February questions and answers

Newsletter issue - February 2017.

Q. Due to unforeseen circumstances I have recently had to sell my house and down-size to a smaller property. I sold the house for £20,000 less than I paid for it. Can I offset this loss against income from my business and reduce my income tax liability for this year?

A. Unfortunately the tax law does not permit you to do this. I am assuming that you are not trading in properties and the house was either your main residence or an investment asset. Losses on the sale of a principal private residence are generally not allowable losses for tax purposes. If the property was an investment asset, the loss on the sale may be treated as a 'capital loss', which could be offset against other capital gains you make, but it cannot be offset against other income. For further information on this, see the HMRC Capital Gains Manual at paragraph CG65080.

Q. I have some spare cash earning virtually no interest in the bank and I have decided that I would like to buy a flat for my daughter, who is currently just 16. Am I correct in thinking that she cannot own the property until she is 18? Is there an alternative for ownership? What are the tax implications surrounding this proposal?

A. You could consider using a bare trust for buying the flat. In very broad terms, a bare trust is a basic trust in which the beneficiary (in this case, your daughter) has the absolute right to the capital and assets within the trust, as well as the income generated from the assets. This type of trust is popular with parents and grandparents who wish to transfer assets to children or grandchildren. The assets are held in the name of a trustee (in this case, you), who will be responsible for managing the trust in a prudent manner so as to generate maximum benefit for the beneficiaries. However, you would not have control over the assets and no say or discretion in directing the trust's income or capital. However, since you will have provided the funds to buy the flat, under what is known as the 'settlements legislation' you will be taxed on the income from it until your daughter becomes 18.

When your daughter turns 18, you can change the name of ownership on the Land Registry documents, which is relatively straight-forward.

Q. I have been trading for several years. I am not currently registered for VAT but think my income is getting close to the VAT registration threshold. What items can I exclude from my 'taxable turnover' calculation?

A. When the 'taxable turnover' of a business reaches the VAT registration threshold, currently £83,000 per annum, it must register for VAT. As you state, any income you receive that is not counted as 'taxable turnover' is excluded from the £83,000 turnover figure.

There are several items that can be ignored when calculating 'taxable turnover' for VAT registration purposes. Any income that is 'exempt' from VAT is ignored. This commonly includes insurance, postage stamps or services; and health services provided by doctors or dentists.

Some goods and services are outside the VAT tax system so VAT is neither charged nor reclaimed on them. Such items include:

  • goods or services you buy and use outside of the EU;
  • statutory fees - like the London congestion charge;
  • goods you sell as part of a hobby - like stamps from a collection;
  • donations to a charity - if given without receiving anything in return.

Supplies of services to business customers in another EU member state or any customer outside the EU are treated as outside the scope of UK VAT and do not count towards turnover for VAT registration purposes (for example: supplying consultancy services to a business customer in Spain).

Other non-business income that may be excluded includes disbursements incurred on behalf of a client, grants, or any income from employment.

Finally, it is worth noting that you can ignore any 'one-off' sales of capital assets. This means that if, for example, you sell a van and the income received puts the business turnover over the registration limit, the sales proceeds can be ignored.

What our clients say about us...

  • "Paul has provided accountancy services to my company for 2 years now. I can recommend Paul very highly; his skills as an accountant are highly detailed and professional and he is always available to provide advice. One aspect of the way Paul works that I greatly appreciate is a preference to meet face to face when there is a detailed conversation to be had. I personally find this more productive and is a benefit of working with a small accountancy firm that you wouldn't get with the large faceless providers."

    ALISTAIR FAIRWEATHER - PROGRAMME & PROJECT MANAGER, DELIVERING/RESCUING I.T. 7 BUSINESS CHANGE WITH BUDGETS UPTO £50M INC SUPPIER MANAGEMENT

  • "I couldn't ask for more from Paul as an Accountant. Paul has been accountant to Work Relief Charity Recruitment for just over a year now and is proving an invaluable asset. Accurate, knowledgeable, flexible with an emphasis on service delivery, I would recommend Paul's services to any organisation looking for an accounts professional."

    Neil Price - Managing Director at Work Relief Charity Recruitment

  • "Paul was a referral from a family member when I started my business 2 years ago. As this was the first time I had ever run my own company I was totally clueless over the financial side of matters and was worried that I may have made mistakes in any of my accounting. I needn't have worried as after enaging Paul for a set monthly fee he was always there on the end of the phone for all sorts of questions I had and no matter how trivial they were Paul gave me all the information I required and more and did an excellent and painless job at the end of my first year! Couldn't ask for any better to be honest. Just two words - hire him!!!"

    Lee Westrap MBCS - Director - Bulldog IT Services

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Booth & Co  |   The Hermitage  |   15a Shenfield Road  |   Brentwood  |   Essex  |   CM15 8AG        Telephone: 01277 224666    |   Email: info@boothandco.co.uk