• The minimum ownership period of an asset for the purposes of capital gains tax entrepreneur’s relief increases from 12 months to 24 months from 6 April 2019. • The HMRC travel and subsistence benchmark rates can be paid tax-free to employees spending time away from their normal workplace at rates of £5 (5 hours away); £10 (10 hours away) and £25 (15 hours and still away by 8 pm). Employers no longer need to check amounts spent, but should confirm that the employee has been engaged in “qualifying travel”. • From April 2020 the new reporting requirements for capital gains tax will require any disposal of residential property where a tax liability arises, to be returned to HMRC with payment of the tax due within 30 days of the disposal. • The introduction of the construction industry VAT reverse charge scheme has been delayed by a year and will now be introduced on 1 October 2020. • The Capital Allowances Annual Investment allowance will be increased from £200,000 to £2m for a 24 month period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020. Businesses should ensure that planned investment in plant and machinery should coincide with this period and should be accelerated if necessary where investment is likely to exceed £200,000. • The new Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA) applies from 29 October 2018 when a new building or structure comes into use. The rate will be 2% per annum straight line on qualifying costs over a fixed 50 year period. The cost of land will not qualify for the allowance. • Changes to principal private residence relief will see the last 18 months concession reduced to 9 months and the introduction of a ‘shared occupancy’ test for letting relief which will effectively eliminate this relief in most cases. If you have rented out a property which has qualified as your principal residence, it could be advantageous to sell the property before 6 April 2020, though it’s important that you take advice regarding your specific case. • The off-payroll working rules currently applying to Personal Service Companies (PSC’s) will apply to Private Sector Contracts from 6 April 2020. There will be an exemption for ‘small’ organisations engaging the services of an individual through their PSC, in line with the Companies Act 2006 definition of a small company. 2 from 3. Turnover under £10.2m; Total assets under £5.1m; less than 50 employees. The process of accounting for tax and NIC will be as it currently is for the Public Sector:- The fee-payer is the deemed employer for tax, NI and apprentice levy (but not student loan). The employment income will be the VAT exclusive amount paid to the worker’s PSC. The off-payroll worker must provide their National Insurance number, tax code and identity details to enable the correct tax to be deducted. The fee payer makes the payment and completes the RTI process notifying HMRC of the taxable earnings and the tax and NI deducted. Contact us for further details.