Following on from our previous blog posting: tax changes that were effective from 1 April 2015 (and that mainly affected Companies), we have included below tax changes that affect individuals from 6 April 2015, the start of the 2015-16 tax year.

• Individuals over the age of 55 have flexible access to their defined contribution pension savings
• The Income Tax Personal Allowance increases to £10,600
• The higher rate income tax threshold increases to £42,385
• The new Marriage Allowance comes into effect
• The starting rate of savings income tax reduces from 10% to 0% for savings up to £5,000
• The cash ISA limit increases to £15,240
• Child Trust Funds can now be transferred into Junior ISAs
• Spouses can now inherit their deceased partner’s ISA benefits
• If an individual dies before the age of 75, they can now pass on their unused defined contribution pension savings free of income tax
• Beneficiaries of individuals who die under the age of 75 with a joint life or guaranteed term annuity can now receive any future payments from such policies free of income tax
• Employers will no longer have to pay employer NICs for employees under the age of 21
• Class 2 NICs for the self-employed can now be collected through Self-Assessment
• The Employment Allowance extends to include people employing care and support workers to look after themselves or family members
• A new annual remittance basis charge of £90,000 is introduced for non-domiciled individuals who have been resident in the UK in at least 17 of the last 20 years, and the charge paid by non-domiciled individuals who have been resident in the UK in at least 12 of the last 14 years has increased from £50,000 to £60,000
• Non-UK resident individuals, trusts, personal representatives and narrowly controlled companies are now subject to Capital Gains Tax on gains accruing on the disposal of UK residential property
• Capital Gains Tax annual exemption amount has increased to £11,100
• The Capital Gains Tax charge on disposals of properties liable to ATED extends to cover residential properties worth £1 million – £2 million
• The requirement that 70% of Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme money must be spent before EIS or VCT funding can be raised is removed
• The Fuel Benefit Charge multiplier for both cars and vans increases by RPI
• The Van Benefit Charge increases by RPI – in 2015-16 the Van Benefit Charge rate paid by zero emission vans is 20% of the rate paid by conventionally fuelled vans
• Tax Credit payments are stopped in-year where, due to a change in circumstances, a claimant has already received their full annual entitlement

Please contact us if you need more information on any of the above changes.

Parents in work can now share responsibility for looking after their newborn or newly adopted child as Shared Parental Leave law becomes effective 5 April 2015.

Eligible couples whose child is due on or after Sunday 5 April 2015 can now share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay in the first year of their child’s life. Couples who adopt a child can share the same benefits as parents to the first year of the child’s adoption.

Parents can take the time off at the same time as each other or separately. An estimated 285,000 couples a year will be able to take advantage of this change in the law. Shared parental leave and pay are only available in England, Scotland and Wales.

To work out what you may be entitled to you’ll need to know:

• your employment status (eg employed or worker)
• the date you started your current job
• the date you finished work (if you’ve finished)
• how much you earn
• when you want your leave to start
• how much leave you want to take

You’ll need the same information about your partner if you plan to share the care of the child with them.

• The Corporation Tax rate has been reduced to 20%
• The new Diverted Profits Tax has been introduced
• The bank levy has increased from 0.156% to 0.21%
• Air Passenger Duty has been restructured – abolishing bands C and D
• Hospice charities, blood bikes, search and rescue, and air ambulance charities will be eligible for VAT refunds
• Business rates changes (England only):
  • The business rates multiplier has increased from 48.2p to 49.3p (47.1p to 48.0p for small business multiplier). This includes the 2% inflation cap
  • The Small Business Rate Relief scheme has doubled for a further year – providing 100% relief for businesses with a single property with a rateable value of less than £6,000, and tapered relief with a rateable value of £6,000 – £12,000
  • The business rates discount for shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants with a rateable value of £50k or below has increased from £1,000 to £1,500
• The cultural test for high-end TV tax relief has been modernised and the minimum UK expenditure requirement for all TV tax reliefs has reduced from 25% to 10%
• A new tax relief on the production of children’s television has been introduced
• The amount of banks’ annual profit that can be offset by carried forward losses has been restricted to 50%
• Two new bands for the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) have been introduced
• Capital Gains Tax exemption for wasting assets will only apply if the corporate selling the asset has used it in their own business
• An investment allowance for North Sea oil and gas, replacing the existing offshore field allowances and simplifying the existing regime, has been introduced
• A reduced rate of fuel duty to methanol will apply – the rate is 9.32 pence per litre
• Fuels used to generate good quality electricity by CHP (combined heat and power) plants for onsite purposes are exempt from the Carbon Price Floor
• Climate Change Levy main rates have increased in line with RPI
• The VAT registration threshold has increased from £81,000 to £82,000 and the deregistration threshold from £79,000 to £80,000
• Scottish government’s Land and Buildings Transactions Tax (LBTT) will replace Stamp Duty Land Tax in Scotland
• The associated companies rules have been replaced with simpler rules based on 51% group membership
• The standard and lower rates of landfill tax have been increased in line with RPI

 1 April 2015 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 June 2014.

 19 April 2015 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 April 2015. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 April 2015.)

 19 April 2015 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 April 2015.

 19 April 2015 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 April 2015 is payable by today.

 1 May 2015 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 July 2014.

 19 May 2015 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 May 2015. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 May 2015.)

 19 May 2015 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 May 2015.

 19 May 2015 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 May 2015 is payable by today.

 31 May 2015 – Ensure all employees have been given their P60s for the 2014-15 tax year.

The National Minimum Wage rates from 1 October 2015, as recommended by the Low Pay Commission. (LPC) will be:

• a 20p (3%) increase in the adult rate (from £6.50 to £6.70 per hour)
• a 17p (3%) increase in the rate for 18 to 20 year olds (from £5.13 to £5.30 per hour)
• an 8p (2%) increase in the rate for 16 to 17 year olds (from £3.79 to £3.87 per hour)

The National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices will increase by 57p (20%) from £2.73 to £3.30 per hour. The LPC recommended an increase of 2.6% to £2.80 in the apprentice rate.

The Government is also putting employers in control of the funding for apprenticeships by introducing a new digital apprenticeship voucher. Vouchers can be used to reduce or eliminate training costs with appropriate providers.

Apprenticeship vouchers will further simplify things for employers and give them the purchasing power to fund apprenticeship training.

The employer would register their details on a system being developed by the Skills Funding Agency including their type of business, the details of the apprentice and the apprenticeship standard being signed up to. The discounted rate, which could be up to 100% for 16 to 18 year olds, at which employers can purchase training, would be calculated and the employer would be able to pass on the voucher code to the provider that is delivering the training. The provider would then reclaim the value of the voucher from the Skills Funding Agency.