Author Archives: Mark Cupitt

Annual Investment Allowance set at £200,000

The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) provides an immediate deduction to many business for the cost of most plant and machinery (not cars) purchased by a business up to an annual limit.

The maximum annual amount of the AIA was increased to £500,000 from 1 April 2014 for companies or 6 April 2014 for unincorporated businesses until 31 December 2015. George Osborne has now told us in the Summer Budget what the ‘permanent’ amount will be from 1 January 2016. It is £200,000.

What have also been confirmed are the transitional provisions to calculate the amount of AIA in an accounting period which straddles the date of change. Two calculations need to be made:

  1. A calculation which sets the maximum AIA available to a business in an accounting period which straddles 1 January 2016.
  2. A further calculation which limits the maximum AIA relief that will be available for expenditure incurred from 1 January 2016 to the end of that accounting period.

It is the second figure that can catch a business out. For a company with a 31 March year end, under calculation 1 the company will be entitled to up to £425,000 of AIA (9/12 x £500,000 + 3/12 x £200,000). However for expenditure incurred on or after 1 January to 31 March 2016 the maximum amount of relief will only be £50,000 (3/12 x £200,000).

So check with us what will be the tax efficient capital expenditure limits between 1 January 2016 and the end of the accounting period for your business.

 

Ensure you receive Entrepreneurs’ Relief

Entrepreneurs’ Relief  It is not automatic and guaranteed.

Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER) has been around for many years. However, it appears that HMRC are now taking a more active interest in ER claims and the Government has recently tweaked some of the rules. It is not automatically  given and you need to ensure that you meet the relevant conditions.  We consider below the main rules in respect of individual shareholders in limited companies.

What are the basic conditions?

ER applies to gains on disposals of shares (and securities) in a trading company (or the holding company of a trading group) provided that the individual making the disposal:

  • has been an officer or employee of the company, or of a company in the same group of companies throughout the year leading up to the disposal of the shares; and
  • throughout that period owns at least 5% of the ordinary share capital of the company and that holding enables the individual to exercise at least 5% of the voting rights in that company.

12 month period

It is critical that the tests are met throughout the 12 months up to the date of disposal. What happened before this is not relevant.

The term ‘officer of the company’ is not defined, so being an unpaid company secretary would, for example, meet the definition. The same issue applies to employment in that the term is not defined – being paid to work 2 hours per week would be good enough. However, this is an area HMRC are interested in.

In a recent case, a husband and wife sold their shares. They both met the 5% test but the wife had been given a P45 prior to the sale at the insistence of the buyer. HMRC argued that she could not be an employee. Due to the specific circumstances of the case the Tribunal did not agree with HMRC but the case illustrates how critical the two tests are.

Make sure basic conditions are in place

A simple question now needs to be asked in the case of every family company: 

‘If there was a sale of the company today – what would be the maximum ER which would be available?’ 

The ideal answer should be £10 million x number of shareholders.

If that answer is not the case then the question to consider is what steps need to be taken to make sure that it will apply bearing in mind that there is a minimum qualifying period of 12 months which must be satisfied.

Planning if basic conditions are in place

Provided that an individual meets the basic requirements detailed above they can have further shares added to their holding within that final period and those shares will qualify for ER. Where shareholders are spouses or civil partners, some last minute planning can enable a better ER position to be obtained as the following example shows.

Example

The shares in Helpringham Breweries Ltd are owned as follows:

Ted Robinson 40% John Robinson 40%

Betty Robinson (wife of Ted) 10% Jane Robinson (wife of John) 10%

Base cost of the shares is negligible.

Ted and John are the directors of the company. Neither Betty nor Jane work in the company and are not office holders.

An unexpected offer is made for the company provided a quick sale can be arranged. As things stand, Ted and John will qualify for ER on their shares because they are officers and meet the shareholding requirement. Betty and Jane do meet the shareholding requirement but because they are not officers/employees and cannot be so for a period of twelve months leading up to the sale, their disposals will not qualify.

What can be considered in a situation like this would be for Betty and Jane to transfer their shares to their husbands and for them to make the disposal. This will only be advantageous up to a value of £10 million on each husband’s disposal.

What is a trading company? 

The definition of a trading company is:

‘…a company carrying on trading activities whose activities do not to any substantial extent include activities that are not trading activities.’

