Tax tips newsletter for professionals

There are multiple different ways in which a company director may ultimately become responsible for a company’s tax debts. 

David Tipping considers the various statutory provisions that enable HMRC to make a company director liable for the tax debts of the company.

Instruments of variation (more commonly referred to as deeds of variation) enable beneficiaries under a deceased’s will to effectively change the will’s content, albeit only up to a point (IHTA 1984, s 142). Most variations are, in essence, gratuitous gifts.

Malcolm Finney examines what actually constitutes ‘consideration’ for inheritance tax purposes in the context of instruments of variation. 

Principal private residence (PPR) relief is a very valuable capital gains tax (CGT) exemption. It covers buildings and accompanying land of up to half a hectare (1.236 acres), or such larger area as is required for the ‘reasonable enjoyment’ of that property. This larger area has been tested on many occasions, with varying degrees of success before the courts. 

Jon Golding assesses several unfamiliar principal private residence relief exemptions and some of the restrictions of relief that can reduce the capital gains tax exemption.

Andrew Needham looks at input tax recovery on a business's mobile phone charges.

Most employers provide their employees with mobile phones to enable them to contact their staff for business reasons. In some cases, the employers allow staff to make private calls while others do not.  How much VAT can actually be reclaimed?

Mark McLaughlin reviews two recent important tax cases:

Providing taxable benefits-in-kind to employees comes with associated compliance burdens, requiring the employer to provide information both to HMRC and to employees. 

Sarah Bradford explains what employers need to do if they provided taxable benefits and expenses to employees in the tax year 2024/25.

As retirement approaches, owner-managers will begin to contemplate ways of realising their investment, and the exit routes that are available. 

Joe Brough considers the tax implications and pitfalls when disposing of shares on retirement.