The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency has released its response to a consultation with the industry to “Improve the car driving test”. In their conclusion they say:

“This paper reports the outcome of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) consultation about changes to the car driving test. The consultation was held between 14 July and 25 August 2016. The consultation paper contained proposals for 4 changes to the way the driving test is conducted.

These are:

• increase the independent driving section of the practical driving test from 10 to 20 minutes
• provide the option for the directions in the independent driving section to be followed by using a sat nav, in addition to the current practice of following road signs
• modify the way in which manoeuvres are delivered, so that they are undertaken during the natural course of the drive – the exercises undertaken would be updated for modern driving conditions
• ask one of the 2 vehicle safety questions while on the move instead of at the start of the test.

There was broad support for the proposals. We've received the final presentation with the findings from a trial of the new test undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). This identifies improvements delivered by the new test. Taking into account the outcome of the consultation and the TRL research, the new test will be introduced for learner car drivers from 4 December 2017.”

This will prove to be a busy year for instructors as existing learner drivers try to pass their driving test before the 4 December. And, instructors will need to update their skills to teach drivers the new rules.

Companies house recently published the following news story.

Changes to UK company law removed the option for small companies to file abbreviated accounts for accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2016.

Small companies

If you are a small company, you have 4 options for filing your accounts:

1. Micro-entity accounts

• You must meet at least 2 of the following:
• turnover is no more than £632,000
• balance sheet total is no more than £316,000
• average number of employees is no more than 10

2. Abridged accounts

• You must meet at least 2 of the following:
• turnover is no more than £10.2 million
• balance sheet total is no more than £5.1 million
• average number of employees is no more than 50

3. Full accounts with us and HMRC

These joint accounts are suitable for small companies who are audit exempt and need to file full accounts to us and HMRC. You can also file your tax return with HMRC at the same time.

4. Dormant company accounts

These accounts are suitable for companies limited by shares or by guarantee that have never traded and can be filed using our WebFiling Service.

How to file your accounts

Micro-entity accounts:

To file micro-entity accounts you need to sign-in to our WebFiling service and choose the micro-entity accounts type.

Abridged accounts:

We’re working on a replacement service that will enable you to file abridged accounts on Companies House Service. We expect to launch it this year.

Currently, there are 2 options for you to consider:

• Use the Companies House-HMRC joint filing service. You’ll need a Government Gateway account and you can file your tax return to HMRC at the same time.
• Use third party software. This service benefits those who file regularly.

Clients will be relieved to know that we will choose the appropriate filing method and format for them.

The current state defined wage rates are divided between the National Living Wage (NLW) – this is currently set at £7.50 per hour and only applies to workers aged 25 years and over – and the NMW for workers under 25 years.

The NMW hourly rates are currently:

• Age group 21 to 24 – £7.05
• Age group 18 to 24 – £5.60
• Age group under 18 – £4.05
• Apprentices £3.50

Apprentices are entitled to the apprenticeship rate if they are either:

• Aged under 19
• Aged 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Workers are not entitled to the NMW until they reach the school leaving age. This depends on where you live:

England

You can leave school on the last Friday in June if you’ll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays.

You must then do one of the following until you’re 18:

• stay in full-time education, for example at a college
• start an apprenticeship or traineeship
• spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training

Scotland

If you turn 16 between 1 March and 30 September, you can leave school after 31 May of that year.

If you turn 16 between 1 October and the end of February, you can leave at the start of the Christmas holidays in that school year.

Wales

You can leave school on the last Friday in June, as long as you’ll be 16 by the end of that school year’s summer holidays.

Northern Ireland

If you turn 16 during the school year (between 1 September and 1 July) you can leave school after 30 June.

If you turn 16 between 2 July and 31 August, you can’t leave school until 30 June the following year.

Is there such a thing as a tax-free capital gain? In fact, there is… Every UK resident tax payer is allowed to make tax-free gains of up to £11,300 during the current tax year, 2017-18.

Additionally, you can sell personal possessions and make a gain of up to £6,000 without paying capital gains tax (CGT). This includes a sale of the following items:

• jewellery
• paintings
• antiques
• coins and stamps
• sets of things, e.g. matching vases or chessmen

You’ll need to work out your gain to find out whether you need to pay tax.

Finally, you won’t need to pay CGT on disposals of:

• Gifts to your husband, wife, civil partner or a charity
• Your car, unless you have used it in your business
• Anything with a limited lifespan, e.g. household furniture
• Gains on the sale of ISAs or PEPs
• Sale of UK government gilts and Premium Bonds
• Betting, lottery and pools winnings

And your home can be sold free of any CGT consideration as long as you have not let part the property at any time during your ownership, or you have not elected for a second property to be considered your principal private residence for tax purposes during the same period.

Further considerations to bear in mind:

• When you inherit an asset, Inheritance Tax is usually paid by the estate of the person who’s died. You only have to work out if you need to pay Capital Gains Tax if you later dispose of the asset.
• You may have to pay Capital Gains Tax even if your asset is overseas. There are special rules if you’re a UK resident but not ‘domiciled’ and claim the ‘remittance basis’.
• You have to pay tax on gains you make on residential property in the UK even if you’re non-resident for tax purposes. You don’t pay Capital Gains Tax on other UK assets, e.g. shares in UK companies, unless you return to the UK within 5 years of leaving.

Short answer, yes it is…

The State Pension is worth between £6,359.60 (the old version), and £8,296.60 (the new version), and many pensioners may receive additional payments based on additional contributions made in prior years. In both cases, this pension income is treated the same as earned income for income tax purposes.

For 2017-18, every person resident in the UK for tax is allowed to earn £11,500 tax free. Accordingly, if your only source of income is the State Pension you will have no tax to pay. A potential problem can arise if you have other income, say taxable investment income or other earnings, that when combined with your State Pension, add to more than your personal allowance.

Your State Pension is paid to you without a deduction of tax. Many pensioners rely on these payments to fund their day to day expenditures so there is a temptation to spend what you get. Unfortunately, if your total income (State Pension plus other earnings and investment income) exceeds your personal allowance, you may end up with a tax bill at the end of the tax year and the first you may hear about this is when the bill from HMRC drops through your letter box.

Our advice, is do the sums. If your estimated income from all sources is likely to exceed £11,500 for 2017-18, you may need to save for any year-end tax due. The sums can be complicated as there are reliefs other than your personal tax allowance that you may need to consider.