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The short 18 month window to make Class 3A voluntary contributions has commenced and will run to 5 April 2017. Class 3A allows existing pensioners and those reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2016 to improve their retirement income by purchasing extra State Pension. Pensioners can purchase additional State Pension of up to a maximum of £25 per week.
From 6 April 2016 a single tier flat-rate pension will be introduced for people who reach State Pension age from that date. Class 3A is designed to help people who have not been able to build much State Pension before the single tier pension is introduced.
Illustrations of the cost for different ages can be found at www.gov.uk/state-pension-topup. As an example, the cost for a person aged 65 to receive an additional £5 pension a week would be £4,450. Prices are lower for older pensioners because they are more likely to have a shorter life at retirement when they start paying Class 3A.
Class 3A is not a replacement for Class 3 Voluntary National Insurance contributions whereby workers can fill certain gaps in their contribution records. The government advises pensioners to ensure that they have full entitlement to the basic payment before purchasing the new top up.
Jody Done and her husband Jon have had a baby boy, born 1st August 2015, called Nathaniel. Congratulations to Jody and her family.
UK company law already requires certain information on company directors and the registered legal owners of company shares to be made publicly available. One of the aims of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act which passed into law earlier in the year is to ensure that it is clear to anyone doing business with a private company who really controls that business - its 'beneficial owners'.
This publication is published for the information of clients. It provides only an overview of the regulations in force at the date of publication and no action should be taken without consulting the detailed legislation or seeking professional advice. Therefore no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material contained in this publication can be accepted by the authors or the firm.
Businesses, particularly small businesses, can have significant problems coping when an employee is off work for a long time.
Phishing is the fraudulent act of emailing a person in order to obtain personal or financial information. HMRC has issued guidance to help recognise fraudulent emails.
There have been some recent changes to the amounts that can be claimed as repairs or replacements for landlords of residential properties but, despite these changes, the government is proposing further legislation in this area to be introduced from April 2016.
On 6 April 2016, a fundamental change will be made to the taxation system for UK resident individuals. Those who are resident in Scotland will pay two types of income tax on their non-savings income.
It will come as no surprise to many that a UK company or partnership can be criminally liable if it pays a bribe to gain business. It may be a surprise to know that a business commits a criminal offence if a person 'associated with it' bribes another person for the benefit of the business. The Bribery Act 2010 introduced such an offence under the heading of 'failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery'. There is, however, a defence against the offence if the business has put in place 'adequate procedures' designed to prevent persons associated with them from bribing others on their behalf.
The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is now over 20 years old. This is quite a remarkable achievement for a tax break. A change in government often results in the demise of one tax break and the invention of a 'new and better' tax relief. There have been amendments to EIS over the years but it still attempts to help smaller trading companies raise finance by offering a range of tax reliefs to investors who purchase new full-risk ordinary shares in those companies.
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