December 2020 Newsletter | Cylchlythyr Misol Rhagfyr 2020
The third grant under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is now open and the conditions have been tightened, where applicants must now confirm that:
- they intend to continue to trade; and
- they reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in their trading profits due to coronavirus.
As the 2019/2020 tax return filing deadline draws nearer, remember that if you have large payments on account due by 31 January 2021 and your income is significantly lower this year, it may be possible to appeal to reduce these payments on account.
For those working from home, HMRC have confirmed that individuals can claim tax relief on the working from home allowance by submitting a P87 form. Basic rate tax-payers can receive up to £60 and higher-rate taxpayers up to £125 off their tax bill.
With a number of high street shops recently going into administration, remember to check if you have any unused gift cards. These may become worthless if the associated company goes into administration.
A recent new scam has seen fraudsters purporting to be from DPD or Royal Mail emailing you to confirm your personal details because you missed a parcel delivery. These emails appear genuine, however upon closer inspection, the links in the email do not take you to the official websites of the delivery company. Be particularly wary of these emails in the run-up to Christmas when many are expecting parcel deliveries.
A new online probate system has been launched and Huw has successfully submitted the first probate cases. In theory, this should speed up the issuing of the grant of probate, with a target time of 8 weeks from submission. Online forms can be submitted in either Welsh or English.
Ask Huw & Aled: My husband and I rent out a jointly owned property. Our rental expenses this year have been minimal. Are there any allowances we can use instead of the actual expenses?
HMRC allow each individual property owner to use an allowance of up to £1,000 against their gross rental income each tax year instead of the actual expenses. For those that are joint property owners, this means that you can use the allowance of up to £1,000 against your share of the rental income. As a result, if your joint rental expenses are less than £2,000 for a tax year, it is likely to be more tax efficient to utilise HMRC's property allowance of £1,000 per property owner.
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
