Two property related articles this month - "Small
Business Rate Relief" how to possibly cut your rates bill,
and a tax planning tactic for owners of 2 properties. We have
also set out the VAT rules for claiming input tax on the use
of mobile phones and taken a further look at the tax advantages
of buying "green" cars!
Small Business Rate Relief
In England
If you occupy business premises you may be eligible for the
new Small Business Rates Relief. The relief is effective from
the 1st April 2005.
To qualify for the relief the combined rateable value of
all business premises occupied must be under £15,000 (London
£21,500). If you occupy a main property and additional properties,
the individual rateable value of each additional property
must be under £2,200.
Eligible businesses with rateable values below £5,000 will
get 50% rate relief on their liability.
Rateable values in excess of £5,000 up to £15,000 (London
£21,499) will get a progressively lower rate of relief.
If you would like our assistance with an application please
call. Applications for the financial year ending 31 March
06 must be submitted by the 30 September 2006.
In Scotland
In Scotland this type of relief was introduced on the 1 April
2003.
Business property occupiers with a rateable value of £10,000
or less are eligible for a discount of between 5% and 50%
on the rate poundage. These are the discounts for 2004-2005.
You need to make a formal application for relief if you are
entitled to more than a 5% discount. You will get the 5% by
default.
In Wales
Unfortunately the Welsh Assembly did not adopt the Small
Business Rate Relief, which is therefore not available at
this time.
Tax reductions for owners of 2 residences!
If you own two or more properties, which you occupy as your
residence from time to time, only one can be nominated as
your principal private residence. Usually your principal private
residence is the property where you spend most of your time.
When you sell your principal residence any gain is potentially
free of capital gains tax (unless you have let the property
at any time during your ownership, or otherwise not occupied
it.).
If you also own a second residence any gain on the sale of
this property will be a fully taxed capital gain.
However there is a way that you can legitimately use the
election to treat ANY residence that you own as your principal
private residence, to good effect. To be effective the very
first election must be made within 2 years of the purchase
of that property.
The Inland Revenue have an interesting example of the advantages
you can secure by employing this strategy. On their web site
they describe the example of a couple sacrificing just 1 weeks
ownership of their main property as their principal private
residence, to secure 3 years relief from capital gains tax
on their second residence.
To take advantage of this type of planning you will probably
need to demonstrate a continuing occupation of the second
residence - there is no minimum time set out in law, but at
least three months would be advisable.
The key in the planning is to submit and revoke tax elections
in a timely and proper format. If the circumstances fit please
call if you would like us to consider a possible use of this
strategy.
VAT and mobile phones
When a business provides a mobile phone for an employee the
tax and national insurance position is reasonably clear. As
long as the contract with the mobile provider is between the
business and the provider then no tax or national insurance
will be payable by the employee and the business can deduct
the full cost as a business expense. This is the case even
if the employer allows the employee to use the phone for private
calls.
Unfortunately the VAT position is slightly more complex!
The following notes may be helpful:
Phones provided for Business Use only.
If the phone is provided under a written agreement that the
employee will not use it for private purposes, then
-
All VAT added to the purchase of the phone and on all
standing charges to maintain a network connection, is
recoverable as input tax, subject to the usual rules.
-
All VAT added to call charges is likewise recoverable.
Small amounts of private calls are generally ignored and
will not prevent VAT incurred being recovered in full.
Phones provided for Business and Private Use.
-
Subject to point (2) which follows, all input tax on
the purchase of the phone and on all standing charges
to maintain a network connection, is recoverable as input
tax.
-
Where the phone contract allows the business to make
a certain number of free calls for a fixed monthly fee,
and there is no separate standing charge, you will need
to disallow a realistic proportion of the total fixed
fee to allow for private use of the phone.
-
A proportion of the input tax on call charges must be
disallowed to reflect private use. For instance you could
analyse three months bills and use the private use percentage
as a reasonable guide to reduce your claim for VAT added
to future call charges.
CO2 emissions - Lower tax costs for green cars!
Under present legislation if you buy a company vehicle with
a CO2 emissions rating below 121g/km, your business can write
off the total cost of the vehicle for tax purposes in the
year of purchase.
Additionally the user of the vehicle will suffer the lowest
rate of benefit charge for the use of the car. The benefit
in kind for the use of a company car varies between 15% and
35% of the list price when new. Under 121g/km the lower rate
of 15% applies.
With oil prices climbing the financial and other tax benefits
of buying a car with a lower CO2 rating are compelling.
For example according to government statistics the car with
the lowest CO2 rating (petrol use) in the
UK is the Honda Insight. This hybrid petrol/electric car is
rated for CO2 emissions at just 80g/km. Fuel consumption is
83mpg!
The top five petrol vehicles are:
1.Honda Insight 80g/km
2.Toyota Prius 104g/km
3.Peugeot 107 109g/km
4.Toyota Aygo 109g/km
5.Smart City Coupe Hatchback 113g/km
If you would like to see the top 10 petrol and diesel cars
visit www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/information/tables.asp
Whilst not everyone will be drawn to these types of vehicles
for a company car, as a second car it may be an appealing
choice?
Tax Diary September/October 2005
1 September 2005 - Due date for corporation
tax for the year ending 30 November 2004.
19 September 2005 - PAYE and NIC deductions
due for month ending 5 September 2005. (If you pay your tax
electronically the due date is 22 September 2005)
30 September 2005 - Last day for submitting
your 2004-2005 self assessment tax return if you want to have
a relevant underpayment for that year coded out.
1 October 2005 - Due date for corporation
tax for the year ending 31 December 2004.
19 October 2005 - PAYE and NIC deductions
due for month ending 5 October 2005. (If you pay your tax
electronically the due date is 22 October 2005)
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DISCLAIMER - PLEASE NOTE: The ideas shared with you in this
email are intended to inform rather than advise. Taxpayers'
circumstances do vary and if you feel that tax strategies
we have outlined may be beneficial it is important that you
contact us before implementation. If you do or do not take
action as a result of reading this newsletter, before receiving
our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility
for any financial loss incurred
