5 April 2013

Once again we are approaching the end of the tax year. At this time of year it is important to look at the annual tax reliefs available and make sure that where possible we have utilised these as many will be lost as soon as we reach 6 April 2013.

ISA Allowances

Have you used your cash ISA allowance, an overall limit of £11,280 including a cash limit of £5,640. The interest earned on this is tax free, there are already some ISA millionaires out there who have  made the most of this.

IHT

Every year an individual has an allowance of £3,000 that they can give away that is exempt from inheritance tax. Also if the allowance for the previous tax year (currently 11/12) was not used in that tax year this can be carried forward but if not used before 5 April 2013 this will be lost for good.

Capital gains tax

The annual allowance for capital gains tax for an individual is £10,600. If you have been thinking about making a sale of an asset which may incur a capital gain the timing of the gain may be important especially if you have already made or intend to make other gains in the future so that you get two rather than one allowance to offset against this. However I would always recommend getting advice where you think capital gains may arise before any sale takes place.

In Business

The timing of expenditure for those in business is also important around their year end. Depending on the circumstances you may wish to bring forward or delay expenditure for the best outcome for tax purposes and capital allowances. If a sole traders’ profit is below their personal allowance they are likely to wish to delay expenditure so as not to waste this but where they are profitable or creeping up over a higher tax threshold bringing expenditure forward may have a tax advantage. Also the annual investment allowances are always changing and therefore this has an impact on the timing and amounts of capital expenditure each year.

Tax planning

Tax planning is different for each individual, I have been getting in touch with my clients to make sure they are thinking and acting on opportunities. However I have to be careful as sometimes this has been taken as a green light to buy things – pimping up your van with alloys is not exactly what I meant…you know who you are!