Financial Monitor (July 2009)
New Rates for Business Fuel Provided to Company Drivers
Unfortunately, the new rates detailed in the June Financial Monitor which apply from 1 July 2009 were not correct for diesel cars. The correct rates for tax free fuel provided to company car drivers for business purposes are:
|
Petrol |
Diesel |
Up to 1400 cc |
10p |
10p |
1400 to 2000 cc |
12p |
10p |
Over 2000 cc |
18p |
13p |
We apologise for any inconvenience resulting from the error.
Pension Scheme Retirement Age
From 6 April 2010 the earliest an individual will be able to draw benefits from a pension scheme is age 55 whereas currently it is normally aged 50. If you are currently aged over 50 but under 55 or reach 50 before 6 April 2010 consideration should be given to taking your retirement benefits unless you are happy to wait until you reach 55.
Offshore Disclosure Opportunity
The Revenue will be offering those customers of the Offshore Banks that were not covered by the initial Offshore Disclosure Scheme in 2007 the opportunity to disclose details of income which may not have been included on their tax returns. The scheme will start this autumn and run until March 2010.
The last disclosure covered 20 years but had a fairly modest penalty of 10% of the tax due. The penalty is likely to be the same for those who were not offered the opportunity to disclose in the previous scheme but will be higher for those who declined that opportunity then but have decided to make a disclosure now.
If you believe you have offshore income where either the capital or the income thereon should have been subject to UK tax but has not been, please contact Peter Newsam for advice.
Non-domiciled UK Resident Claiming the Remittance Basis
From 6 April 2008 significant changes have been made to the way non-domiciled UK residents are taxed.
Previously, all non-doms were free to claim the ‘remittance basis’ of tax without charge which meant that their non-UK income and capital gains were only taxed when and if they were remitted to the UK. Now, however, if you are a non-dom and have been a UK resident for seven or more of the last nine years, you will need to pay a ‘remittance basis charge’ (RBC) of £30,000 for each tax year in which you wish to claim the remittance basis.
Claiming the remittance basis is not obligatory and not claiming it will not affect your domicile status per se, but if it is not claimed, you will be subject to tax on your worldwide income and capital gains in the same way as a UK domiciled UK resident.
In short, as a non-domiciled UK resident you need to make a choice between paying UK tax in full on your worldwide income, or paying the annual £30,000 charge so that you are only taxed on overseas income that is remitted to the UK.
If the remittance basis is claimed, you must nominate an amount of non-UK income and/or capital gains to which the £30,000 tax will be allocated, In theory, if all of your non-UK income and capital gains are remitted to the UK, the £30,000 will be treated as tax paid in advance on the last portion of income and gains remitted.
If you need advice in this case please contact Peter Newsam.
New Health & Safety Poster
From 6 April 2009, the HSE is now publishing a new version of its approved health and safety poster and leaflet. The new version is intended to be much simpler and easier to read, and sets out what employers and workers must do. It is hoped the new style will encourage employees to read the poster’s contents. Employers have a legal duty to display the poster in a prominent position in each workplace they operate, or to provide each worker with a copy of the equivalent leaflet. The new leaflet is also available in the form of a pocket card. Employers can continue to use the existing version of the poster and leaflet until 5 April 2014, as long as they can be read, and state the up-to-date addresses of the enforcing authority, and the Employment Medical Advisory Service.
First Aid – Proposed Changes to Workplace Requirements
The HSE are making changes to the type and style of first aid provision required in the workplace. From 1 October 2009 the ‘Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 will be updated to reflect these proposed changes but until that date we only have drafts and guides as to what they are. The best place to look at the proposals is www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/firstaid.htm where the HSE’s updated website describes the proposals and what they will mean to both employers and employees. There will be a First Aid at Work qualification (FAW) and an Emergency First Aid at Work qualification (EFAW), with the latter being the lesser qualification.
The FAW course is intended to be 3 days rather than 4 at present. The HSE will also be looking to encourage annual refresher or update courses, although these will not be compulsory There are useful downloads of leaflets available at the website, which describe the proposals clearly and also offer straightforward and simple practical advice of first aid in the workplace and set out what is actually required.
We are grateful to Rod Austin of Estates Services On-Line Limited for the above articles on Health and Safety issues.
Next Edition
Our next edition of Financial Monitor will be at the end of September. For those of you who have not yet taken your summer holidays, have an enjoyable break.
Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of these notes we can accept no responsibility for errors or omissions contained in them or for any loss arising from their use unless we have been consulted professionally prior to any action being taken.
UHY Wingfield Slater
Wellington House, 39 Wellington Street, Sheffield S1 1XB
Tel: 0114 275 1544 Facsimile: 0114 275 1366 Email: info@uhy-wingfieldslater.com Web Site: www.uhy-wingfieldslater.com
Registered to carry on audit work and regulated for a range of investment business activities by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
A member of the UHY Hacker Young Group of independent UK partnerships. A member of UHY, an international association of independent accounting and consulting firms.
Print This Page | Previous Page