Have you ever thought about your pension? It might seem far away, but it's super important to start thinking about it now! One of the key things that helps build your future pension is your National Insurance (NI) contributions. In today's post, we explain an important deadline that you won't want to miss out on if you have gaps in your NI contributions and would like to potentially boost your state pension.

The post Don’t Miss Out! Your Future Pension Needs YOU! – Check Your NI Contributions by April 5th, 2025 appeared first on Taxfile.

If you're self-employed in the UK, you need to file a self-assessment tax return each year. It's not only the self-employed, though. If you are on a higher income* or receive untaxed income from property rental, savings, investments, or dividends, you also have to submit a return. Getting all the fields filled in properly and the figures right can sometimes be difficult, though. That's where professional help will be worth its weight in gold. But what information will your accountant or tax advisor need from you? That's what today's post is all about, and we'll explain exactly what information you'll need to supply.

^{* (Those earning more than £100,000 currently, or over £150,000 from next year).}

The post Information You Need to Supply for Professional Help with Your Tax Return appeared first on Taxfile.

October 2024's Autumn Budget delivered a significant blow to investors with the announcement of increased Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates. Today, we explore the new rates, how they will affect the sale of assets, and how investors can mitigate their effects.

The post Capital Gains Tax Hike: A Blow to Investors appeared first on Taxfile.

As we approach retirement, ensuring a comfortable financial future becomes a top priority. The state pension, a crucial source of retirement income, is dependent on the number of qualifying years of National Insurance (NI) contributions you have made. While gaps in your NI record can diminish your state pension entitlement, there's a solution: voluntary NI contributions.

To receive the full state pension, you need 35 qualifying years of NI contributions. These years typically accumulate as you work, with contributions automatically deducted from your salary. However, there may be instances where you may not have earned enough to make mandatory NI contributions, leading to gaps in your record.

The post Boost Your State Pension with Voluntary National Insurance Contributions appeared first on Taxfile.

The original deadline for buying National Insurance 'credit' was 31st July 2023, but you can now 'buy' incomplete years to boost your state pension until 5th April 2025. The extension was approved by the Government, giving HMRC more time to deal with the process.

You can view our original blog on what you need to do to plug the gaps in your National Insurance contributions here.

The post Deadline for Voluntary Insurance Contributions Extended to 5th April 2025 appeared first on Taxfile.

^{IMPORTANT: the video mentions the original deadline in April 2023. This has now been extended to 31 July 2023.}

Do you have gaps in your National Insurance record? If so, it could mean that you could get a lower State Pension when you reach state retirement age, particularly if you are aged between approximately 45 and 70 at the moment. Generally speaking, you need 10 years of contributions for a basic state pension and around 30 to 35 years for a full state pension. It does vary by circumstance though and, even with gaps, some people might have enough qualifying years for the full state pension already.

Urgently Check Whether You Have National Insurance Gaps

Our advice is to urgently check whether you do have any gaps in your National Insurance record. If so, in many cases it would be wise to make some one-off payments to plug any gaps for the years 2006 to 2016. However, there is limited time to do so despite the deadline for this opportunity having been extended from early April to the end of July 2023 [UPDATE: This has now been extended again to 5th April 2025]. Thereafter, the chance to fix all 11 years from 2006 to 2016 will be gone forever.More information follows, including how to check, how to top up and more.

The post Boost State Pension by Plugging Gaps in National Insurance appeared first on Taxfile.

The new Taxfile brochure is out and you can download it here. Even if you're an existing client, it's worth taking a look in case we can help you in ways you weren't aware of. We can help anyone e.g. the self-employed, directors of limited companies, partners in partnerships, sole traders, retired people, landlords, taxi and cab drivers, construction workers and just about anyone.

The new brochure covers:

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Small traders with very modest incomes are currently eligible for a couple of very useful allowances. Both of these could save them money — and some paperwork ...

The post Small Trader? Make the Most of These 2 Allowances! appeared first on Taxfile.

The standard Self-Assessment Tax Return includes all the usual areas that you'd expect to have to confirm to HMRC. These include the obvious things like personal details, information about income for the period in question, any assets, dividends, interest received, pensions and so on.

However, there are a number of additional areas that you need to check and confirm before the return is submitted and filed with HMRC. It's not an exhaustive list, but things people sometimes miss and that you need to check you have allowed for (if applicable) include ...

The post Don’t Miss THIS on your Tax Return! (Checklist) appeared first on Taxfile.

Do you have a holiday cottage, flat or apartment that you rent out to holidaymakers? If so, our handy 'Holiday lettings' guide for landlords could be very useful to you — and it could save you money. It's packed full of useful information and tax tips that will help you to make the most of your holiday property, at the same time as keeping on the right side of the tax man.

The Pros

We've written a section all about the tax breaks that apply to qualifying holiday lets. These include capital allowances for things you pay for when fitting out your holiday property, the tax treatment of expenses, the ability to pay pension contributions on your profits, several types of relief (some of which may affect your exposure to Capital Gains Tax) and small business rate relief.

The Cons

There's also a section in the guide that covers some of the downsides to tax on holiday lettings. These include the need to get your VAT Registration status and charges right (where applicable) and also the tax treatment of any trading losses.

Qualifying Conditions

Lastly, there's a section that outlines the qualifying conditions that apply if you want to treat your property as a holiday let rather than as an ordinary rental property. That's important because different tax rules apply to each category and you could miss out on some excellent tax breaks if you don't get it right. For example, the holiday rental property must be fully furnished and allow for self-catering holidays. Also, the property must be available for a particular number of days per year and be rented out in a particular way. It should not be occupied by the same tenant(s) for more than

The post A Tax Guide for Landlords with Holiday Lets appeared first on Taxfile.