The legislation defines ‘trading activities’ as activities carried on by the company:

  • in the course of, or for the purposes of, a trade being carried on by it
  • for the purposes of a trade that it is preparing to carry on
  • with a view to its acquiring or starting to carry on a trade
  • with a view to its acquiring a significant interest in the share capital of another company that:

– is a trading company or the holding company of a trading group, and

– if the acquiring company is a member of a group of companies, is not a member of that group.

There is no definition of ‘substantial’ in the legislation and so this is an area of some uncertainty. HMRC’s view is that the term means 20% but 20% of what? Their view is that some or all of the following are among the measures that might be taken into account in reviewing a particular company’s status:

1.Income from non-trading activities.

2.The asset base of the company.

3.Expenses incurred, or time spent, by officers and employees of the company in undertaking its activities.

4.The company’s history.

It may be that some indicators point one way and others the opposite way. HMRC suggest that the factors should be looked at in the round.

Beware non-trading activities

One area of concern has historically been that of an otherwise trading company accumulating a large cash balance. There are two points to note, namely:

  • Is the holding of cash an activity?
  • If so, does it fail the 20% test? Interestingly, there is no public case where HMRC have tried to argue that a large cash balance means no ER.

However, consider the following example.

Example

John and his wife have run a building company successfully for 20 years. They decide to retire but retain the last five properties built by the company, within the company, which are then let out. The intention is that the income will provide them with an income in retirement.

This will mean the company will cease to qualify for ER once it ceases to trade.

Planning is the key!

The availability of ER is not straight-forward and the above only deals with the easier situation i.e. selling for cash. As always, advance planning is the key. If you have any questions about the above or are considering selling your company, please do get in touch with us.

 

 

 

What is an employee?

The risks to any business paying for the services of an individual are significant. Paying a person as if they are self employed can result in large arrears of PAYE and NIC being payable by the employer.

An indication of the complexity of the issue is to be found in a report by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) which runs to 190 pages. It rapidly became clear to the OTS that the tax system is still in many ways stuck in an out-of-date mindset. In the 1950s and 1960s many workers were firmly on the payroll as employees. The traditional independent contractor was self-employed. The huge growth in freelancing as a way of life (and work) doesn’t fit readily into this traditional model.

Has the OTS come up with a solution? No it hasn’t but it does suggest some useful improvements which could be made in the short term to provide more certainty for businesses. It also suggests longer term ideas. We shall see if the government picks up the baton so that some progress can be made.

If you have concerns over the status of yourself or your contractors contact [email protected]

 

 

 

 

Take care with the calculation of holiday pay

In recent years, there have been a number of cases before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) which show that it can be difficult to calculate the amount of holiday pay due to an employee.

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended) most workers are entitled to paid statutory annual leave. This is 5.6 weeks (28 days) if the employee works five days a week. These regulations are derived from the EU Working Time Directive (which requires workers to be given four weeks annual leave).

The fundamental principle decided by the ECJ and the EAT is that workers should be entitled to their ‘normal remuneration’ when on holiday.

Two important areas in which recent judgements have been made are overtime and commission payments.

In November 2014, three cases were heard together by the EAT. In these cases, employees were required to work overtime if requested by their employers. The EAT referred to this type of overtime as ‘non-guaranteed overtime’.

Before these cases it was generally considered that holiday pay need only include ‘guaranteed’ overtime. Guaranteed overtime is overtime which the employer guarantees to provide to the employee even if the employer has no work available at the time.

Following the principles set out by the ECJ, the EAT has decided that non-guaranteed overtime which is regularly paid must be taken into account in the calculation of holiday pay.

There is currently no definitive case law that suggests that voluntary overtime needs to be taken into account.

In February this year, a further ruling on commission and holiday pay was made by an Employment Tribunal in the case of Lock v British Gas although the principle had already been decided by the ECJ. Mr Lock was a salesman whose remuneration consisted of basic salary and commission calculated by reference to sales achieved (typically 60% of his remuneration). The ECJ held there was an ‘intrinsic link’ between the commission payments and the tasks he was required to carry out under his contract of employment. Therefore commission was part of ‘normal remuneration’. 

What should employers do?

