a local language and then send the translated link to your customer. Alternatively, add links to your website so casual overseas visitors can see your site in a local language.

But beware, before taking commercial decisions based on Google Translate translations, best to have the translated copy proof-read by a local advisor to make sure there are no ambiguities. Similarly, have a translated websites read by a fluent person to reveal any errors in translation.

Google’s own reply to the question – ‘Is Google Translate reliable?’ is:

Since its inception in 2006, it has become one of the top-rated machine translation (MT) tools, currently supporting 133 languages, having added 24 in 2022. Accuracy varies depending on language pair and content type, though some reports show Google Translate reaching 94% accuracy.

1 August 2024 – Due date for corporation tax due for the year ended 31 October 2023.

19 August 2024 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 August 2024. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 August 2024)

19 August 2024 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 August 2024. 

19 August 2024 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 August 2024 is payable by today.

1 September 2024 – Due date for corporation tax due for the year ended 30 November 2023.

19 September 2024 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 September 2024. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 September 2024)

19 September 2024 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 September 2024. 

19 September 2024 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 September 2024 is payable by today.

There are special rules under the Tenancy Deposit Scheme that limits the amount of deposit that landlords in England can request. There are also further limitations on what landlords and agents can charge tenants.

If you are renting a residential property you may have to pay a deposit before you move in.

The maximum deposit your landlord can ask for is:

• up to 5 weeks’ rent if the rent for the year is less than £50,000 
• up to 6 weeks’ rent if the rent for the year is £50,000 or more

They can also ask for a holding deposit to reserve a property. This can be up to one week’s rent.

If you are unable to afford the deposit, you may qualify for help from your local council. The council can tell you if you are eligible for:

• rent or deposit guarantee schemes;
• a discretionary housing payment if you get Housing Benefit or Universal Credit;
• local schemes to prevent homelessness; and
• if you are receiving certain benefits you may also be able to get a Budgeting Loan, or a Budgeting Advance if you are receiving Universal Credit.

In England, your landlord must keep your deposit safe using a government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme if both of the following apply:

• you have an assured shorthold tenancy (AST); or
• your landlord took your deposit on or after 6 April 2007.

The online service for checking a UK VAT number is available at: www.gov.uk/check-uk-vat-number.

This service can be used to check:

• if a UK VAT registration number is valid; and
• the name and address of the business the number is registered to.

The service also allows UK taxpayers to obtain a certificate to prove that they checked that a VAT registration number was valid at a given time and date. This is especially important when you take on new suppliers as if the VAT number is invalid, HMRC could withdraw your ability to reclaim the VAT input VAT you have paid. The certificate will also provide valuable evidence to prove that the trader acted in good faith, should HMRC challenge input tax recovery or seek payment of lost VAT.

The European Commission website also includes an on-line service which allows taxpayers to check if a quoted VAT number from anywhere in the EU or Northern Ireland is valid. The on-line service is available at: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/#/vat-validation

The Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool can be used to help ascertain if a worker should be classified as employed or self-employed for tax purposes in both the private and public sectors.

The service provides HMRC’s view as to whether IR35 legislation applies to a particular engagement and whether a worker should pay tax through PAYE. Additionally, the service will help to determine if off-payroll working in the public sector rules apply to a public sector engagement.

The software can be used to check the employment status of:

• a worker providing services;
• a person or organisation hiring a worker; or
• an agency placing a worker.

HMRC has said that it will stand by the result given unless a compliance check finds the information provided was not accurate. HMRC will not stand by the results of contrived arrangements, and one designed to create a particular outcome from the service. HMRC are clear that this would be treated as evidence of deliberate non-compliance and could result in higher penalties.

The service is anonymous, and the results are not stored online. However, the results can be printed and held for your own records. If any changes take place to the worker's role their status should be reassessed.

If you have lost or forgotten your National Insurance number there are a number of ways to locate it. Firstly, you could try and locate the number on paperwork such as your tax return, payslip or P60. You can also use your personal tax account or the HMRC App to find your National Insurance number.

If your National Insurance number still cannot be found a request can be submitted in writing to HMRC using form CA5403 or by telephone. HMRC will not disclose your number over the telephone and will instead send the details by post to the address HMRC has for you on file. The details should arrive within 15 days.

Teenagers should automatically be sent a letter just before their 16th birthday detailing their National Insurance number. These letters should be kept in a safe place. The previously issued plastic National Insurance cards are no longer available.

The National Insurance number helpline can help those aged between 16 and 20 who have not received a letter with details of their National Insurance number as well as other new applicants.

An individual must have the right to work or study in the UK in order to apply for a National Insurance number.

The enhanced Check Your State Pension forecast service is now available online. The service can be found on GOV.UK at the following webpage https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension.

The new digital service is a joint service by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It has been enhanced to include a fully end-to-end digital solution.

The service allows most people under State Pension age to view their pension forecast and identify any gaps in their National Insurance Contributions (NICs) record. This will be helpful for taxpayers looking to make voluntary NIC contributions to increase their entitlement to benefits, including the State or New State Pension.

Usually, HMRC allow you to pay voluntary contributions for the past 6 tax years. The deadline is 5 April each year. However, there is currently an opportunity for people to make up gaps in their NICs for the tax years from April 2006 to April 2017 as part of transitional measures to the new State Pension. The deadline has been extended a number of times and has been most recently extended until 5 April 2025.

The launch of HMRC’s online service will help speed up this process. HMRC’s helplines have been struggling to meet the demands for information and processing claims to pay additional NIC contributions.

HMRC has also confirmed that all relevant voluntary NIC payments will be accepted at the rates applicable in 2022-23 until 5 April 2025.

It is worthwhile checking your State Pension position on a regular basis, this will help to optimise your entitlement. You should also consider what other savings or pensions might be required for a long and comfortable retirement.