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

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

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

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

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

6 July 2024 – Complete and submit forms P11D return of benefits and expenses and P11D(b) return of Class 1A NICs.

19 July 2024 – Pay Class 1A NICs (by the 22 July 2024 if paid electronically).

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

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

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

Customs declarations can be difficult and time consuming to complete. Businesses can make their own custom's declarations; however, this is complex and requires specialist skills and software. 

Most businesses use a specialist such as a customs agent, broker, freight forwarder or fast parcel operator to submit import and export customs declarations on their behalf. HMRC publishes a regularly updated list of customs agents and fast parcel operators who may be able to help.

The list is known as the register of customs agents and fast parcel operators and has recently been updated. It should be noted that businesses on these lists are not vetted, approved or recommended by HMRC and proper due diligence should be used. 

HMRC’s guidance is clear that if your goods do not have the right paperwork, or if information is incorrect or missing, your goods may be seized, and you may face delays and have to pay extra charges. 

If you are moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the free Trader Support Service can also help guide you through the necessary processes. This service can also help businesses who import goods into Northern Ireland from the rest of the world. The use of this service is optional. 

Business rates are a tax on non-domestic premises, including most commercial properties such as shops, offices, pubs, warehouses and factories. The money raised through business rates is used to help fund local services like the police, fire and rescue services.

Business rates are generally calculated by multiplying the rateable value of commercial premises by the business rates multiplier before any eligible reliefs are deducted. Business rates are treated differently in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the rates relief schemes vary across the UK.

In England, you may be eligible for business rates relief if your business is:

• a small business
• a retail, hospitality and leisure property – for example, a shop, restaurant, entertainment venue or hotel
• the only business in a rural area
• a charity or a community amateur sports club
• a local newspaper

You may also be eligible for business rates relief if:

• you own a property and it’s empty, partly empty or being refurbished
• you make certain improvements to your property
• your rates change by more than a certain amount at revaluation
• you will get less small business or rural rate relief after 1 April 2023
• you are in financial difficulty
• your property is in an ‘enterprise zone’
• your property is in a ‘freeport’
• your property is a heat network

Local councils can also choose to offer business rates relief to businesses that benefit the local community or economy. Contact your local council to find out if this is available in your area and check if you are eligible.

HMRC has the power to make directors personally liable for paying the tax debts of companies they have been involved in under certain limited circumstances. This can also apply to certain other individuals associated with a company.

A joint and several liability notice tells the recipient that they are personally responsible, along with the company and anyone else issued with a notice, to pay the penalty amount raised against the company.

There are a number of important conditions that must be met before HMRC can issue a notice. The underlying legislation applies to liabilities relating to any period that ended on or after 22 July 2020. 

Directors could receive a joint and several liability notice in cases of:

• tax avoidance and tax evasion;
• repeated insolvency and non-payment cases; and
• facilitating avoidance or evasion, for example, helping others to avoid or evade paying tax due.

The self-employed tax basis period reform has changed the way trading income is allocated to tax years. Under the reforms, the tax basis period has changed from a ‘current year basis’ to a ‘tax year basis’.

This means that all sole trader and partnership businesses must now report their profits on a tax year basis, beginning with the self-assessment return due by 31 January 2025 (covering the tax year 2023-24) and future years.

Under the old rules there could be overlapping basis periods, which charged tax on profits twice and generated corresponding ‘overlap relief’ which was usually given on cessation of the business. The new method of using a ‘tax year basis’ has removed the basis period rules and prevents the creation of further overlap relief. 

The changes do not affect sole traders and partnership businesses who draw up annual accounts to a date between 31 March and 5 April. These businesses will continue to file as usual for the 2023-24 accounting year and beyond. 

The new rules will come into effect in the current 2024-25 tax year with the previous 2023-24 tax year known as the ‘transition year’. During the transitional year, all businesses’ basis periods will have been aligned to the tax year and all outstanding overlap relief used against profits for that tax year.

Any excess profit (after overlap relief) covering more than 12 months, is known as ‘transition profit’. The transitional profit will be spread by default over 5 tax years from 2023-24 until 2027-28.

New rules that stop employers from withholding tips from people working in the hospitality, leisure and services sectors are a step closer following the publication of a new Code of Practice on tipping.

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 colloquially known as the Tipping Act received Royal Assent on 2 May 2023. However, the measures in the Act do not come into force until all the necessary secondary legislation is in place. The measures are expected to come into force on 1st October 2024, once Parliament has approved them.

This means that more than 2 million workers will have their tips protected. HMRC has estimated that this new law will mean an estimated £200 million a year will go back into the pockets of hard-working staff by retaining tips that would have otherwise been deducted.

The statutory Code of Practice will provide businesses with advice on how tips should be distributed among staff. The updated Code of Practice will be statutory and have legal effect, meaning it can be introduced as evidence in an employment tribunal.

Workers will also be given new rights to view an employer’s tipping policy and their tipping record, which will help them to bring forward a credible claim to an employment tribunal.

The Business and Trade Minister said:

‘It is not right for employers to withhold tips from their hard-working employees. Whether you are cutting hair or pulling a pint, this government’s legislation which will protect the tips of workers and give consumers confidence that when they leave a tip, it goes to the hardworking members of staff.’

The government is looking to introduce a new relief that would provide a VAT boost to charitable donations. The new VAT relief would be designed to encourage businesses to donate everyday items to charities without creating a VAT liability. A 12-week consultation on the proposed changes will be launched before 23 July 2024.

Under the current rules, firms do not pay VAT on any goods they donate which are then sold on, such as clothes, hygiene supplies and cleaning products. However, if these goods are not sold but are instead distributed free of charge to those in need VAT must be accounted for. 

