News

1 January 2023 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 March 2022.

19 January 2023 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 January 2023. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 January 2023).

19 January 2023 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 January 2023.

19 January 2023 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 January 2023 is payable by today.

31 January 2023 – Last day to file 2021-22 self-assessment tax returns online.

31 January 2023 – Balance of self-assessment tax owing for 2021-22 due to be settled on or before today unless you have elected to extend this deadline by formal agreement with HMRC. Also due is any first payment on account for 2022-23.

1 February 2023 – Due date for corporation tax payable for the year ended 30 April 2022.

19 February 2023 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 February 2023. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 February 2023)

19 February 2023 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 February 2023.

19 February 2023 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 February 2023 is payable by today.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt has confirmed, in a written statement, that the next UK Budget will take place on Wednesday, 15 March 2023. This will technically be the Chancellor’s first Budget although his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons on 17 November 2022 included many announcements more typically seen in a traditional Budget.

This means there have already been a raft of changes announced for 2023-24, so it will be interesting to see what further changes are announced as part of the Budget next Spring.

Details of all the Budget announcements will be made on a special section of the GOV.UK website which will be updated following completion of the Chancellor’s speech next March.

The Budget will be published alongside the latest forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). This forecast will be in addition to that published for the Autumn Statement and fulfil the obligation for the OBR to produce at least two forecasts in a financial year, as is required by legislation.

The OBR has executive responsibility for producing the official UK economic and fiscal forecasts, evaluating the government’s performance against its fiscal targets, assessing the sustainability of and risks to the public finances and scrutinising government tax and welfare spending.

Last year over 12.5 million taxpayers were required to complete a Self-Assessment tax return but over 2.3 million taxpayers missed the 31 January deadline.

The deadline for submitting your 2021-22 Self-Assessment tax returns online is 31 January 2023. You should also be aware that payment of any tax due should also be made by this date. This includes the payment of any balance of Self-Assessment liability for the 2021-22 plus the first payment on account due for the current 2022-23 tax year.

If you miss the filing deadline you will usually be charged a £100 fixed penalty which applies even if there is no tax to pay or if the tax due is paid on time. If you do not file and pay before 1 May 2023 then you will face additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900. If the return still remains outstanding further higher penalties will be charged after six months and again after twelve months from the filing date. There are also additional penalties for paying late that amount to 5% of the tax unpaid at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months.

If you had tax underpayments in the 2021-22 tax year you have until 30 December 2022 to file your online Self-Assessment returns in order to have the monies collected in the 2023-24 tax year starting on 6 April 2023.

We would encourage you to complete your tax return as early as possible as the filing date looms. If you are filing online for the first time you should ensure you register to use HMRC’s Self-Assessment online service. Once registered an activation code will be sent by mail. This process can take up to 10 working days.

The vehicle benefit charges for 2023-24 have been announced. Where employees are provided with fuel for their own private use by their employers, the car fuel benefit charge is also applicable. The fuel benefit charge is determined by reference to the CO2 rating of the car, applied to a fixed amount. The car fuel benefit charge will increase in 2023-24 to £27,800 (from £25,300). The fuel benefit is not applicable when the employee pays for all their private fuel use.

The standard benefit charge for private use of a company van will increase to £3,960 (from £3,600). A company van is defined as ‘a van made available to an employee by reason of their employment’. There is an additional van fuel benefit charge for a van with significant private use. The limit will increase in 2023-24 to £757 (from £688). If private use of the van is insignificant, then no benefit will apply.

Since 6 April 2021, the van benefit charge has been reduced to zero for vans that produce zero carbon emissions. This measure supports the governments climate change agenda by encouraging the uptake up of vans that emit zero carbon emissions.

The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, recently hosted a meeting at 11 Downing Street to discuss what help may be available to support homeowners who encounter problems paying their mortgage. The meeting was attended by leaders of the UK’s major mortgage lenders, the Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert. The meeting was convened in light of the increase in interest rates over the last year coupled with rising inflation.

At the meeting, mortgage lenders committed to help all their customers by:

• enabling customers who are up to date with payments to switch to a new competitive, mortgage deal without another affordability test;
• providing well-timed information to help customers plan ahead should their current rate be due to end;
• offering tailored support to those who start to struggle with payments, which may vary by lender, but may include extending the term of the mortgage to make monthly payments lower, a short-term reduction in monthly payments or accepting interest-only payments for a period where appropriate; and
• ensuring highly trained and experienced staff are on hand to help where needed.

The government also confirmed that they would take action to make Support for Mortgage Interest easier to access and increased funding for the Money and Pensions Service to provide debt advice in England.

The FCA in turn published a consultation on draft guidance clarifying how lenders can support borrowers impacted by the rising cost of living and will also publish more information for borrowers struggling to make their monthly mortgage payment.

