To Incorporate or Not To Incorporate...that is the question!

It is important when you startup your business to consider the entity through which you should trade. Should you operate as a:

• Sole trader – an individual
• Partnership – two or more individuals or companies
• Limited Liability Partnership
• Limited Company

Attention Healthcare Professionals!

If you work in the health and wellbeing profession and have taxable income, you're next on HMRC's hit list. The Health & Wellbeing Tax Plan, launched earlier this month, offers another one of their time-limited opportunities to get your tax affairs up to date, whilst offering more desirable repayment options.

Landlords of Residential Property

HMRC have chosen another opportunity for tax payers to come clean as to previously undeclared income... this time it is for landlords who rent out residential property.

Precious Metals – Silver

Readers may recall my article of 4th July 2013 where I highlighted the fall in the value of the price of gold. At the same time I had been tracking the price of silver, and was about to go to print on a very similar article as to its own decline in value.
In June 2013 the price of silver had dropped to $18.49 an ounce which represents a 58% fall in value since April 2011. The world’s biggest silver producer, Fresnillo, saw its share price on the stock market fall to 846p and the CEO in the company’s recent annual report was bemoaning the fall in the value of silver which year on year had fallen 20.3%.

But after months of falling in value, the silver price has rallied from its June lows by 24% to $23 an ounce, and the Fresnillo share price today stands at 1250p. City experts are forecasting that the silver price could have further to rise as industrial demand for the precious metal accounts for 50% of total demand.

What a difference 2 months make!

The New Statutory Residence Rules - Going Abroad

Those who leave the United Kingdom to set up home overseas will have no problem as regards their residence status for UK tax purposes if they sell up completely in the United Kingdom, move abroad and make no return visits here. This of course is usually not practical at all. They may have friends or family still in the United Kingdom whom they will want to visit, and they may want to keep a home here which they can use on return visits. The question then arises as to what extent they can keep UK connections without continuing to be UK tax resident.

Disincorporating The Family Business

Under the last government, there were for a period of time considerable tax incentives towards incorporating small business and operating it through the medium of a company. These incentives were eventually reduced, but it still remains the case that most successful businesses can achieve some tax savings by operating through a company, rather than being operated as a partnership or a sole trade.

The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme

The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme was introduced last year, with special tax reliefs being available under it for 2012/13 and it has now been announced that these are to be continued for the current tax year 2013/14 with one amendment.