Tag: gift

Trivial Benefits are tax free!

Businessman looking at a small present with a magnifying glass

At last!

From the 6th April 2016 a trivial benefits exemption will become law and set at limit on the benefit of £50 per employee per benefit.

There will be an annual cap of £300 for directors and other office holders of close companies and members of their families and households who are employees of the company.

Its designed for seasonal gifts, flu jabs, small gifts, flowers etc.

  1. It can’t be cash, or cash vouchers.
  2. The employer must bear the cost (salary exchange won’t work)
  3. It must not be in recognition of services or part of a contractual agreement

For years the definition of ‘trivial benefit’ has been undetermined and it was a massive grey area but now we have some definite rules to work to.

Steve@bicknells.net

How do you give away property in stages?

Mosaïque de logements

As long as the home you give away is your main home, Capital Gains Tax won’t be payable.

However, if you give away a second home, Capital Gains Tax may be payable if the property has increased in value between when you first owned it and when you gave it away.

If you sell your second home and give the money to your children, the gift won’t be included in your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes, provided you live for 7 years after you make the gift.

Each year individuals have a capital gains tax allowance, called an exemption

 

Annual Exempt Amounts
Customer group 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Individuals, personal representatives and trustees for disabled people £10,600 £10,900 £11,000

 

It is possible to to gift property in stages.

Your solicitor will draw up the required documents to conveyance a percentage of the property and register the transactions with the Land Registry.

In order to calculate the capital gain you will need to know the acquisition cost and any reliefs such as PPR.

Giving away your property in stages could save you from having to pay capital gains tax.

The person you give the property to may not have to pay SDLT…

If the property is received as a gift there’s no SDLT to pay, so long as there’s no outstanding mortgage on it.

steve@bicknells.net

What if I give my shares away?

Successful Businessman With A Contract In Hand

There is a common mis-conception that if you give something away it doesn’t have any tax implications, unfortunately, that isn’t the case.

When you give away shares you usually work out your gain or loss as if you’ve sold the shares at market value. The market value is the price you would expect to receive if you sold them on the open market. This also applies if you sell them for less than their full value.

There are some exceptions:

  • if you can claim Gift Hold-Over Relief
  • if you give the shares to your husband, wife or civil partner
  • if you give shares to a registered charity

To qualify for Gift Hold-Over Relief, the shares must be in a trading company, or the holding company of a trading group, and one of the following must apply:

  • the shares aren’t listed on a recognised stock exchange
  • you’ve at least 5 per cent of the voting rights in the company

You don’t pay Capital Gains Tax when you give (or otherwise dispose of) shares, to your husband, wife or civil partner, providing both of the following apply:

  • you’ve lived together for any part of the tax year in which you made the gift
  • the gift isn’t ‘trading stock’ (trading goods bought for resale)

You won’t have to pay Capital Gains Tax on a gift of shares to a registered UK charity.

HMRC have further details and a Help Sheet 295 containing further details.

You can ask HMRC to check your market valuation by submitting Form CG34 it will take at least 2 months.

Settlements Legislation S624/S660

If you think moving shares in your company between yourself and your spouse sounds like a great way to save tax, think again!

Since the 1930’s we have had Settlements Legislation which prevents you from giving income or assets to someone else in your family in order to pay less tax.

Where the anti-avoidance Settlements legislation applies, all income transferred by a settlement is treated as that of the settlor.

 

 

steve@bicknells.net

 

 

 

Will I be taxed on Christmas gifts recieved at work?

Christmas Gifts

It’s Christmas and even though times are tough, you could still get a gift from your employer or client or supplier, will it come with a tax bill attached?

The answer depends on the value.

HMRC Helpsheet 207 – Non-taxable payments or benefits for employees

The Helpsheet says, certain gifts from third parties are non-taxable if all these conditions are satisfied:

• the gift consists of goods or a voucher or token only capable of being used to obtain goods, and

• the person making the gift is not your employer or a person connected with your employer, and

• the gift is not made either in recognition of the performance of particular services in the course of your employment or in anticipation of particular services which are to be performed, and

• the gift has not been directly or indirectly procured by your employer or by a person connected with your employer, and

• the gift cost the donor £250 or less, and

• the total cost of all gifts made by the same donor to you, or to members of your family or household, during the tax year is £250 or less.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/hs207.pdf

An employer may provide employees with a seasonal gift, such as a turkey, an ordinary bottle of wine or a box of chocolates at Christmas. All of these gifts can be treated as trivial benefits. . For an employer with a large number of employees the total cost of providing a gift to each employee may be considerable, but where the gift to each employee is a trivial benefit, this principle applies regardless of the total cost to the employer and the number of employees concerned. If a benefit is trivial it should not be included in a PSA (EIM21861).

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM21863.htm

Will the employer or supplier or client have to account for VAT?

You do not have to account for VAT on business gifts made to the same person so long as the total cost of all the gifts does not exceed £50, excluding VAT, in any 12-month period. To check this it is acceptable for you to adopt any 12-month period that includes the day on which the gift is made.

But where the following apply:

  • the total cost of business gifts given to the same person in any 12-month period exceeds £50
  • you were entitled to claim the VAT on the purchase as input tax

you must normally account for output tax on the total cost value of all the gifts. How to work out the cost is explained in Notice 700, ‘The VAT Guide’.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_PublicNoticesAndInfoSheets&propertyType=document&columns=1&id=HMCE_CL_000091#P32_2034

steve@bicknells.net