It would be prudent to:

  • review the variable elements in employees’ pay and whether these are regularly paid. Overtime and commissions are two examples – there may be other amounts. The fundamental test is whether these sums are intrinsically linked to the tasks required to be performed by the employee
  • consider including these elements in holiday pay going forward. The additional payments do not have to be for the annual leave given in excess of the EU four weeks requirement
  • review employment contracts to see if they require amendment.

Acas has lots of advice on its website and for specific guidance, employers can contact a helpline provided by Acas:

http://www.acas.org.uk/helpline

 

 

 

 

Reform of Class 2 NI contributions. Are you aware how it may impact on you?

Most individuals who are self-employed are required to pay Class 2 NIC. This is a contributory benefit which protects their entitlement to the State Pension. Those who are not liable to pay can pay voluntarily to protect their benefit entitlement.

Changes have been made for the 2015/16 tax year. The amount of the liability will be determined when that person completes their self assessment return. This means that it will be paid alongside their income tax and Class 4 NIC.

Existing direct debit arrangements will cease by July 2015. For those who wish to spread the cost HMRC will retain a facility to enable them to make regular payments throughout the year. For those who do not use the facility the payment date for the 2015/16 liability will be due on 31st January 2017.

Those with small profits will no longer have to apply in advance for an exception certificate. Voluntary payments will continue to be allowed.

And just when we were just getting used to this change the Coalition government, in Budget 2015, proposed the abolition of Class 2 NIC. Class 4 NIC will be reformed to include a contributory benefit test.

Contact us on [email protected] to review how the changes impact on you.

 

 

Prompt payment discounts and VAT.

If you offer a discount to your customers for prompt payment, the VAT treatment in your VAT accounts has become quite tricky.

For many years UK legislation has allowed suppliers to account for VAT on the discounted price offered for prompt payment even when that discount was not taken up.

An example would be a 5% discount of the full price if payment was made within 14 days of invoice date. If the supply was for £1,000 (20% standard VAT rate), VAT on the invoice could be charged at £190 (£1,000 less 5% discount x 20%) rather than £200 (£1,000 x 20%). Whether the customer took up the discount or not the VAT payable would stay at £190 in both cases.

The VAT treatment has now been brought into line with the Principal VAT Directive, which requires VAT to be accounted for on the consideration actually received. The change applies generally to businesses that offer a prompt payment discount (PPD) on invoices raised or received from the 1 April 2015. The change does not apply to imports.

Correct accounting

On issuing a VAT invoice a business will have to record the VAT on the full price in their accounts. If offering a PPD suppliers must show the rate of the discount offered on their invoice. If the PPD is taken up then the supplier will have to make an adjustment in their accounts to reflect the reduced consideration. In addition the supplier will have to decide which of two processes it will undertake to inform the customer that the PPD has been validly claimed and the reduced VAT payment accepted. This can be done either through formally issuing a credit note or an approved statement on the original invoice. An example of this would be:

‘A discount of X% of the full price applies if payment is made within Y days of the invoice date. No credit note will be issued. Following payment you must ensure you have only recovered the VAT actually paid.’

If you have ant questions on the correct procedures or information requirements in light of this change contact [email protected]

 

 

 

Has your tax code increased?

If you are an employee or a director you typically will have received a notice of coding for the 2015/16 tax year about three months ago. If you haven’t done so already, it is well worthwhile comparing this to the notice of coding for 2014/15. Because if you have a company car and you haven’t recently changed your car, you will probably see a larger than normal increase in the estimated company car benefit.

Most cars are taxed by reference to bands of CO2 emissions. The percentage applied to each band has typically gone up by 1% each year with an overriding maximum charge of 35% of the list price of the car. From 6 April 2015 the percentage applied by each band goes up by 2% and the maximum charge is increased to 37%. So a petrol car with an original list price of £30,000 and CO2 emissions of 135 will see an increase in the taxable benefit from £6,000 (20%) to £6,600 (22%). These increases may discourage businesses from retaining the same car. If the car was purchased by the employer, say three years earlier, a decision to replace the car with a new car needs to take account of not just the cost of the new car but also the fact that many cars are more efficient and thus have lower CO2 emissions than a model manufactured three years earlier.

What does the future hold? It won’t get any better. From 6 April 2016 there will be a further 2% increase in the percentage applied by each band with similar increases in 2017/18 and 2018/19. For 2019/20 the rate will increase by a further 3%. So if the same car is still owned in 2019/20, the car benefit is £9,300 (31%) even though the car will be nine years old.

