Author: Glenn

A reminder that the government has stated that it will remove preferential tax treatment based on domicile status for all new foreign income and gains (FIG) that arise from 6 April 2025. To replace the present remittance basis of tax, the government will introduce an internationally competitive residence-based regime, providing 100% relief on FIG for new arrivals to the UK in their first four years of tax residence, this is provided that they have not been UK tax resident in any of the 10 consecutive years prior to their arrival.

From 6 April 2025, the protection from tax on income and gains arising within settlor-interested trust structures will no longer be available for non-domiciled and deemed domiciled individuals who do not qualify for the 4-year FIG regime.

The government intends to conduct a review of offshore anti-avoidance legislation, including the Transfer of Assets Abroad and Settlements legislation, to modernise the rules and ensure they are fit for purpose. The intention for this review will be to remove ambiguity and uncertainty in the legislation, make the rules simpler to apply in practice and ensure these anti-avoidance provisions are effective. Further details on the review will be provided in due course. It is not anticipated that this review will result in any changes before the start of the 2026-27 tax year.

A form of Overseas Workday Relief (OWR) will be retained. Government officials will engage with stakeholders on the design principles for this tax relief and further details are expected to be confirmed in the Budget later this month.

1 November 2024 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 January 2024.

19 November 2024 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 November 2024. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 November 20244.)

19 November 2024 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 November 20244. 

19 November 2024 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 November 2024 is payable by today.

1 December 2024 – Due date for Corporation Tax payable for the year ended 28 February 2024.

19 December 2024 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 December 2024. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 December 2024).

19 December 2024 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 December 2024. 

19 December 2024 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 December 2024 is payable by today.

30 December 2024 – Deadline for filing 2023-24 self-assessment tax returns online to include a claim for under payments to be collected via tax code in 2025-26.

An online service is available on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details to help people find their lost pension funds.

You can use this service to find contact details for:

• your own workplace or personal pension scheme; or
• someone else’s scheme if you have their permission.

Whilst the service won’t confirm if a person has a pension or what its value is it does provide contact details for contacting pension schemes to make further enquiries.

To use this service, the applicant needs to enter their employer’s name or the name of the pension scheme.

Suggestions for finding the name of an historic employer include:

• looking through old paperwork;
• asking former colleagues if they know the employer or scheme name;
• using the search function on the Companies House website as it holds names of all closed and existing companies registered in the UK.

The pension tracing service is a free service. You can also request contact details from the Pension Tracing Service by phone or by post.

Corporation Tax relief may be available when a company or organisation incurs a trading loss, a loss on the sale or disposal of a capital asset, or on property income. Tax relief may be available to reduce Corporation Tax by offsetting it against other profits or gains from the same accounting period.

Additionally, companies can carry a trading loss back to previous years to claim relief by offsetting it against earlier profits, which may result in a Corporation Tax refund.

Typically, such claims can only be made after submitting a Corporation Tax return to HMRC. Losses can only be carried back to the preceding accounting period if the company was trading in that period.

Any claim for trading losses must be included in the Company Tax Return. The trading profit or loss for Corporation Tax purposes is worked out by making the usual tax adjustments to the figure of profit or loss shown in the company’s or organisation’s financial accounts.

Qualifying losses that are not offset in the current period or carried back can also be offset against profits in future accounting periods. There are restrictions on the total amount of carried forward losses that can be offset against profits.

When hiring a new employee, employers must determine the appropriate tax code and starter declaration for their payroll software. Using incorrect tax codes can result in the new employee over or underpaying their taxes. To ensure the correct information is entered, employers need certain details from the new employee, most of which are usually provided on the employee's P45. It's important to remind new employees to bring their P45 on their first day.

If the employee does not have a P45, the required information can be gathered by asking them to complete HMRC’s online PAYE starter checklist. If they cannot use the online version, a paper version is also available. Employers must keep this information in their payroll records for the current tax year and the following three tax years. Once the information is collected, employers can use HMRC’s online tool to determine the employee’s tax code.

The starter checklist should be completed by new employees in the following cases:

• They have a student or postgraduate loan
• Their personal details differ from those on their P45
• They do not have a P45
• They have been sent to work temporarily in the UK by their overseas employer

Once the checklist is completed, the employee can submit it to their employer via email, post, or in person. There is no need to send the checklist to HMRC.