Taxing Times

drdmdavies

1 Are capital gains regarded as income by the inland revenue. I've heard that they are dealt with separately?

2 The Guardian says that Taper relief is 50% if assets held one whole year then after two or more whole years 25%. Is this 25% per year? I recently sold some units and bonds that I had had 17 years making about £1000 on each, poor investment, and wondered how to work out the CGT.

3 No matter whether single or joint accounts do married couples collectively benefit from twice the current CGT allowance ie 2 X £8500 = £17000?

sten102

I used to live abroad (in a British colony) and have now returned to the U.K. Do I have to declare the money I earned abroad (where there was no income tax) and brought back with me? I paid it into a bank account here, but as I wasn't a tax payer initially I was paid gross interest. Is this okay? Also, is there any difference between the money I brought back with me then, and money that was transferred back to the U.K. after I had returned and was a UK resident?

Thank you.

drdmdavies

1 Are Capital gains considered a form of regular income by the inland revenue or are they taken separately?

Yogabec67

Am employed part-time (PAYE), but started selling cards/stationery for a company at end of October. To date, I haven't made any profit due to starter pack/stock costs v sales. Understand I need to register for Self-Employment by end January, but do I need to fill in a self-assessment form by 31st January also.

Thanks for all the advice/help.

s71hj

I am paid mileage allowance at I think 32p a mile, and also get a lump sum payment every month of appx £65. Some of my colleagues have succesfully claimed tax back, based on the suggestion that we are taxed assuming we get 40p a mile. Our employer however has indicated that we will have to repay the money, as receipt of the lump sum would invalidate the legitimacy of the claim. My dad used to work for the inland revenue, and even he is unsure. What do you think?

Rickycowslip

I have started looking after the financial affairs of two retired people, my mother and an aunt. Could you clarify which elements of their income is taxable ? They receive funds from:
- Govt Pension £110/wk
- RAF Pension £60/wk
- Housing Benefit from Local Authority - £45/wk
- Attendance Allowance £40/wk

thanks...

--_Steve_--_2

Hi, I'm in full time employment and assumed that my employers knew how much tax/ni I should be paying. But last year I was particularly bored and filled out the online self-assessment and got a fair bit of money paid back as I'd over-paid. When I got my cheque I also got a letter saying that I needn't fill out any further assessments. So, if my employer over-paid last year, they could also over-pay this year. Should I complete the assessment anyway, just-in-case?
Thanks!
Steve

jconac

I was a director of a failing limited company, until I resigned in September 2003. I had purchased shares of £18,000 and remained as a shareholder after I left. In early 2005 the company was dissolved by the remaining directors. The company was basically insolvent and my shares were worth nothing. For their own reasons, the remaining directors chose not to bankrupt the company, and bore the rest of the losses personally themselves. They have not published any accounts, but have written to me to say that my shares were worth nothing. I understand that I can claim my £18,000 shares as a capital loss, and although I have no capital gains to offset this against this year, I will be able to offset it against any capital gains that I may make in future years. (I like to dream that I will be wealthy enough to pay capital gains tax one day!) When I left, I was owed over £3000 in expenses that the company couldn't afford to reimburse to me. Can I add this £3000 to the £18,000 capital loss, since it was effectively capital that I introduced to the company?

mandy.harman

Hello Tony (and thanks to Martin for setting up this forum :T )

My husband and I are in the process of buying an apartment in Spain, intending to rent it as a holiday home. We are paying about 50% cash, the remainder with a SVR interest-only loan secured on our UK property. We anticipate that the rental income less maintenance costs should just about cover the interest on the loan. However, we have been given conflicting advice about the tax implications, and wonder whether you can advise.

One source (a book purporting to be a reference for overseas investors) says that the Spanish tax authorities take the first 25% of all rental income, and what is left is then subject to UK tax laws. However, when we rang our tax office, we were told that this was not the case, that as we were UK residents the Spanish authorities would not have a claim on income. In this case we could offset loan interest and maintenance costs against rental income, probably reducing our tax liability to zero. Can you advise who is right?

As a supplementary question, we also have an outstanding mortgage on our UK property which, if added to the loan, would just about equal the value of the Spanish property If we were to consolidate both, could we offset all the interest against rental income?

Thanks

colmax

I work as a self employed window cleaner and live in a one bedroom flat. Last year I had a problem with the tax man because I tried to claim a percentage of my rent, council tax etc for expenses due to the fact that I use my bedroom to do my accounts, prepare advertising cards, book appointments for work etc etc.

I tried to claim back tax because I was told that I could do this. But my local inspector told me that I couldn't claim anything because my bedroom is not used "exclusivley for the use of my business."He said that if I had a two bedroom flat and one room was set aside for my work then I could count that but I couldn't claim a percentage. I tried to argue and he threatenedc to open an investigation into my accounts and that I would be charged for the time sopent by the Inland Revenue to investigate me. He also said things like they can freeze bank accounts etc.

I felt very intimidated and backed off. But was it correct what they said to me? Can they really charge for the costs of an investigation even if they find nothing wrong?

I would appreciate your comments jsut to know and perhaps help any others who might find the samer situation.

Thanks in anticipation

Colin