People don’t want to think about their death, or the IHT potentially payable, but they will consider the cost of the care they may need, as that is an issue that many have addressed for an older relative. The talk of “dementia tax” to pay for social care may also prompt people to think about their net wealth.
News & Updates
Information notices
HMRC have extensive powers to request information from taxpayers, but the law is designed to ensure the taxpayer understands what he must supply and when. This structure is necessary because the taxpayer can suffer a penalty if he does not comply with an information notice from HMRC.
LISA planning
A lifetime ISA (LISA) can be opened from 6 April 2017 by individuals who are resident in the UK, or crown servants serving overseas (including in the armed forces), or a spouse/ civil partner of such a civil servant. The ISA applicant must also be aged at least 18 and under 40 years.
Averaging for authors
Due to the nature of their work, authors and literary artists may end up facing high tax bills in some years, but pay little or no tax in others. However, averaging profits may help some of you to reduce the amount of tax that you pay and to smooth out the variations in your annual tax bill.
Agent authorisation
Anyone acting as a tax agent or adviser must have formal authorisation to deal with HMRC on their client’s behalf. There is no `one size fits all’ and different authorisation procedures apply for different taxes.
NLW and NMW – employer beware
The John Lewis Partnership has a reputation as an excellent employer, but the news has recently come to light that after adopting `pay averaging’ arrangements they have unintentionally fallen foul of the National Minimum Wage regulations as the payments for some `pay reference periods’ had fallen below the minimum wage.