Time is running out to claim the super-deduction offering 130% first-year tax relief. The deduction is available to companies until March 2023. The super-deduction was designed to help incorporated businesses finance expansion after the coronavirus pandemic and to help drive growth.

The super-deduction tax break was introduced on 1 April 2021 and allows businesses to deduct 130% of the cost of any qualifying investment on most new plant and equipment investments that would ordinarily qualify for 18% main rate writing down allowances. This means that for every £1 businesses invest, they can reduce their tax bill by up to 25p. The temporary tax relief applies on qualifying capital asset investments until 31 March 2023.

In addition, an enhanced first year allowance of 50% on qualifying special rate assets also applies to expenditure within the same period. This includes most new plant and machinery investments that would ordinarily qualify for 6% special rate writing down allowances.

The super-deduction can only be claimed by companies. This means that self-employed traders are unable to benefit. However, they could benefit from the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) for investments of up to £1 million. The AIA allows for a 100% tax deduction on qualifying expenditure on plant and machinery. The temporary limit of £1 million will also remain in place until 31 March 2023 before reverting to the usual £200,000 limit.

Be prepared to pay more on your late payments after the Bank of England increased the base rate to 3.5 per cent from 3 per cent.

The ninth increase of 2022 was deemed necessary to help bring inflation down.

The decision has a knock-on effect on HMRC interest rates that are linked to the Bank of England base rate.

As a consequence of the change, HMRC interest rates for late payment and repayment will increase.

These changes will come into effect on:

• 26 December 2022 for quarterly instalment payments
• 6 January 2023 for non-quarterly instalments payments

Information on the interest rates for payments will be updated shortly.

How HMRC interest rates are set

HMRC interest rates are set in legislation and are linked to the Bank of England base rate.

Late payment interest is set at base rate plus 2.5%. Repayment interest is set at base rate minus 1%, with a lower limit – or ‘minimum floor’ – of 0.5%. The lower limit for repayment interest made sure that taxpayers continued to get 0.5% even when the base rate fell to 0.1%.

The differential between late payment interest and repayment interest is in line with the policy of other tax authorities worldwide and compares favourably with commercial practice for interest charged on loans or overdrafts and interest paid on deposits.

The rate of late payment interest encourages prompt payment and ensures fairness for those who pay their tax on time, while the rate of repayment interest fairly compensates taxpayers for loss of use of their money when they overpay.

Do you need advice on late payment rates? Get in touch.

Looking forward to that well-earned Christmas break? As you tick off the jobs ahead of the big day, don’t forget to think about your Self Assessment while you’re busy ordering the turkey and putting up the tree.

If you complete your tax return ahead of the 25th, you’ll be able to enjoy Christmas knowing that’s another task crossed off the to-do list.

Last year more than 2,800 customers chose to file their tax return on Christmas Day.

Avoid paying the penalty

Self Assessment customers need to complete their tax return and pay any tax owed by the 31 January 2023 deadline or risk having to pay a penalty. Those who file their return before 30 December may also have the option of paying any tax owed through their PAYE tax code.

Filing early means if customers owe money, they have plenty of time to explore which of the payment options available is best for them by visiting GOV.UK. Customers should include their bank account details so that if HMRC needs to repay them it can be done quickly and securely.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We are encouraging customers to plan their Self Assessment as they’d plan for Christmas – get organised and complete their to-do list with plenty of time to avoid that last minute rush. Just search ‘self assessment’ on GOV.UK to make a start.”

The easiest and quickest way to complete a tax return is online through a Personal Tax Account where customers can start their return and go back to it as many times as they need before submitting it.

Use the free app

To make it even simpler, customers can now use the free and secure HMRC app to get their Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), make Self Assessment payments and obtain their National Insurance number and employment history .

HMRC has a wide range of resources to help customers complete their tax return, including guidance, webinars and YouTube videos.

Customers need to be aware of the risk of scams as criminals use Self Assessment as an opportunity to commit fraud. Customers must never share their HMRC login details as criminals use them to steal or make a fraudulent claim. Customers should check HMRC’s scams advice on GOV.UK.

Those who are unable to pay their tax bill in full can access support and advice on GOV.UK. HMRC may be able to help by arranging an affordable payment plan, known as Time to Pay. Customers should try to do this online: go to GOV.UK for more information. Alternatively, they can contact the helpline.

Genuine excuses only

HMRC will treat those with genuine excuses leniently, as it focuses its penalties on those who persistently fail to complete their tax returns and deliberate tax evaders. Customers who provide HMRC with a reasonable excuse before the 31 January deadline can avoid a penalty after this date.

If you are having financial concerns, talk to us for advice.

A clampdown on fraudsters and benefits cheats has saved more than £400m of taxpayers’ cash.

New figures published by the Cabinet Office have revealed that cutting-edge data matching software has been used to weed out the cheaters.

