The Employment Allowance benefits eligible employers by reducing their National Insurance liability. The current allowance is £5,000. An employer can claim less than the maximum if this covers their total Class 1 NIC bill.

The allowance is only available to employers that have employer NIC liabilities of under £100,000 in the previous tax year.

Connected employers or those with multiple PAYE schemes will have their contributions aggregated to assess eligibility for the allowance. The Employment Allowance can be used against employer Class 1 NICs liability. It cannot be used against Class 1A or Class 1B NICs liabilities. The allowance can only be claimed once across all employer’s PAYE schemes or connected companies. De minimis state aid rules may also apply in restricting the use of the allowance.

Employment Allowance claims need to be re-submitted each tax year. There are currently a number of excluded categories where employers cannot claim the employment allowance. This includes limited companies with a single director and no other employees as well as employees whose earnings are within IR35 ‘off-payroll working rules’.

The child benefit rates for the only or eldest child in a family is currently £25.60 and the weekly rate for all other children is £16.95.

Taxpayers entitled to the child benefit should be aware that HMRC usually stop paying child benefit on the 31 August following a child’s 16th Birthday. Under qualifying circumstances, the child benefit payment can continue until a child reaches their 20th birthday if they stay in approved education or training. A qualifying young person is someone aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 in full time non-advanced education or on unpaid approved training courses.

HMRC has just sent more than 1.4 million Child Benefit reconfirmation letters to parents whose child may be affected. The letters include a QR code which, when scanned, directs them to GOV.UK to update their claim quickly and easily online. This can also be done on the HMRC app.

Parents have until 31 August 2024 to tell HMRC that their 16-year-old is continuing their education or training, and their intention to continue receiving Child Benefit. No child benefit is payable after a young person reaches the age of 20 years.

HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services recently said:

‘Child Benefit is an important financial support for many families, so make sure you don’t miss out on any payments if your teenager intends to continue approved education or training. You can quickly and easily extend your claim online or via the HMRC app, just search ‘Child Benefit when your child turns 16’ on GOV.UK.’

Child benefit is usually payable for children who come to the UK. However, there are a number of rules which must be met in order to claim. HMRC must be notified without delay if a child receiving child benefit moves permanently abroad.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is normally charged at a simple flat rate of 20% (but see comments below) when you sell shares unless they are in a CGT free investment such as an ISA or qualifying pension. Your gain is usually the difference between what you paid for your shares and the amount received when you sold them.

There are special rules for working out the cost of your shares if you sell:

• shares you bought at different times and prices in one company;
• shares through an investment club;
• shares after a company merger or takeover; and
• employee share scheme shares.

If you only pay basic rate tax and make a small capital gain, they you may only be subject to a reduced CGT rate of 10%. Once the total of your taxable income and gains exceeds the higher rate threshold, the excess will be subject to 20% CGT. There is also an annual CGT exemption. In the current (2024-25) tax year you can make £3,000 of gains before paying any CGT. The limit in 2023-24 was £6,000. The allowance applies to each member of a married couple or civil partnership. 

The usual due date for paying any CGT you owe to HMRC on the sale of shares is the 31 January following the end of the tax year in which a capital gain was made. This means that CGT for any gains crystalised before 6 April 2025 will be due for payment on or before 31 January 2026.

The normal way to report a gain on the sale of shares is to complete the relevant sections of your Self-Assessment tax return in the tax year after the gain was made. When calculating your gain, you can deduct certain costs of buying or selling shares such as stockbrokers’ fees or Stamp Duty Reserve Tax when you bought the shares.

Whilst there are a large number of state benefits available, it is not clear which of these benefits are taxable and which are tax-free.

HMRC’s guidance provides the following list of the most common state benefits that are taxable, i.e., Income Tax is payable, subject to the usual limits:

• Bereavement Allowance (previously Widow’s pension)
• Carer’s Allowance
• contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Incapacity Benefit (from the 29th week you get it)
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• pensions paid by the Industrial Death Benefit scheme
• the State Pension
• Widowed Parent’s Allowance

The most common state benefits you do not have to pay Income Tax on are:

• Attendance Allowance
• Bereavement support payment
• Child Benefit (income-based – use the Child Benefit tax calculator to see if you’ll have to pay tax)
• Child Tax Credit
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• free TV licence for over-75s
• Guardian’s Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support – though you may have to pay tax on Income Support if you’re involved in a strike
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Industrial Injuries Benefit
• lump-sum bereavement payments
• Maternity Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Universal Credit
• War Widow’s Pension
• Winter Fuel Payments and Christmas Bonus
• Working Tax Credit

Companies House offers interested parties the ability to order certified copies of certificates and documents held on the Companies House register.

You can order:

• a company certificate with certified facts; or
• a certified copy of a document held on the register.

You can place an order by:

• using the Find and update company information service available at https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/ – search for the company, and order from the ‘More’ tab; or by
• calling the Companies House contact centre on 0303 1234 500.

There are two dispatch options for this service: standard or express dispatch. The standard service costs £15. Orders for incorporation documents cost £30. Companies House aims to send these orders within 10 working days. There is also an express service available at a higher cost.

You can request to include additional certified facts on a certificate. These are:

• directors’ names, and details such as date of birth or nationality;
• secretaries’ names;
• registered office address;
• the company’s objects; and a
• summary statement – previously known as the good standing statement.

You cannot order certificates with information on people with significant control (PSCs), shareholders, shareholdings or statement of capital.