We have listed below a few of the ways you can make best use of tax losses. Generally speaking, a tax loss arises when a claim for expenses and other allowances (for example capital allowances for equipment purchases) exceeds the income of the relevant trade.

Many losses arise as a direct result of a difficult period of trading. Accordingly, the loss has in most instances reduced your business working capital and in particular your cash flow.

If possible, it is a good idea to utilise these losses as quickly as possible so that any recovery of tax already paid, generally when trading was better, can be recovered to help re-establish cash flow. The remainder of this post sketches out the choices available.

Ongoing trade losses

These losses can be used in a number of ways:

• You can set losses against income, or possibly against capital gains, of the same year or an earlier tax year.
• You can set-off against profits of the same trade in future years.
• You can set-off against income from a company to which you transferred your trade.

Not all losses may be claimed in all of these ways and sometimes the amount of loss you claim is restricted or limited.

Terminal losses

These arise when a trade finishes and makes a loss in the final period of trading. It is possible to make a claim for losses in the final 12 months of trading to be used in the tax year that you make the loss or the previous three tax years.

There are caps on the amount of loss you can utilise in any one tax year. And care should be taken when making claims to ensure that you do not lose entitlement to your personal tax allowance when making a claim.

If in doubt seek professional advice.

1 April 2017 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 June 2016.

19 April 2017 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 April 2017. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 April 2017)

19 April 2017 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 April 2017.

19 April 2017 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 April 2017 is payable by today.

1 May 2017 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 July 2016.

19 May 2017 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 May 2017. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 May 2017)

19 May 2017 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 May 2017.

19 May 2017 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 May 2017 is payable by today.

31 May 2017 – Ensure all employees have been given their P60s for the 2016-17 tax year.

The final matter we want to showcase for this month is the proposed reduction in the dividend allowance from April 2018. At present, shareholders with dividend income below £5,000 will pay no Income Tax on their dividend income. From April 2018, Mr Hammond looks set to reduce this to £2,000.

The average dividend yield for FTSE 100 shares is anticipated to fall to 3%. Based on this rate of return, investors would need a portfolio amounting to some £167,000 to create an annual dividend income of £5,000. From April 2018, only £67,000 would create tax-free income if the allowance drops to £2,000.

Affected investors should therefore consider other tax advantages options, including ISAs. From April 2017 the ISA limit is creased to £20,000.

Shareholders of non-listed private companies will face a tax increase due to this change. The present advantage posed by the low salary high dividend approach to profit extraction will still apply, but the overall Income Tax due will increase from April 2018.

Combined with changes to the taxation of benefits in kind, shareholder directors of smaller companies would be advised to revisit tax planning options for 2018-19.

The Chancellor announced two increases in Class 4 NI contributions for the self-employed in his budget and in the following week withdrew the increases for the term of the current parliament.

His original notion was to start the process of equalising the NI contributions made by the employed and self-employed now that State Benefits, particularly the new flat-rate State Pension, are available to both groups.

The first rate increase, from April 2018, was set to coincide with the abolition of the self-employed Class 2 contributions on this date. However, it would appear that manifesto promises carry more weight than fiscal necessity and the increases have been abandoned.

Class 2 contributions are still being withdrawn, which means that the scope of Class 4 contributions will need to be adjusted to counter any loss in benefits presently provided by Class 2.

Legislation in this area has been thrown wide open to change by the apparent U-turn since the budget announcements. As and when the intentions of government become more certain we will update readers accordingly.

For some time now, unincorporated businesses have been able to submit simplified accounts in order to settle their tax liabilities. The main advantage of using this system is that income and expenditure is based on money received from customers and money paid to suppliers. In other words, the accruals basis, where income and outgoings are based on the value of invoices sent and received, is not applied.

Prior to 6 April 2017, the turnover threshold for the scheme was set at the VAT registration limit, £83,000 for 2016-17. In the budget this limit was increased to £150,000.

Adopting the cash basis does simplify the recording of transactions, but there are disadvantages and complications. For example:

• It is not possible to carry losses, accounted for using the cash basis, against previous year’s earnings or sideways against other income in which the loss was made. Losses can only be carried forwards.
• It is not clear how VAT registered businesses using the simplified cash scheme for accounts purposes, will prepare VAT returns from April 2017. Certainly, they would be eligible to use the separate Cash Accounting Scheme for VAT purposes and this may be the best solution.
• Interest costs are restricted to a maximum £500 per annum rather than the actual amount paid.
• Cash basis accounts do not give a true picture of business performance and this can be problematic for supporting loan applications.
• Flexibility in varying claims for capital allowances is lost, this can lead to wasted personal allowances in certain circumstances.

The use of the simplified cash basis does imply a saving in the time taken to record transactions for tax purposes, but as we have set out above there are possible complications and significant drawbacks.