The National Fraud Initiative enables organisations to use data and match records so they can pick up where people or businesses are taking the Government for a ride. Since its inception, it’s identified and helped recover around £2.4bn.

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jeremy Quin, said: “British people work hard for every penny and they rightly expect the Government to put everything they’ve got into protecting taxpayers’ money.

“Money stolen from the Government through fraud is theft from every taxpayer.

Taking the fight to fraudsters

“This report shows we saved the taxpayer £443 million. When the country is tightening its belt, government must do the same.

“To be even more effective, earlier this year, we set up a new anti-fraud authority which is designed by and led by fraud experts whose express mission is to take the fight to fraudsters.”

The latest figures show around 42,000 fraudulent disabled blue badges were being used and more than 225,000 cases where discounted travel cards of people who had died or didn’t qualify for concessions have now been blocked.

Around 7,000 people who were clogging up the social housing waiting lists of 102 councils despite not being eligible have been identified and removed, opening up affordable housing for those who need it.

One case study was in Sandwell where an individual was offered social housing. They then claimed to a neighbouring council that they were homeless and were offered temporary housing. The use of NFI data-matching allowed the fraud to be identified and the individual is now in arrears of nearly £100,000.

Another came in Tameside where a hospitality business which was ineligible for small business support lied to two councils about its size and received more than £40,000 in rates relief.

Interim CEO of the Public Sector Fraud Authority Mark Cheeseman said: “Every day, people are attacking taxpayer-funded services for their own gain. The Public Sector Fraud Authority, where the National Fraud Initiative is now based, is part of a wider investment across government to rise to this challenge.

“In a difficult context, these latest results are still the best since the National Fraud Initiative started in 1996 – stopping more fraud than at any other point in its history and protecting public money and public services. This achievement is a testament to the work of public servants across the United Kingdom, including Local Authorities and NHS Trusts, who are striving to find and stop fraud.”

£180m target by April 2023

The newly established Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) has been backed by £25 million of new funding with a target of saving £180 million for the taxpayer by April 2023.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen said: “This government is coming down hard on fraudsters, using cutting edge data to track them and recover public money.

“We’re boosting that work with an extra £280 million to tackle benefit fraud and £79 million to tackle tax fraud. No one is above the law.”

Do you know what support you are entitled to? Get in touch if you need any advice.

Money-saving expert Martin Lewis has advised those struggling with mortgage payments to speak to their lenders as they announced plans to support customers during the cost-of-living crisis.

Rising costs and interest rates across the economy are a major cause of concern for consumers in many areas, and the Government understands that mortgage borrowers may be particularly worried about increases to their monthly payments.

Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has met leaders of the UK’s major mortgage lenders, the chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Lewis to discuss what support could be available.

Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “The major concern for people’s mortgages – and the knock-on impact of mortgage increases on rents – is the situation in the spring, when we expect interest rates to be higher, energy prices to be rising, and other cost of living impacts.

“So the most important thing is that now the conversations have started about what flexibility and forbearance measures can be put in place to help those struggling. For those worried about making mortgage repayments, the sooner you communicate with your lender the better.”

Lenders’ commitments

At the meeting, lenders committed to help all their customers by:

• enabling customers who are up to date with payments to switch to a new competitive, mortgage deal without another affordability test.
• providing well-timed information to help customers plan ahead should their current rate be due to end.
• offering tailored support to those who start to struggle with payments which will vary by lender, but may include extending the term of the mortgage to make monthly. payments lower, a short-term reduction in monthly payments or accepting interest-only payments for a period where appropriate.
• ensuring highly trained and experienced staff are on hand to help where needed.

The Government has confirmed action to make Support for Mortgage Interest easier to access, as well as record levels of funding for the Money and Pensions Service to provide debt advice in England.

Sound money and a stable economy are the best ways to deliver lower mortgage rates, more jobs and long-term growth.

Mortgage lenders, the FCA and the Government will continue working closely together to ensure that the mortgage market works well for all homeowners, in particular those facing financial difficulty. Discussions will continue to take place with lenders on what more they are able to do to inform and support their customers going forward.

What the lenders say

David Duffy, CEO of Virgin Money, said: “We know that many of our customers will have to make difficult decisions in the current economic environment, and we are being proactive in offering our support to those in need.”

Matt Hammerstein, CEO of Barclays UK, added: “We are committed to helping every borrower manage their repayments while adjusting to the current environment. The announcements made by the Government and mortgage lenders to ensure support is available for those who may or do encounter challenges making mortgage payments, both now and in the future, are a critical part of that.

“At Barclays, we always work with our customers to find any feasible way to keep them in their home, which is why we have a dedicated team who are trained to offer dedicated and tailored support to each individual borrower, using a wide range of support options.”

If you are having financial concerns, talk to us for advice.