With April 2016 here (where did January /
February / March disappear to?) - don't forget these important changes that
will effect owner managed and small businesses.
National Living Wage
From 1
April 2016, any employee aged 25 and over is legally entitled to at least £7.20
per hour rather than the current £6.70 National Minimum Wage. This affects 1.3 million employees and the
target is to increase this to at least £9.00 per hour by 2020.
Don't
forget that you will need to be very aware when employees reach their 25th
birthday as their pay will go up on this day and you can guarantee it will be
in the middle of a pay period!
National
Minimum Wage from 1 April 2016
Aged 25 + £7.20
Aged 21 -
24 £6.70
Aged 18 -
20 £5.30
Aged under
18 £3.87
Apprentice
rate * £3.30
* applies
to apprentices aged 16 - 18 or those over 19 in their first year of
apprenticeship - all other apprentices must be paid the appropriate National
Minimum Wage
Pension Auto Enrolment
Since
November 2015, employers with less than 30 employees are being phasing in
monthly batches depending on their PAYE reference number so this is now
affecting many small businesses.
Remember
that you are advised to start setting up your scheme at least 6 months before
your staging date as it has to be registered with the Pensions Regulator.
You should
have been made aware of your staging date by HMRC but if you are unsure you can
check on the following link:
http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/staging-date.aspx
Taxation on dividends
Many company Directors take dividends from their
companies as this is a tax efficient way of remunerating themselves alongside a
salary.
Up until 5 April this year, if you pay only
basic rate tax, there is no additional tax to pay on dividends falling within
this range (commonly known as the 10% credit or relief) as the tax is
considered to be deducted at source thus you receive the dividend net. However,
from 6 April 2016 the rules are changing. Every individual is entitled to
£5,000 of dividends tax free and from £5,001 to the higher rate tax threshold
will be taxed at 7.5%. Note that this means you now receive the dividend gross.
Example (for a basic rate tax payer)
|
To 5 April 2016
You received a dividend of £13,500
|
From 6 April 2016
You receive the same dividend of
£13,500
|
|
This dividend is received net with 10% tax
already deducted. The actual dividend is £15,000 which is entered onto
the tax return. The tax deducted of £1,500 is treated as tax already
paid so there is no additional tax to pay.
|
This dividend is received gross.
Assuming there are no other dividend income, the first £5,000 is exempt from
taxation meaning £8,500 is liable at 7.5% giving a self assessment tax bill
of £637.50.
|
Remember!!
1) If your dividend income is over the £5,000 exemption, you
will have a tax bill so keep money aside to pay HMRC.
2) If you don't already, you will need complete a self assessment tax return in order to pay the tax to HMRC
2) If you don't already, you will need complete a self assessment tax return in order to pay the tax to HMRC
Employment allowance
Currently
employers can generally claim £2,000 against their Employers NIC
liability. From April 2016 this will
increase to £3,000 per year but there is a major change which will affect owner
managed companies.
If the
company only has one employee and that employee is a Director, then the
Employment allowance is no longer available to that company.
Landlords
The Wear
& Tear Allowance (10% of rent receivable less rates) has been withdrawn and
is replaced with a renewals allowance for when items are replaced in the
property. This means is that any new (not replacement) expenditure on equipment
/ furniture etc from April 2016 does not qualify for any allowances.
Disclaimer
The
information contained in this document is of a general nature and does not
constitute financial or taxation advice.
