2008 Pre-Budget Report

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In his 2008 Pre-Budget Report speech on 24 November, the Chancellor has set out his actions for supporting people through the difficult times of the current global financial crisis. Among the most important changes to do with tax, VAT and benefits, we can mention the following:
•Personal tax allowance increases to £6475, and the basic rate tax limit to £37,400 from April 2009. This means that basic rate taxpayers will pay £145 less tax a year in 2009-10;
•Basic Personal allowance for individuals with income over £100,000 to be reduced to half its value from April 2010;
•Personal allowances will be scrapped for those earning in excess of £140,000 a year from April 2010.
•A new, higher rate of Income Tax of 45% will be introduced for incomes above £150,000;
•Employee, employer and self-employed rates of National Insurance Contributions will increase by 0.5 per cent from April 2011 but those earning less than £20,000 will be exempted.
•The child benefit increases was brought forward to 5th January 2009 instead of April. This is worth an additional £22 on average to families. The commitment to increase the child element of the Child Tax Credit by £25 above indexation in April 2010 will also be brought forward to April 2009.Children will receive a one-off £70 payment for Christmas.
•All pensioners will be paid £60 in the New Year, the equivalent of bringing forward the April increase in the Basic State Pension for a single pensioner to January.In April 2009 the level of a full State Pension will rise in line with prices from £90.70 to £95.25 a week.
•Pensioners on modest incomes will get an increase in pension credit from £124 to £130 and for couples from £189 to £198 from January 2009;
•The standard rate of VAT will be reduced by 2.5% from 17.5% to 15% on 1 December 2008. This new rate will apply until 31 December 2009, when it will revert to 17.5%.This reduction will be offset by increased duties on alcohol, tobacco and petrol.
•The planned increase in the Small Company Rate from 21% to 22% from 1 April 2009 will take effect from 1st April 2010.
•SMEs will be allowed to spread business tax payments over a period to help to ease cashflow and credit constraints.
•Business losses of up to £50,000 could now be offset against profits made in the past three years rather than just one;
Taxfile‘s tax agents recommend the following link for more details regarding the Pre-budget Report.

Darling’s Increase in Personal Allowance

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The Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced an increase in the personal tax allowance of £600 and an adjustment to the higher rate threshold (the total of the personal allowance and basic rate limit).

According to the tax office we do not need to make any adjustments to our tax code numbers at the moment.The emergency code for new employees without a code number remains 543L.
This change is supposed to give 22 million people on low and middle incomes a gain of £120.
Alistair Darling explains this in saying that ”[the need of the increase in the personal allowance] represented the fairest and most effective way to help those who had lost out due to the abolition of the 10p starting rate announced by Gordon Brown last year in his final Budget as Chancellor”

From September, all basic rate taxpayers would get a one-off increase of £60, followed by a monthly increase of £10 for the rest of the year.

By giving £600 extra to the personal tax allowance, the government also reduces the threshold at which an individual starts to pay tax at the higher rate by £600. People used to pay basic rate tax on earnings up to £36,000 above their personal allowance but higher rate tax will now apply at £34,800 and as a result 150,000 people will become higher rate tax payers.
Still confused about all these changes in the tax system? Taxfile’s tax accountants in South London and Exeter are here to help for any tax issues you might have. Visit their website or call them on 020 8761 8000 and find all the answers to your questions.

Dealing with someone’s tax after they die

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When somebody dies it is important to sort out their tax and National Insurance contributions as soon as possible. The ‘personal representative’ or the executor has to sort out the deceased person’s tax affairs, as well as the rest of the estate.There may be either tax to pay or a rebate from the Tax Office.
If the deceased paid tax through Pay As You Earn (PAYE), their Tax Office will send the executor a form called R27 ‘Potential repayment to the estate’ to complete.
If the deceased person was self-employed paying tax through self-assessment, the administrator can choose to fill in form R27 in full – or only in part and then complete a Self Assessment tax return immediately or at the end of the tax year.
The deceased person will get their full tax-free personal allowance for the year of their death. They will also get a full year’s entitlement to any blind person’s or married couple’s allowance that was due to them for the full year.
If they did not receive enough income to use the whole of the blind person’s or married couple’s allowances, the personal representative can arrange for the unused allowances to be transferred to a surviving spouse or civil partner.
The personal representative may have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) if profit is made from selling the property or possessions of the deceased. The executor is treated as acquiring the house at its market value at the time of death so CGT can only be payable if a profit is made after disposal and if it exceeds the ‘annual exempt amount’ (AEA).
You might find it very useful to ask a tax accountant for advice. Taxfile in South London can give you the best solutions when having to sort out a deceased person tax affairs.