Category: HMRC

Foreign income £2k threshold

How can you save UK income tax if your foreign income is less than £2k per annum

Basics

Non-domiciled UK tax residents do not pay UK income tax on their foreign income and capital gains if both the following apply:

  • These are less than £2,000 in the tax year; and
  • not brought into the UK, for example by transferring them to a UK bank account

ITA 2007 sec 809D

Detailed guidance

UK Tax residents1 can use remittance basis2without being liable to the remittance basis charge3 nor losing their personal allowance or annual exemption limit for capital gains, if they are below the £2k threshold. See RDRM32260

Exchange rates

To check whether foreign income is below £2k threshold, un-remitted foreign income is converted to pounds sterling at the rate of exchange on the last day of the tax year.

As per HMRC guidance, if threshold is breached and you need to include the income in the tax return, exchange rate that needs to be used is of the day that the income arose overseas.
In practice it may not be reasonable to calculate in this way, in those cases average rates can be used. See foreign notes SA106.

Note in case remittance basis is claimed and income is remitted in a later year, exchange rate of the date of remittance should be used.

This will mean that the same foreign income may be converted at different exchange rates, depending on the reason for the conversion. See RDRM31190

Self-Assessment Tax return

Individuals using the remittance basis by virtue of s809D do not have to file a self-assessment return in order to access the remittance basis. However, if an SA return has been issued or requested then they should include details of their use of the remittance basis in the return when they file it by including this in the additional information box, even if the remittance basis is accessed by using s809D. see RDRM32105

Split tax years
Income of whole tax year is taken in account to determine the £2k threshold.4

Small remittances
Where £2k threshold met and remittances are less than £500 and are in cash, no need to complete a tax return to pay UK tax on amount remitted. 4

Notes:

1. Including long term UK tax residents i.e. individuals who have been tax resident in at least seven out of the nine tax years preceding the current or ‘relevant’ tax year see RDRM32210.

2. Individuals tax resident in the UK are liable to pay tax on their worldwide income. Individuals whose domicile (in simple terms – permanent home) is overseas can choose to pay tax on their foreign income on remittance basis i.e. pay tax only on income brought to the UK. See RDRM31030

3. Remittance basis charge is payable by long term residents who choose to pay tax on remittance basis. see RDRM32210.

4. 60.2 Tolley Income tax Annual.

5. What happens when £2k threshold remittance basis user remits funds to the UK

Source:

To know more about taxation of foreign income in the UK read our Worldwide Disclosure blog.

Voluntary pension contributions to HMRC

May 2022

This blog article is for people who wish to find out if they have missing gaps in their qualifying years for state pension and wish to pay voluntary pension contributions to HMRC.

Here are the steps:

  1. Find out if you have missing gaps in your qualifying years for state pension via:

    a. Your personal tax account, or

    b. Calling Future Pension Centre helpline on 0800 731 0181
  1. This is a free advice service. You will be advised regarding any information you need to know from your account (e.g. how many years you contributed to your state pension, how many years you still need to contribute to qualify for full state pension, if you have any gaps and how to pay for the gaps etc. They also advise whether it is recommended to fill the gaps according to your circumstances)

2. If you wish to pay for any gaps, you need to call HMRC on 0300 200 3500.
They will provide you with details of HMRC’s account no, sort code and a 18 digit reference number for the payment. If making an online payment , it may reach in about 24 hours, however it will show in you HMRC account in about 6 weeks. You need to check after six weeks to ensure gap is resolved.

September 2023

Incase a self-employed pays Class 2 national insurance voluntary via his Self assessment return. They need to pay it before 31st Jan otherwise HMRC’s system wipes it off, this will result in a NI gap for this year. To rectify this gap they will need to follow point 2 above.

May 2024

Government has launched a new online service for people to check if paying voluntary NICs will improve their pensions. You can also get the payment reference from this service avoid the telephone call mentioned above.

Link to new service

HMRC : How to change access code – two step verification

I have listed below 4 scenarios :

A. If you wish to change your telephone number or how you receive the code you can do this by logging into your business tax account and following these steps:

  1. Select the Manage account link which is shown on the top menu bar.
  2. Under the account details heading, select the view or change your account details link.
  3. Next to the Government Gateway details heading, select the Manage your Government Gateway details link.
  4. Click `Your Government Gateway profile`
  5. Select the How you get access codes link.
  6. Then change, add or delete the entries on that screen as required.

B. If you cannot log into your business tax account, but someone else in your business who is an administrator can, they can follow these steps:

  1. Select the Manage account link which is shown on the top menu bar.
  2. Select the Add or delete a team member link.
  3. Select the Manage link for the required team member.
  4. Select the Remove (name of user) security preferences link.

