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.

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.

Civil Partners enjoy the same tax and other advantages as married couples.

To set up a civil partnership in England or Wales, both partners must be eligible, meaning they are over 18, not already married or in a civil partnership and not closely related. The rules may be different in Scotland, Northern Ireland and outside the UK.

You and your partner will need to give notice of your intention to form a civil partnership at your local register office. You must have lived in that registration district for the past 7 days. You and your partner will need to give notice separately if you live in different registration districts. You do not have to do this on the same day.

You'll need to provide various original documents proving your identity, address, and if applicable, evidence of the dissolution of any previous marriage or civil partnership.

The ceremony can take place at a register office or an approved venue. Unlike a wedding, no legal vows are required, but you will sign a civil partnership document in front of witnesses, making it legally binding. After the ceremony, you will receive a civil partnership certificate.

Forming a civil partnership grants rights similar to marriage, particularly regarding inheritance, pensions, and tax responsibilities.

For more detailed information, you can visit the UK government’s official site on civil partnerships: GOV.UK – Civil Partnerships.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is warning that scammers are sending text messages about fake DVSA parking penalty charges. The text messages warn people that they have a ‘parking penalty charge’, and that if they do not pay on time, that they might:

• be banned from driving
• have to pay more
• be taken to court

The text message reads "Dvsa notice for you: You have a parking penalty charge due on 2024/9/30. If you do not pay your fine on time, Your car may be banned from driving, you might have to pay more, or you could be taken to court. Please enter your license plate in the link after reading the information, Check and pay parking penalty charge. Thank you again for your co-operation. Dvsa."

The initial text message has been followed up with scam reminders:

• DVSA Fixed Penalty Office:
• Today is the last day to pay your ticket due to your long term delinquency, if you do not pay your ticket on time you may be required to pay more in the future, and we reserve the right to prosecute you. Please be patient and open the link below to process your ticket.
• Thank you again for your co-operation.

Another scam reminder says:

• DVSA Fixed Penalty Office last notification:
• You have not paid your ticket within the stipulated time. Today is the last time to notify you to pay. We will ban your car from driving on the road starting tomorrow and transfer your parking ticket to the court. Please wait until you receive the information. Process your ticket as soon as possible in the link.

Another scam message says:

• EWHC notice for you:
• We are preparing to prosecute you for the materials handed over by DVSA. Because you have not paid your parking penalty charge for a long time. Today is the last day for payment.
• If you do not pay within today, we will prosecute you. Please read the information and enter your license plate to check your parking ticket.

DVSA advises that it does not issue or deal with parking fines.

Most gifts made during a person’s lifetime are not subject to tax at the time of transfer. These gifts, known as "potentially exempt transfers" (PETs), can become fully exempt if the donor survives for more than seven years after making the gift.

If the donor passes away within three years of the gift, the inheritance tax is treated as if the gift was made upon death. A tapered relief applies if death occurs between three and seven years after the gift, reducing the tax liability based on the time elapsed.

The effective tax rates on the amount exceeding the Inheritance Tax nil rate band are as follows:

• 0 to 3 years before death: 40%
• 3 to 4 years before death: 32%
• 4 to 5 years before death: 24%
• 5 to 6 years before death: 16%
• 6 to 7 years before death: 8%
• 7 or more years before death: 0%

However, these tapered rates do not reduce the tax on a lifetime chargeable transfer below the amount initially chargeable and offer no benefit for transfers within the nil rate band.

We strongly recommend maintaining a record of any PETs you make, including details of exemptions used and any regular gifts made out of surplus income.