Blogs/Vlogs

Three things most taxpayers will have on their Budget wish list...

3 March 2017

Chancellor Phillip Hammond will deliver his first Budget on Wednesday 8 March. Whilst we eagerly await details, there are three things most taxpayers will have on their Budget wish list... simplicity, stability and predictability.

We are on the brink of the biggest change to the tax system since the introduction of PAYE. The government is pushing ahead with its proposals for Making Tax Digital (MTD), under which businesses and landlords will have to file online returns four times a year and then do an annual adjustment. Banks and building societies will be posting our interest figures directly to our Digital Tax Accounts (DTAs) and if we don’t agree with what they’ve put, then we have to take the matter up with them not with HMRC.

Critically, we are waiting to hear two significant announcements regarding the turnover threshold and, if the start will be deferred for all, or some of those affected. To date, the government has largely ignored industry representations on this issue.

We also hope to receive some good news on business rates and probate fees, both of which are set to increase by extraordinary amounts. Probate fees will go up from £215 to £20,000 on some estates, which represents an increase of over 9,200%.

We need the Office for Tax Simplification to be given some teeth and a moratorium on tax changes for businesses.

Follow us on Twitter @UHYHackerYoung now in order to pick up our commentary and our ‘at a glance’ summary of the key proposals following the announcement. We will also be issuing a more detailed summary the following day, which can be viewed on our website at www.uhy-uk.com/Budget-summary.

If you would like to discuss any of these issues ahead of the announcement, please contact your usual UHY adviser at your nearest location or complete our online contact form.

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