There is a slight bit of good news on the horizon. If the car is diesel we have had a 3% supplement to the percentages (subject to the overriding maxima of 37% or 35%). The supplement will be removed from 6 April 2016 for all diesel cars.

 Do you want to find out more? contact [email protected]

Are you aware of the increase in the charity audit exemption threshold?

In July 2012, Lord Hodgson issued a report on the Charities Act 2006 which included a number of recommendations for charities in England and Wales. One of these was to increase the audit exemption threshold. Further to this report, two statutory instruments have been laid before Parliament and are effective in England and Wales for financial years ending on or after 31 March 2015.

For financial years ending on or after 31 March 2015:

  • the audit exemption ‘income test’ threshold is increased from £500,000 to £1,000,000
  • there are no changes made to the ‘asset test’, i.e. the asset limit of £3,260,000 and the income limit of £250,000.

Another change included within the statutory instruments is an increase in the income limits for group audit exemption and for the preparation of consolidated accounts from £500,000 to £1,000,000

Note that if the charity is a company it must also qualify as a small company under company law to claim audit exemption.

Charities which are now audit exempt will fall under the independent examination regime. This is a simpler process but there is less depth to the work performed. Many charities not required to have an audit still choose to do so as a means of providing additional assurance to the various people and institutions involved with the charity.

These changes are to charity law in England and Wales. If a charity is deemed to be cross border and is registered not only in England and Wales but also in another jurisdiction such as Scotland, then the charity will need to consider Scottish charity law as well.

The audit exemption limits for charities in Scotland are not expected to change in the near future and broadly speaking use the same limits as English and Welsh charities for financial years ending before 31 March 2015.

These changes do not affect Northern Ireland.

If you want any advice on the effect to you of the changes and the relative merits of an audit or independent examination, please do get in touch at [email protected].

 

Planning for capital expenditure maximise your annual investment allowance

For many businesses the prospect of obtaining a 100% tax deduction for the cost of plant and machinery purchased by the business is attractive. The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) provides such deduction to many businesses for the cost of most plant and machinery (not cars) purchased by a business up to an annual limit. Where businesses spend more than the annual limit, any additional qualifying expenditure generally attracts an annual writing down allowance of only 18% or 8% depending on the type of asset.

The maximum annual amount of the AIA was increased to £500,000 from 1 April 2014 for companies or 6 April 2014 for unincorporated businesses until 31 December 2015. However it was due to return to £200,000 after this date.

So, does that mean there is little time pressure on bringing forward capital expenditure plans? Not necessarily. There are two reasons why you may wish to press ahead with your plans. The first reason is the straightforward point that tax relief is available for the expenditure on an accounting period basis. For example if you have a 30 September year end, expenditure incurred between 1 October 2014 and 30 September 2015 reduces the same tax liability.

The second reason is the effect of moving from a higher to a lower annual amount of AIA. The amount of the AIA from 1 January 2016 is £200,000 considerably less than £500,000.

On the previous occasions where there has been a change in AIA, there have been transitional provisions to calculate the amount AIA in an accounting period which straddles the date of change. If the transitional provisions for the 1 January 2016 are similar to the previous changes, there will be two important elements to the calculations:

  1. A calculation which sets the maximum AIA available to a business in an accounting period which straddles 1 January 2016.
  2. A further calculation which limits the maximum AIA relief that will be available for expenditure incurred from 1 January 2016 to the end of that accounting period.

It is the second figure that can catch a business out.

Example

 

The new AIA is £200,000. A company has a 31 March year end.

The maximum AIA in the accounting period to 31 March 2016 will be:

                   £
9 months to 31 Dec 2015 (three quarters of £500,000) 375,000
3 months from 1 Jan 2016 (one quarter of £200,000) 50,000
_________
425,000
_________

This is still a generous figure. However if expenditure is incurred on or after 1 January to 31 March 2016 the maximum amount of relief for that expenditure will only be £50,000. This is because of the restrictive nature of the second calculation.

Alternatively, the business could defer its expenditure until after 31 March 2016. In the accounting period to 31 March 2017, AIA will be £200,000. However tax relief will have been deferred for a full year. In tax terms the moral of the tale is for the business to ensure that significant expenditure is incurred before 1 January 2016.

Contact us at [email protected] to find out how we can help you plan your capital expenditure to minimize your tax liabilities.

