our blog

Many parents are not aware of the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC). It’s a confusing kind of tax, requiring individuals who need to repay some or all of the Child Benefit payments they’ve received to submit a tax return every year, even if their income is already taxed through PAYE.

Since there is little public awareness about the requirement to pay back Child Benefit if your income is above a certain threshold, many people are at risk of receiving penalties from HMRC and having to pay back thousands of pounds they weren’t even aware they owed.

Currently, the number of people estimated to be in default for the High Income Child Benefit Charge is over 60,000. If you’re liable for paying the HICBC, but haven’t been submitting Self Assessment Tax returns each year, then you could be one of many middle-income families who will find themselves owing several thousand pounds in backdated Child Benefit repayments.

Read on to find out how the High Income Child Benefit Charge works, who it applies to, and what will happen if you’re liable for this charge but haven’t been paying.

First-time homebuyers are still finding it a struggle to get on the property ladder. Increases in house prices, mortgage rates, and the cost of living are making it harder than ever for would-be buyers to save up a deposit large enough to purchase their first home.
As a result, many young people are turning to their parents for financial support, also known as ‘the bank of mum and dad’. Almost half of first-time buyers under 35 years old needed financial help from their parents, whether through a gift, loan, or joint mortgage.
However, even with the best intentions, it’s not always wise for parents to give a significant amount of money to their child this way. If it isn’t planned carefully, there could be tax consequences down the line that practically wipe out your initial financial gift.
Here are the main taxes you need to think about before helping your children to get on the first step of the property ladder, and how they could affect such a financial transaction in the long term.

Due to the challenges of the current economic environment, the UK government announced in December 2022 that the Making Tax Digital (MTD) rollout for Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) has been postponed for 2 years.

Previously, people responsible for submitting Self-Assessment Tax returns were expected to switch to the Making Tax Digital service from April 2024 if they earned over £10,000 from self-employment in a tax year. Now, this will not be mandatory until April 2026.

This means that self-employed individuals, including landlords, will have more time than expected to prepare for the transition to MTD for ITSA. Here’s a summary of what’s happening with MTD and other changes you should know about due to this postponement.

Despite several tumultuous weeks towards the end of 2022, the Corporation Tax increase will be going ahead in April 2023 as announced back in 2021.

Small companies should already be aware of the incoming tax rate changes, but it’s important to take the associated company rule changes into account, too.

The rate of Corporation Tax applied and when it needs to be paid will depend on the company’s profits and how many associated companies it has. This will affect more companies than just the rate change, so company owners shouldn’t let themselves be caught off guard.

This blog explains the basics of the rule changes and how they could affect your company.

Since 1996, the number of couples living together without getting married has increased by 144% – with 3.6 million couples cohabiting by 2021. Despite living together for years and often acquiring property and having children, unmarried cohabitants don’t have the same legal protections as people who are married or in civil partnerships.

This led the Women and Equalities Committee to call for family law reforms, publishing a report in August 2022 that proposed changes to improve financial protections for cohabitants and their children if their relationship ends.

Despite agreeing that cohabitation laws are outdated, the UK government made the controversial move of rejecting the reform proposals, stating that they need to finish reforming marriage and divorce laws before they can consider cohabitation.

Lower-paid workers will be welcoming the National Living Wage uplift coming later this year, but these increased costs could mean that employers can no longer afford to employ their workers.

Just as the cost of living crisis is severely impacting many households across the UK, it’s also hitting UK businesses. While some may reduce their employment costs by scaling down their number of staff, this isn’t always possible – meaning some businesses may end up shutting down completely.

Here’s a summary of recent changes affecting employment costs in 2023, and how these are likely to impact employers and their employees.