Johnson Murkett & Hurst

• BUDGET 2010
  Alistair Darling presented his third Budget on Wednesday 24 March 2010. Having acknowledged that the country is emerging from deep global recession and needing to provide a route to long term prosperity he announced.......read more
• ANNUAL INVESTMENT ALLOWANCE INCREASED
  Most businesses are able to claim an Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) on the first £50,000 spent on plant and machinery. This provides immediate 100% tax relief on qualifying expenditure. The allowance is to increase to £100,000 from 1 April 2010 for a business within the charge to corporation tax and from 6 April 2010............read more
• CLOSE COMPANY LOAN WRITE OFFS
  Close companies, generally meaning family and owner managed companies, are subject to special rules in relation to loans or advances made to participators and their associates. Participators primarily means shareholders. Where such loans are written off or released an equivalent amount is treated as a deemed net dividend for income tax purposes.........read more
• ENTREPRENEURS’ RELIEF
  The amount of an individual’s capital gains that can qualify for Entrepreneurs’ Relief are currently subject to a lifetime limit of £1 million. Gains qualifying for the relief are charged at an effective tax rate of 10% rather than the usual rate of 18%. The lifetime limit will be doubled to £2 million for disposals on or after 6 April 2010............read more
• INHERITANCE TAX NIL RATE BAND FROZEN
  As previously announced, the nil rate band for 2010/11 will be frozen at the current level of £325,000. This will now be extended to cover the tax years 2011/12 to 2014/15.............read more
• STAMP DUTY LAND TAX AND FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS
  At present the Stamp Duty Land Tax rate is 1% for residential property purchases where the consideration is more than £125,000 but does not exceed £250,000. Legislation will be introduced in the Finance Bill to give relief from SDLT where the consideration is more than £125,000 but not more than £250,000...........read more
• PAYMENT OF VAT
  HMRC are advising businesses that from 1 April 2010 all cheque payments by post will be treated as being received by HMRC on the date when cleared funds reach HMRC's bank account. This change does not affect any cheque payments made by Bank Giro. Affected businesses will need to ensure that they allow enough time for the payment........read more
• EMPLOYER SUPPORTED CHILDCARE
  In 2009 the government announced changes to employer supported childcare and HMRC have now issued further guidance on the changes. The amount of tax free childcare vouchers and directly contracted childcare for employees joining an employer’s scheme will be restricted in cases where an employee’s earnings............read more
• NATIONAL INSURANCE - NEW EU RULES
  HMRC have released new guidance for employers about forthcoming changes to EU rules regarding national insurance for people moving around Europe for work. The rules apply from 1 May 2010. To read the guidance in full, please use the link below...........read more
• HMRC WILL PUBLISH DETAILS OF ‘DELIBERATE’ OFFENDERS
  HMRC have the necessary power under existing tax law to publish the details of taxpayers where it is established that they have committed ‘deliberate’ tax offences. HMRC have confirmed that they will apply this provision for tax periods starting on or after 1 April 2010 and for offences which are committed on or after this date.............read more
• OFFICIAL RATE OF INTEREST
  From 6 April 2010 the official rate of interest applying to interest-free or low interest loans made to employees will be 4%. The current rate is 4.75%. Employees are generally liable to tax on a benefit equal to the amount of interest, calculated at the official rate, where the balance of the loan exceeds £5,000 at any point in the tax year.............read more
• EMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS TO 72.2%
  The government has announced the latest employment statistics which show the number of people in employment has dropped by 54,000. Ian McCafferty, CBI Chief Economic Adviser, reacting to the latest statistics said: "Although the fall in unemployment is welcome, the figures also show that the number of people actually in work continued to fall.........read more
• FIT NOTES
  Fit notes will be brought into effect from April 2010 and are a replacement for sick notes. The information that doctors will be asked to provide means that instead of giving patients a sick note saying they are too ill to work, they will be able to advise whether a person may be fit for work with some help and support..........read more

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