Our update from Jamie’s latest meet, which was at Donington Park and was a Hottrax Motorsport race.

After a few weeks off from racing (the last meet was the 24th/25th May) Jamie was looking forward to getting back out on the bike.

Saturday 28th June

The Saturday morning qualifying was first up and although the track was busy it was dry. He managed to set the 6th fastest time out of all the 35 riders, and with 3 riders per row on the grid this put him on the inside of row two – so it was a good start all round.

Race 1

By the first race the heavens had opened and the rain that had been forecast was bouncing down. This meant Jamie had full wet tyres on the bike and from setting off the grid, lights out he held onto his 6th position only for the red flags to come out before the riders had chance to complete the first lap.

All the riders reformed on the grid for the restart and this time Jamie had a better start making his way up a couple of places. Clearly feeling comfortable on the bike he made a couple more passes on the brakes and managed to progress up to 3rd position, only for the red flags to come out again just after the third lap of the race.

The riders reformed on the grid to try again, and once the lights went out Jamie’s start didn’t go as well this time and he found himself boxed in, but it didn’t matter as before the riders even had chance to complete one lap…. you guessed it RED flags again.

All riders returned back to the grid to a final time, but with only 14 riders left standing (from the starting 35) the organizers postponed the race to the Sunday morning – which meant that Sunday was going to be a busy day with four races now planned for the day.

Sunday 29th June

Qualifying on the Sunday was first up, and again the track was dry, however as Jamie hadn’t had much track time on the Saturday he finished the session in 7th place.
This also wasn’t helped also by the fact that some of the other riders had raced in a six hour endurance race which was held on Saturday afternoon, so they had had even more track time which Jamie felt put him at a slight disadvantage.

Race 1

Race 1 was the re-arranged race from Saturday, and to start the race the track was still dry.
Fast forward to four laps in, and it was all a bit hectic… rider places were swapping at every corner, and Jamie started the last lap in 5th place. He got good drive out on to the back straight and went for the pass on the brakes only to go wide and get passed back.

He took a different line into the last corner and got the power on early and managed to get to the line just in front to take 4th place by just four hundredths of a second.

Race 2

Race 2 remained dry and the team made some changes to both suspension and the gearing. Grid positions were from Saturdays qualifying and with a bad start Jamie found himself boxed in again in the first corner and went down to 9th place.

Two passes on the brakes into the chicane and he was up to 7th and right behind 6th place who was good on the brakes so Jamie struggled for a couple of laps to get past finally getting up the inside into Mcleans and making the pass stick.
Unable to make any more places up, as he was lapping at the same speed as the next man, he had to settle for 6th at the finish.

Race 3

By race 3 the track was very wet, and there was a nearly 2 hour delay because there was so much water on the track.
However the race started and Jamie started in 7th place. He got a much better start being on the outside and was soon up to 5th place.
The track was very greasy however after all of the rain, and after spending a couple of steady laps getting used to the conditions he made a move up to 4th.

On the next lap round, and going in to Coppice, Jamie had a big rear end slide which had him heading for the grass with both feet off the pegs!!! He just managed to stay on track but lost a place and was back to 5th. However after a couple of smooth laps he’d closed the gap back up and as they came out of the chicane on the final lap Jamie got a better drive round the outside holding on to 4th over the line by just over half a second.

Race 4

Race 4 saw the very wet conditions remain, however Jamie managed to get a good start and was soon up to 3rd place. A couple of corners into the race saw the rider in front of him high side and crash right in front of Jamie, which meant that he was in 2nd place right behind the leader.

By the second lap Jamie was getting good drive out of Coppice he took the lead on the brakes into the chicane. However trying to be as smooth as possible in the tricky conditions, coming out of Coppice the back tyre let go and before he could react he was flung up in the air over the front of the bike with his head down by the front wheel.

He soon came to a stop after tumbling through the gravel, and although Jamie was able to get to his feet seemingly unharmed, the same cannot be said for his bike which took quite a battering.

The crash has caused lots of damage to the bike and riding gear so there is still a question mark over whether Jamie and the team will make the next meeting, planned for the 5th and 6th July in Anglesey – watch this space.

The State Pension is part of a pensioner’s taxable income. The problem is, it is paid gross, without deduction of tax.

If your sole source of income is the State Pension then this should cause no problem as the State Pension is usually below the annual tax-free personal allowance. What can, and does, cause a problem is if you have other sources of income that combined with your State Pension exceed your personal tax-free allowance.

The assumption most pensioners make is that they can spend their State Pension. Unfortunately, this can lead to cash flow problems if a tax bill drops through your door. This should only happen if you have other income sources and any tax stopped on those additional income streams is insufficient to cover your total tax liabilities: based on all your income including State Pension receipts.

If you have additional income and receive a State Pension, it is necessary to crunch the numbers and see if you should be saving to meet a future tax bill. Readers concerned about their position should talk to the tax office or their professional tax advisor.

The UK’s new TV tax credit for approved productions in the UK are going down a storm with production companies on both sides of the Atlantic.

One of the key draws to working on productions in the UK, aside from the financial incentives, is the large pool of experienced crew and actors based in the UK.

TV production incentives were first introduced in Northern Ireland and attracted the popular “Game of Thrones” series. This provided the inspiration for the wider offer to the UK as a whole.