What is the best business structure for tax purposes?

Operating a business tax efficiently is a key concern to all businesses. The choice of a suitable business structure, for example, sole trader, partnership or limited company may have a substantial impact on the level of reliefs, allowances and tax levied on you and that business. It is therefore essential to choose the best business structure for tax purposes to enable you to minimize tax liabilities. The briefing also introduces the issues which impact on changing your business structure from a sole trade or partnership to a company.

To help manage the tax issues which we discuss here it is assumed that the individual or company has no other income or profit chargeable to tax and that no other expenditure or relief is available to relieve tax charges.

1.    Unincorporated business

The taxable trading profits of a business run by an individual as a sole trader are taxed directly on the owner, irrespective of whether the owner draws the money from the business for personal use. The same applies to the profit share of a general partner in a partnership (including a member of a Limited Liability Partnership). The principle applies for both income tax and NIC.

Currently this means that a sole trader or partner whose taxable profit does not exceed £100,000 will be charged to income tax as follows:

  • the first £10,600 is tax free due to the availability of the personal allowance
  • the next £31,785 is charged at 20%
  • any further profits are charged at 40%.

Where taxable profits exceed £100,000 the personal allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 in excess of £100,000 so that there is no tax-free allowance once income reaches £121,200.

If profits reach £150,000 the excess profits are taxed at the additional rate of 45%.

The position for NIC is more straightforward. The main liability is Class 4 which is paid on taxable trading profits as follows:

  • the first £8,060 is NIC free
  • the next £34,325 is charged at 9% and
  • any excess is charged at 2%.

Tax tip – A business starts initially as a sole trader but later a legal partnership is formed with the spouse sharing profits equally. Tax savings may result depending on the precise circumstances

2.    The incorporated business

When the trade is carried out in a company, the company not the individual initially suffers the direct tax charge on the taxable profit.

The rate is 20%, irrespective of the level of the company’s profit.

The owners, who are generally both shareholders and directors, only suffer tax and NIC on any profits extracted from the company, so any profits retained in the company are sheltered from personal tax rates.

There are a number of different methods of extracting profits and tax rates and NIC may need to be considered to minimise liabilities. Currently, lower tax liabilities can arise on capital gains compared to income extraction but capital treatment is generally only available in limited circumstances, such as when the individual sells their shares or  the company is liquidated. In the meantime, director/ shareholders will need to extract income for personal living and this has a tax and in some cases a NIC cost.

The two common methods used are remuneration and dividend. Tax relief is generally available for director/employee remuneration including NIC costs but not for dividends.

i)             Remuneration

Any form of cash remuneration (salary, bonus) and taxable benefits (medical insurance,car, etc.) are taxed as employment income attracting the normal income tax rates as outlined earlier. In addition, employment income (excluding benefits) attracts Class 1 NIC for both the individual and the employing company. This is 12% for the individual on any income in excess of £8,060 up to a limit of £42,385, then 2% on any excess.

The employer is liable for 13.8% Class 1 on  all earnings in excess of £8,112 with no upper limit and, although employees are not liable to NIC on benefits, generally Class 1A NIC is due from the employer at the same 13.8% rate.

ii)            Dividend

When a dividend is paid to an individual it is subject to different tax rates compared to other income due to a 10% tax credit being imputed on to the dividend. The effective rates (as applied to the cash dividend are):

  • basic rate taxpayers 0%
  • higher rate taxpayers 25%
  • additional rate taxpayers 36.1%.

In many cases the overall tax cost to the company and the individual of remuneration is higher compared to a dividend. 

Tax tip – Dividends are often used in combination with remuneration to obtain the most tax effective extraction of profits when the business is carried on through a company. A small salary can preserve entitlement to the state pension and allows the tax efficient use of the personal allowance. 

The dividend tax rates will change from the 2016/17 tax years and the dividend tax credit will be removed and replaced by an annual dividend allowance of £5,000.  The tax rates after the dividend allowance will be:

  • basic rate taxpayers 7.5%
  • higher rate taxpayers 32.5%
  • additional rate taxpayers 38.1%.

How does a company compare with the sole trader or partner generating taxable profits in an unincorporated business?

At  many levels of profit, business owners will pay less tax trading as a company rather than a sole trade or partnership. The NIC savings available to business owners if most of the profit is returned to the business owners as dividends are a significant factor in the savings. The level of the benefit will reduce from the 2016/17 tax years onwards due to the changes in the rates of tax on dividends.