The proposed relief would help encourage donations of low value household goods such as:

• hygiene items (soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shower gel, toilet rolls)
• second hand items from hotels (such as sheets, kettles)
• cleaning supplies – including laundry detergent

The new VAT relief will not include goods which are donated to charities for the charity to use, such as new IT equipment, in order to prevent any possible VAT avoidance.

The result of the consultation and confirmation of any changes will be announced at a future fiscal event.

The Government has tabled amendments to expand the territorial extent of the Post Office Offences Bill. Convictions resulting from the Post Office Horizon scandal in Northern Ireland will now be within scope.

This blanket exoneration will automatically quash convictions brought about by the scandal, including 26 in Northern Ireland, clearing the names of many people who have had their lives ruined.

As in England and Wales, convictions in Northern Ireland will need to meet a set of criteria before they are quashed, including:

• Prosecutions brought about by the state prosecutor or the police.
• Offences carried out in connection with Post Office business between 1996 and 2018.
• Were for relevant offences such as theft, fraud and false accounting.
• Were against sub-postmasters, their employees, officers, family members or direct employees of the Post Office working in a Post Office that used the Horizon system software.

Postal Affairs Minister Kevin Hollinrake said:

” We always carefully consider the territorial extent of each piece of legislation and are rigorous in our commitment to devolution. However, it has become apparent that the Northern Ireland Executive does not have the ability to rapidly address the 26 convictions known to be within its purview.

It has become clear that postmasters in Northern Ireland could have their convictions quashed significantly later than those who were convicted in England and Wales, which would be unacceptable.

This follows the decision to introduce landmark legislation – which is making its way through parliament – to quash the convictions of hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters wrongly convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal. This will speed up the financial redress process – where we are offering a £600,000 fixed sum which can be administered quickly for those who accept it.”

The government has launched the new Help to Grow: Management Essentials course; a short online course with practical tips and resources for small business leaders.

It is based on the 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course and is suited for leaders of newer or smaller SMEs, or those who are looking to explore the principles of business growth and management before taking the next step and enrolling in the full course.

The government sees small businesses as a vital part of local economies across the UK and supporting them is crucial to delivering on the need to grow the economy.

2024 is nominated as the year of the SME and the government has pledged it will continue to support and engage small businesses, reaffirming their role as the engines of our economy. The recent launch builds on a raft of measures designed to help them meet their full potential.

Essentials is the latest addition to the extensive package of SME support announced by Government as part of the ‘Help to Grow’ campaign: a one-stop shop for SMEs. The Help to Grow site makes it quicker and easier for business owners to find the resources they need for every step of their growth journey from across government.

There is an online service available on HMRC to check your National Insurance Contributions (NIC) record online. The service is available at https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

In order to use this service, you will need to have a Government Gateway account. If you do not have an account, you can apply to set one up online.

By signing in to the 'Check your National Insurance record' service you will also activate your personal tax account if you have not previously done so. HMRC’s personal tax account can be used to complete a variety of tasks in real time such as claiming a tax refund, updating your address and completing your self-assessment return.

Your National Insurance record online will let you see:

• What you have paid, up to the start of the current tax year (6 April 2024).
• Any National Insurance credits you have received.
• If gaps in contributions or credits mean some years do not count towards your State Pension (they are not 'qualifying years').
• If you can pay voluntary contributions to fill any gaps and how much this will cost.

In some circumstances it may be beneficial, after reviewing your records, to make voluntary NIC contributions to fill gaps in your contributions record to increase your entitlement to benefits, including the State or New State Pension. If you would like to discuss this further, please call.

The Inheritance Tax residence nil rate band (RNRB) is a transferable allowance for married couples and civil partners (per person) when their main residence is passed down to a direct descendent such as children or grandchildren after their death. 

The allowance increased to the present maximum level of £175,000 from 6 April 2020. The allowance is available to the deceased person’s children or grandchildren. Any unused portion of the RNRB can be transferred to a surviving spouse or partner. The RNRB is on top of the existing £325,000 Inheritance Tax nil-rate band.

The allowance is available to the deceased person's children or grandchildren. Taken together with the current Inheritance Tax limit of £325,000 this means that married couples and civil partners can pass on property worth up to £1 million, free of any Inheritance Tax liability, to their direct descendants. 

The transfer does not happen automatically and must be claimed from HMRC when the second spouse or civil partner dies. This is usually done by the executor making a claim to transfer the unused RNRB from the estate of the spouse or civil partner that died first. This transfer can also happen even if the first spouse or civil partner died before the RNRB was introduced on 6 April 2017.

There is a tapering of the RNRB for estates worth more than £2 million even where the family home is left to direct descendants. The additional threshold will be reduced by £1 for every £2 that the estate value exceeds the £2 million taper threshold. This can result in the full amount of the RNRB being tapered away. The RNRB maximum rate and the taper threshold are currently frozen until at least April 2028.

In general, there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) liability created when a property used as the main family residence is sold. An investment property which has never been used as a home will not qualify. This relief from CGT is commonly known as private residence relief.

Taxpayers are entitled to full relief from CGT when all of the following conditions are met:

1. The family home has been the taxpayers only or main residence throughout the period of ownership.
2. The taxpayer has not sublet part of the house – this does not include having a lodger share your house.
3. No part of the family home has been used exclusively for business purposes (using a room as a temporary or occasional office does not count as exclusive business use).
4. The garden or grounds including the buildings on them are not greater than 5,000 square metres (just over an acre) in total.
5. The property was not purchased just to make a gain.

If a property has been occupied at any time as an individual’s private residence, the last nine months of ownership are disregarded for CGT purposes – even if the individual was not living in the property when it was sold. The time period can be extended to thirty-six months under certain limited circumstances. There are also special rules for homeowners that work or live away from home.

Married couples and civil partners can only count one property as their main home at any one time.