One aspect of the recent budget will please self-employed business owners that have previously been unable to claim under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) as they commenced trading after 5 April 2019.

As long as you submitted your self-assessment tax return for 2019-20 before midnight 2 March 2021, and you meet the other qualifying criteria – basically that you have been adversely affected by COVID disruption – then you should be able to claim.

Two grants will be available. The fourth grant under the scheme covers February to April 2021. It is worth three months’ average profits capped at £7,500. It can be claimed from late April.

The fifth and final grant covers the period from May to September 2021. The amount of the grant will depend on the impact that Covid-19 has had on your profits. If your turnover has fallen by 30% or more because of Covid-19, you will be able to claim a grant equal to 80% of your average profits for three months, capped at £7,500. However, if your turnover has dropped by less than 30%, you will be entitled to a reduced grant of 30% of three months’ average profits, capped at £2,850.

The final grant can be claimed from late July. At present, this scheme is therefore timed to end 30 September 2021.

Remember, you can only claim the grant if you have been adversely affected by the pandemic.

Grants received under the scheme are taxable and must be considered in working out your profits.

You may have noticed that a certain phrase came up more than once in the Chancellor’s Budget speech last week.

The phrase went something like this:

Allowances/rates will be frozen at this level until April 2026.

That’s four years of flat-lining rates and allowances and it applies to income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and pension tax relief.

At first glance this may seem like a good deal for taxpayers, no tax increases, but all is not what it seems.

Income tax

Because wage rates tend to increase over time, and hopefully we should soon be moving out of recessionary times, then if your tax-free allowance is pegged to a fixed amount (£12,570 for income tax purposes), more and more of your extra earnings will be subject to tax.

The budget also pegged the basic rate threshold for income tax at £37,700 for the same period. This measure will likely mean that an increasing number of individuals will find themselves paying income tax at the 40% or higher rates for the first time.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT)

As assets subject to CGT when sold, second homes for example, tend to increase in value over time, as the tax-exemption is being pegged – currently £12,300 a year – an increasing amount of any profit on disposal will be taxed.

Inheritance Tax (IHT)

At present, lifetime gifts are potentially subject to this tax as well as your estate when you die. Currently, and until April 2026, £325,000 of your estate is exempt from this tax and your executors can also claim up to an additional £175,000 relief that relates to your family home.

As with CGT, as the value of your estate will likely rise in value between now and 2026, more of your assets will be subject to IHT.

Pensions

In a similar vein, as the amounts of allowable pensions savings are being pegged at £1,071,100 and the annual contributions allowance at £40,000, it will not be possible to inflation proof your pension pots if you have already reached this savings limit (£1,071,100). In fact, you could top-up pensions savings above these limits, but punitive tax would be levied on any excess.

It will be interesting to see if the Chancellor can maintain this hiatus in tax allowances as the next general election looms, 2 May 2024.

1 March 2021 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 May 2020.

2 March 2021 – Self-assessment tax for 2019/20 paid after this date will incur a 5% surcharge.

19 March 2021 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 March 2021. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 March 2021)

19 March 2021 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 March 2021.

19 March 2021 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 March 2021 is payable by today.

1 April 2021 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 June 2020.

19 April 2021 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 April 2021. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 April 2021)

19 April 2021 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 April 2021.

19 April 2021 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 April 2021 is payable by today.

30 April 2021 – 2019-20 tax returns filed after this date will be subject to an additional £10 per day late filing penalty.

From April 2021, the National Living Wage (NLW) will be the statutory minimum wage for workers aged 23 and over. It currently applies to workers aged 25 and over. The reduction in the NLW age threshold follows a review of the structure of the National Minimum Wage youth rates and recommendations made by the Low Paid Commission in autumn 2019. The threshold will further reduce to 21 by 2024.

The published rates for 2020-21 are:

You can make a simplified declaration before you export your goods. This is called ‘presenting’ your goods to customs.

The first part of your declaration does not need as much information as a full declaration. When it’s approved, you can export your goods or move them from your premises.

You will still need to give customs more information, but you send it later in a supplementary declaration.

You need to do this within 14 days of your goods departing the UK.

You cannot make simplified declarations for goods:

• covered by the Common Agricultural Policy
• subject to export licensing (exceptions apply)
• subject to excise duty (exceptions apply)
• that require a full customs declaration

Simplified declarations cannot be used if goods are entered into a special procedure using authorisation by declaration.

Some controlled goods can be exported using simplified procedures, but you will need to include extra information in your declaration.

The process

The first part of this declaration is where you submit basic details of your export to customs. In most cases, you submit this electronically using the National Export System.

You will need to present your goods and declaration at a port or airport. Simplified declaration procedures can also be presented at a designated export place. A designated export place is an inland location approved by customs.

When your goods are cleared, you can usually then load and ship them without needing to present any supporting documents.

Supporting documents may be needed for some controlled goods which are prohibited or restricted.

You’ll still need to give customs more information, but you send it later in a supplementary declaration.