The “High-end Television Tax Relief” (HTR) is available if the following conditions are met:

• the programme passes the cultural test – a similar test to that for FTR but within the European Economic Area
• the programme is intended for broadcast
• the programme is a drama, comedy or documentary
• at least 25% of the total production costs relate to activities in the UK
• the average qualifying production costs per hour of production length is not less than £1million per hour
• the slot length in relation to the programme must be greater than 30 minutes

Programmes commissioned together are treated as 1 programme.

However, your company can't claim HTR if the programme:

• is an advertisement or promotional programme
• is a news, current affairs or discussion programme
• is a quiz or game show, panel show, variety show, or similar programme
• consists of or includes an element of competition or contest
• broadcasts live events, including theatrical and artistic performance
• is produced for training purposes

The availability of this relief has reversed the previous outflow of investment from the UK in this type of TV production.

• 1 July 2014 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 September 2013.

• 6 July 2014 – Complete and submit forms P11D return of benefits and expenses and P11D(b) return of Class 1A NICs.

• 19 July 2014 – Pay Class 1A NICs (by the 22 July 2014 if paid electronically).

• 19 July 2014 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 July 2014. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 July 2014.)

• 19 July 2014 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 July 2014.

• 19 July 2014 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 July 2014 is payable by today.

• 1 August 2014 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 October 2013.

• 19 August 2014 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 August 2014. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 August 2014.)

• 19 August 2014 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 August 2014.

• 19 August 2014 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 August 2014 is payable by today.

This reminder will affect landlords of unfurnished let property who are considering the replacement of standalone white goods (fridges etc) and similar items.

 Following the withdrawal of a tax concession from April 2013, there is effectively no tax relief for the replacement of defective, free-standing white goods in unfurnished properties.

 In some respects this absence of relief is difficult to justify but HMRC are clear that, at present, expenditure to replace free standing white goods etc from April 2013 will not be tax deductible.

 However, if a fridge is incorporated into a fitted kitchen, any replacement of defective white goods will be allowed as a repair. The distinction is that a fitted fridge is only part of the overall fitted kitchen, whereas a free standing fridge is an item in its own right.

 A genuine repair to keep an item in a working or usable condition will, of course, still be tax deductible.

 Replacement of white goods in furnished property is covered by the annual 10% “wear and tear” allowance.

 Consider the following facts:

• The filing deadline for a Stamp Duty Land Tax return was a Sunday.
• A member of the advisor’s staff forgot to file the return by the end of the Friday – two days before the deadline.
• Realising their mistake, the staff member took the file home with the intention of filing over the weekend.
• Due to problems with internet access it was impossible to file the return before the deadline expired.

The return was subsequently filed the next working day, a Monday – one day late.

HMRC charged a late filing penalty and the tax payer appealed.

The court decided that the penalty had been charged in accordance with legislation and the tax payer had no grounds to appeal. The fact that internet access was not available did not affect the issue. The First-tier Tribunal noted that “leaving matters to the last minute was a recipe for disaster” and that it did not have jurisdiction to decide on the fairness of a penalty.

In a recently decided tax case a self-employed air conditioning engineer, David Keyl, was denied a claim for AIA. He had purchased a van in July 2008 and on 31 March 2009 (the end of his trading year) he transferred his sole trader business to a limited company.

Unfortunately, the legislation setting up the AIA includes a provision that relief will be denied in the year in which a trade discontinues.

In the case of David Keyl his sole trader business ceased to trade 31 March 2009 and therefore no claim could be made for AIA in the tax year 2008-09. The fact that Mr Keyl had continued to provide maintenance under existing contracts made no difference to this judgement.

The lesson to be learned here is that a decision to incorporate a business should not be taken lightly. If Mr Keyl and his advisors had reviewed the larger transactions he had entered into during 2008-09, they may well have delayed incorporation to the following year.

Many employers pay their employees a monthly car allowance to compensate them for the business use of their private vehicles. In most cases this car allowance is treated as remuneration and is subject to PAYE and National Insurance deductions.

 Additionally, employers may also pay a nominal amount per mile as a contribution to fuel costs.

 Employers are entitled to pay their employees a tax free mileage allowance for the business use of their private vehicles. The rates are:

• 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles in any tax year, and
• 25p per mile for any additional use.

In a recently decided case, an employer that paid less than the 45p (25p) tax free rates, was enabled to deduct the difference between the actual rate paid and tax free rates available, from the monthly car allowance, before working out any employer’s or employee’s National Insurance Contributions due on the monthly car allowance.

 If the amount being paid for business use of fuel is nominal, this can make quite a difference to National Insurance Contributions that are due.

 Employers reading this article, whose circumstances match the following criteria, may be able to claim refunds for overpayment of past NIC deducted from car allowance payments. The outcome of such claims will depend on how closely their circumstances mirror the decided case mentioned above, and HMRC’s interpretation of the ruling:

 The criteria are:

• You pay or have paid employees a regular car allowance.
• You have also paid nominal mileage rates to cover business related fuel costs, below the current tax free rates of 45p (25p) per mile.

Please note that in the decided case discussed in this article, the allowance was only paid to employees travelling more than 2,500 business miles each year though the mileage rate they received was correspondingly reduced to 12p per mile from 40p. It was thus aimed at compensating those incurring additional costs for using their cars substantially for business purposes.