Example

Anthony and Cleopatra make annual profits of £100,000 as a partnership. The business year end is 31 March.

As partners their total tax and NIC liability for the 2015/16 tax year is £25,584.

If they incorporate, taking a salary equivalent to the employee nil rate NIC threshold (£8,060) and the balance as dividend there is:

  • no NIC liability a corporation tax liability of £16,776
  • an income tax liability of £1,328.

So the total tax and NIC liability as a company is only £18,104.

Whilst this shows that tax savings can be achieved by carrying on a business through a company, tax should not be the only factor considered before incorporating a business.

Effective use of losses when a business starts

One of the reasons many businesses start off as unincorporated is that the reliefs available to relieve any trading losses are generally more flexible than the equivalent available to a new company. The idea is that losses are more likely in the early stages of business development, so early and effective use not only saves tax but is cashflow beneficial.

There are some caps to the use of loss relief for larger losses.

A tax loss could be created even though the business is profitable in the early years. This can occur if the business incurs significant expenditure on plant and machinery.

CGT reliefs

The main relief available to business owners to reduce the tax on gains on certain disposals is Entrepreneur’s Relief (ER). This is available on gains of up to £10 million on a qualifying material business disposal and applies to both unincorporated business interests and company shares. The rate of capital gains tax is 10% rather than 18% or 28%. A property personally owned but used in a trading partnership or company may also qualify.

Detailed conditions apply and it is important to plan at least 12 months ahead to secure the relief effectively e.g. an individual with trading company shares must have held 5% and be an officer/employee for the 12 months leading to the disposal.

Business Property Relief (BPR)

The key inheritance tax (IHT) relief for trading businesses is generally available at a rate

of 100% for both unincorporated business interests and unquoted company shares on lifetime gifts and at death.

Where a trading property is not held on the balance sheet of a partnership or a company as it is personally held outside the business, this will only qualify for 50% BPR at most. In addition, in relation to a property used in your trading company there is a risk of no BPR being available unless you have and retain control of the company’s voting power.

Impact of incorporation

If circumstances induce you to incorporate your existing unincorporated business to obtain income tax and NIC savings, there will be a number of factors for you to consider.

Key non tax factors include being aware of the legal and accounting formalities  of operating a company and ensuring that practical matters of the transfer are considered e.g. new business stationery and informing customers, suppliers and the authorities such as HMRC.

Incorporation means the trade ceases for income tax and a new trade starts in the company. This may lead to profit distortions in the final period if careful planning is not considered. It also often involves the disposal of assets to the company which can impact upon both capital allowances and capital gains.

Properties are often retained in personal ownership. This is generally done to minimise the overall tax charges on a future disposal (of the property) as corporation tax would arise on any gains and also personal tax on extracting the rest of the profit. It also avoids Stamp Duty Land Tax which may apply on the transfer. Gains can also arise on the transfer of goodwill.

A recent change potentially restricts the availability of ER on the incorporation of a business if there is a sale of goodwill involved.

 ExampleJack decides to incorporate his 10 year old trading business. The goodwill is valued at£500,000. Under the previous rules, Jack could sell the goodwill to the company and leave the consideration outstanding. ER would have been due on the gain.Jack could then draw against this money in the future with no further tax liability. In addition, the company could have claimed tax relief on the purchase.For disposals on or after 3 December 2014, no ER is available for Jack and no tax relief is given to the company.

However, there are still planning opportunities available and ways of transferring businesses to companies tax-neutrally. Planning is needed in particular to:

  • maximise the capital allowance position for your circumstances
  • minimise the impact of tax liabilities including income tax, NIC and CGT
  • consider the cash flow impact of the timing of any tax payments on changeover.

Once in a company structure any decision to transfer back to being an unincorporated business is also a trade cessation with a disposal of chargeable assets. The critical difference is that there are fewer reliefs available to ensure the process is tax

efficient. This emphasises the point that long- term considerations should be taken into account as well as short-term tax advantages in choosing and changing  business structure.

Many of the issues contained in this briefing have detailed rules which must be properly considered to achieve the desired outcome, so please contact us to review the areas suitable for your specific aims.

Contact us at [email protected] to review your business structure to ensure it maximises your returns.