Posts Tagged ‘Savings’

Landlords Energy Saving Allowance ends 5 April 2015

Tuesday, February 24th, 2015

Landlords can reduce their tax bill by up to £1,500 a year with the Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance. Unless extended in the forthcoming budget, this scheme is due to end 5 April 2015.

What you can claim

You can claim Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance for the costs of buying and installing the following energy-saving products for properties you rent out:

  • cavity wall and loft insulation
  • solid wall insulation
  • draught-proofing
  • hot water system insulation
  • floor insulation

Owning property abroad

You can claim Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance for properties you rent out abroad, as long as you pay UK tax on profits from those properties.

Owning more than one property

You can claim a maximum allowance of £1,500 for each house, flat or bedsit you rent out. For example, if you rent out a building that contains 4 flats, you can claim up to £1,500 for each flat.

Owning a property with others

If you own the property with others, you can claim a share of the allowance in one of 2 ways:

  • based on the amount of the property you own (e.g. if you own half of the property you can claim up to £750)
  • based on the amount of money you spent on the improvements (e.g. if you covered half of the costs, you can claim up to £750)

Owners can claim a maximum £1,500 in total for each property owned.

Installing energy-saving items yourself

If you install the energy-saving items yourself, you can claim Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance for the costs of buying them, but not for installing them.

What you can’t claim

You can’t claim Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance on a property if:

  • you’re claiming an allowance under the ‘Rent a Room’ scheme
  • you’re renting out the property as furnished holiday accommodation

How to apply

Please call our office if you would like more information regarding this scheme.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2015 at 12:00 am by Slaters and is filed under Business, Company Tax, Tax, Tax relief, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Gift Hold-over Relief

Monday, February 23rd, 2015

This relief will help you to defer capital gains tax (CGT) when you give away chargeable assets or if you sell something subject to CGT for less than its market value. The relief is called Gift Hold-Over Relief and could be claimed if you give away business assets (including certain shares) or sell them for less than they are worth to help the buyer.

Gift Hold-Over Relief means:

  • you don’t pay Capital Gains Tax when you give away the assets
  • the person you give them to pays Capital Gains tax (if any is due) when they sell (or ‘dispose of’) them

Tax isn’t usually payable on gifts to your husband, wife, civil partner or a charity.

Eligibility

The conditions for claiming relief depend on whether you’re giving away business assets or shares.

If you’re giving away business assets you must:

  • be a sole trader or business partner, or have at least 5% of shares and voting rights in a company (known as your ‘personal company’)
  • use the assets in your business or personal company

You can usually get partial relief if you used the assets only partly for your business.

If you’re giving away shares the shares must be in a company that’s either:

  • not listed on any recognised stock exchange
  • your personal company

The company’s main activities must be in trading (e.g. providing goods or services) rather than non-trading activities like investment.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2015 at 12:00 am by Slaters and is filed under Capital Gains Tax, Company Tax, Personal Tax, Tax, Tax planning, Tax relief. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.