C. If no one can log into business tax account you can contact:

Via Webchat : Link ; then click Ask HMRC online

or

Via Telephone : Online Services Helpdesk: 0300 200 3600
Phone line opening hours are:
Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm

D. If all else fails, contact us to file you tax return. We will just need your UTR. If you do not have a UTR we can apply it for you but this will take time.

Source:
Employer Bulletin June 2022

How Capital Allowance interact with Capital Gains Tax

This article explains how capital allowance effects capital gains calculations.

A common occurrence in trading businesses is sale of plant & machinery or vehicles used in the business. Rules shown below are applicable both in moveable and fixed plant & machinery.

Two scenarios could happen:

  1. Disposal proceeds are less than purchase cost – a loss (usual case)
  2. Disposal proceeds are less than purchase cost – gain

We will try to explain these scenarios, by way of an example.

We need to prepare two calculations – one for capital allowance (CA) and other for capital gains.

X is an individual trader for many years. He brings forward main pool expenditure of £40k. In year 1, he buys a van for £20k and a computer for £5k. He claims AIA on all expenditure. In year 2, he sells the van for £12k and the computer for £8k.

We have illustrated below, how these transactions will affect the Capital Allowance and Capital Gains calculations.

Capital Allowance calculation

Year 1                                                                          Main pool                                        
WDV b/fwd                                                                  40,000
Additions                                                                     25,000
AIA                                        25,000                                                              
                                                                                         40,000
WDV 18%                                                                       7,200                                                              
WDV c/fwd                                                                   32,800

Year 2
WDV b/fwd                                                                   32,800
Disposal value                                                             17,000 a
                                                                                          15,800
WDV 18%                                                                      2,844                                                              
WDV c/fwd                                                                   12,956

a. Disposal value = £12k (van) plus £5k (computer), as disposal value is restricted to original purchase cost.

Capital Gains Calculation

Capital gains is only applied on assets if sold above its original purchase price. Thus, van is ignored for Capital Gains.

                                                                                   Computer b         
Disposal proceeds                                                 8,000
Purchase cost c                                                        5,000
Unindexed Gain                                                      3,000
Indexation allowance (estimated)                 (500)
Indexed Gain                                                             2,500

Note:

b. Gain or loss is computed on each asset individually.
c. Capital allowance taken on assets are completely ignored. TCGA 1992 sec 41

Practice notes:

  1. We should keep note of each item added to the pool – date added/purchased and amount added. Date is important as companies get indexation allowance for items purchased before 31st December 2017. Usually, commercial tax filing software will have the facility to record assets individually and calculate indexation allowance.

Source:

  1. Book – Taxation by Alan Melville
  2. Book – Tolley’s Tax Guide para 22.19, 22.46 and 38.4

Bonus:
1. In case X sells a table to his friend for £1k (market value £2k). Disposal value will be £1k if his friend runs a trading business where he can claim Capital Allowances . In case his friend does not run a trading business and cannot claim Capital allowances disposal value will be £2k.

2. In case X gifts the table to his employee, disposal value will be nil. But tax maybe payable by employee under ITEPA 2003.

3. In case X gifts the table to his brother, disposal value will be £2k (market value).

See HMRC Manual CA23250 on disposal values.

Should I submit my return early ?

Thousands of individuals file their tax returns on the first day

The tax year has ended.

Main benefit of submitting tax return as soon as possible is that the enquiry window runs for a full 12 months from the date the tax return is received. So for example a return received by HMRC on 20 June 2018, the enquiry window will close on 20 June 2019 – EM1501

Other benefits enumerated by HMRC Agent Update 110.

  • submitting your tax return now does not mean you pay now — when you submit your tax return, you’ll know how much you need to pay, so you can plan your finances and cash flow better — this might mean you can book a holiday, make an investment or it may mean you have to save for your tax bill
  • your tax return provides you with proof of income — you’ll need this if you apply for a mortgage, loan, or if you need to access certain benefits and schemes such as Tax-Free Childcare
  • you can claim a refund faster — if you’re due one
  • knowing what you owe, might mean you can reduce your payments on account if your tax bill is lower than forecast
  • you’ll avoid any chance of getting a penalty for submitting your tax return late, so do it now and get it out of the way
  • beat the rush — HMRC’s busiest time is January so if something goes wrong and you need to contact them, you might find it hard to get through
  • peace of mind — so you can get on with the important things in your life

Fascinating facts about Self Assessment