Corporation Tax rise axed as Chancellor aims for growth

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget has scrapped a planned rise in Corporation Tax as part of a wide-ranging raft of tax-cutting measures announced last week.

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Have you renewed your tax credits?

According to HMRC, 323,700 customers are yet to renew their tax credits, with just one month left to do so.

Tax credits offer targeted financial aid to working families, so to ensure you receive what you are eligible for, it is crucial that you renew before the deadline of 31 July.

Failure to do so by this date will result in your payments coming to a halt.

How do you renew?

Tax credits can be renewed for free via GOV.UK by searching ‘tax credits’, or via the HMRC app.

Renewing online is a fast, simple process. By logging into GOV.UK, you can check on the status of your renewal, see that it is being processed, and know when to expect a response from HMRC.

The other option to consider is downloading the HMRC app on your smartphone. Through the app, it is possible to:

• Renew your tax credits
• Make changes to your claim
• Check your tax credits payments schedule
• Find out how much you have earned for the year.

To help, HMRC has provided a video to explain how tax credits customers can use the HMRC app to view, manage and update their information.

Have your circumstances changed?

If there is a change in your circumstances that could affect your tax credits claims, these changes must be reported to HMRC.

Circumstances that could affect tax credits payments include changes to:

• Living arrangements
• Childcare
• Working hours
• Income (increase or decrease).

It is also important to remember that tax credits will be replaced by Universal Credit by the end of 2024.

If you move from tax credits to Universal Credit, you could be at a financial advantage. To check this, you can use an independent benefits calculator.

For help and advice with related personal tax matters, please get in touch with our team today.

Steep price rise warning as hospitality businesses yet to receive Omicron funding

The hard-pressed hospitality industry is facing some difficult choices after the temporary cut in VAT to 12.5 per cent reverted to the full 20 per cent. It will result in double-digit price increases for consumers as operators struggle to survive, leading industry body UKHospitality says.

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Tax planning for 2022  – what you need to know

No one wants to pay more tax than they are required to and yet every year hundreds of thousands of taxpayers miss out on opportunities to reduce their tax bill. Read More

Getting the data right is key to growth in hospitality

Hopes that the temporary VAT cut for hospitality would be extended were dashed in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement this week.

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How would an Online Sales Tax affect your business?

The UK Government is set to assess whether to introduce an Online Sales Tax (OST) as a solution to the tax imbalance in the retail sector. Read More

Late filing penalties waived for one month to give taxpayers more time to prepare 2020/21 tax return

Late filing and late payment penalties will be waived for one month to give taxpayers more time to prepare their 2020 to 2021 Self Assessment tax return, it has been announced. Read More

Updated requirements for submitting Corporation Tax CT600 Return

With the winding up of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) or furlough, at the end of September, it is vitally important that all employers are up to date with their Corporation Tax Form CT600, particularly over grants received from the scheme.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)  is looking to close any loopholes and ‘claw back’ any overpayments, such as claims for an employee who left the business while the scheme was in operation.

HMRC amended their CT600 guidance at the start of September to clarify how these entries should be presented, so businesses should seek immediate guidance from their accountants.

From April 2021, companies were required to disclose details of their CJRS claims and make a formal declaration in relation to the CJRS income received as part of its CT600 return.

As with the rest of the Corporation Tax CT600 Return, the director signing off the CT600 return must ensure that the information is correct and reported in the format that HMRC require.

The company should provide accurate information on the following for the CT600 return:

CJRS payments received in the period

• This is the amount received in the period covered by the CT600 return (and not the amount accrued).
• Do not deduct overpayments already assessed by HMRC, or amounts disclosed or repaid to HMRC.
• Do not deduct amounts repaid voluntarily.
• Add back any overpayments of amounts received in earlier periods that have been offset against payments received in this period.

The CJRS payment that the company was entitled to

• This is the total amount of CJRS payments received in the period that the company was entitled to claim.
• If the company was entitled to an amount at the time of the claim but was not entitled to retain this amount by the end of the period (for example if it was not used for the required purpose), then it should not be included in this amount.
• Include any amounts entitled to but repaid voluntarily.

CJRS overpayments already disclosed or repaid, including:

• Amounts already assessed by HMRC, whether paid or unpaid.
• Amounts voluntarily disclosed to HMRC as CJRS overpayments, whether paid or unpaid.
• Overpayments offset against subsequent CJRS payments received in later accounting periods.
• Do not include amounts received and entitled to but repaid voluntarily.

If an overpayment is due to be repaid to HMRC, this will be added to the company’s Corporation Tax liability reported on the CT600 return.

There are also new requirements in relation to the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ Scheme.

For more information on amending your Corporation Tax CT600 Return please contact our expert team.

MTD for Income Tax delayed until April 2024, HMRC confirms

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax will be delayed until April 2024, the Government has confirmed. Read More

Reduce your tax bill with these four ‘quick wins’!

It is all too easy to pay too much tax. That’s the case for PAYE employees with relatively straightforward financial affairs, but the risk is highest for people with more complex finances because they own a business, invest in property, or are a high earner.

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