George Osborne

Summer Budget 2015: Key tax changes for entrepreneurs

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Steve Livingston Tax N2K 0

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Listen to an audio version of this Summary Budget 2015 round up of the key tax changes impacting on entrepreneurs or read the text version below:

An audio download link is available at the end of this post!

Reduction in Corporation tax

Continuing George Osborne’s pledge to make the UK one of the single most attractive places to do business in the G20 he continued with his downward pressure on the UK corporation tax rates. Not content with reducing the main rate to 20% from 28% not too many years ago, he pledged to reduce it further to 19% by 2017 and down to 18% by 2020.

Before we get too excited about the CT rate reductions, it was once again a “give and take budget” as Mr Osborne announced some far reaching changes to the dividend tax regime that will impact on many entrepreneurs and increases to the minimum wage – the now so called “Living Wage”.

Dividend tax changes

It has long been the case that entrepreneurs could extract profits from their companies as dividends rather than salary – the key advantage being NIC savings as dividends are not (currently) subject to NIC. The income tax suffered on dividends is lower than salary as dividends are only available from retained profits that have been subject to corporation tax – so a tax credit system is applied to dividends that, in essence, results in 0% income tax payable by basic rate tax-payers (so broadly up to £42,000 – £43,000); 25% of the net dividend payable for higher rate tax payers and 30.6% for additional rate tax payers.

Seemingly forgetting about the double taxation impact on dividend payments, the Chancellor announced that there will be a £5,000 dividend allowance from 6 April 2016 (whoop whoop!) and then a 7.5% additional tax applied to dividend income – so our rates now become basic rate: 7.5%; higher rate: 32.5% and additional rate: 38.1%.

Looking at the HMRC projected figures, they are looking to net quite a windfall on this change that is a tax grab via the back-door – I don’t think many entrepreneurs have quite grasped this change as it was positioned as a change that might impact on those with substantial quoted shareholdings and contractors.

Will we see larger dividend payments pre 5 April 2016 with founders leaving credit loan balances to draw down over the foreseeable future?

Employment allowance increase

We should see the £2,000 NIC allowance for employers increase to £3,000 from 6 April 2016

Annual investment allowance

The annual allowance for investment into capital equipment (e.g. PCs, servers, desks, chairs, machinery etc) was set to fall to £25,000 pa by the end of this year but this was increased and pegged at £200,000 for the next five years.

EIS restrictions

There were some further changes to EIS building on proposals from the Autumn Budget Statement that include proposals to cap the total amount that can be raised under EIS at £12m (£20m for ‘knowledge intensive’ companies).
Also, a new limit on companies raising EIS making it available only to those companies that have been trading for less than 7 years (10 years for knowledge intensive companies) – this change seems unreasonably harsh for longer more established companies that might want to access capital. The requirement for 70% of the SEIS cash to be invested before shares can be issued under EIS will also be removed as originally noted in the March 2015 Budget. Finally there was reference to ensuring that EIS funds are directed toward developing companies so there will be restrictions on using EIS monies for buyouts and acquisitions and more of a need to demonstrate that the funds are being employed to develop and grow trading companies.

There were no changes announced to the SEIS regime.

R&D tax credits

No significant changes announced for R&D tax relief aside from a restriction aimed at Charities and Universities to prevent them from claiming the R&D tax relief on work subcontracted to them. This restriction takes effect from 1 August 2015.

Buy to let landlords

Many entrepreneurs will have diversified their risk with potentially one or more buy to let properties within their portfolio. These were also hit with some quite serious changes to the tax regime with the most hard hitting being the reduction in interest relief on buy to let mortgages being reduced to the basic rate of tax only. Currently, landlords can offset the mortgage interest at their marginal rate of tax (so potentially up to 45%). These new rules will be phased in to ease the pain of potential deleveraging for some landlords but the writing is on the wall for many – and who’s to say that this is the end with potential for 0% interest relief in the future….?

There will also be the removal of the 10% wear and tear allowance from 6 April 2016. Yet more pain for landlords.

Pension changes

On the downside, there were announcements that those with total income over £150,000 would be hit with reductions in the amounts they can put into their pension with the £40,000 annual allowance being tapered away with it hitting just £10,000 for those earning £210,000 or more. This is a admin headache all round and it comes into force from 6 April 2016.

On the plus side, there was a consultation announce to explore the best ways for pensions to be saved and a seemingly open approach to considering alternative finance in line with improvements to ISAs – this is great news for our thriving Fintech sector.

Inheritance tax changes

Long discussed and unsurprising was the pledge to increase the inheritance tax level to £1m to allow homes to be passed on without incurring IHT. Slightly odd in that the £325,000 nil rate band remains in place for the next 5 years but we have this additional £175,000 especially for the family home. Inflation may start to dig a hole into that £325,000 allowance rendering this less beneficial over time than the headlines suggest.

It was a shame that we didn’t see any changes to the VAT MOSS / (#VATmess) regime and I think the changes to dividends and pensions will add to uncertainty for many entrepreneurs and their advisors as the goalposts keep moving which is disappointing.

What will the 7 May election mean for UK tech companies?

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Steve Livingston Tax N2K 0

As we run up to the 7 May 2015 election, thoughts turn to what the result might mean for UK startup and fast growth companies?

Techcrunch has noted the partisan approach that UK tech companies seem to be taking in writing a letter in support of the Conservative Party and points out that this stance should be taken with a pinch of salt (although I understand the article was penned by a declared Labour supporter ;) ).

I don’t want this to fall into a political rant but I sense there is a lack of transparency in the Labour party’s stance on how it might build on the successes that we have already seen in terms of tax policy for UK tech and fast growth companies.

For example, the Conservatives have made great strides in the following areas:

The introduction of Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and its generous tax incentives to support investment into early stage companies to supplement the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) aimed at more established companies
The improvements made to the Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) share option scheme to allow participants to benefit from Entrepreneur’s Relief despite potentially not holding the shares for 12 months nor even holding more than 5% of the share capital
Improvements to the R&D tax credit incentive scheme that now boasts a 33.3% return for claimant SME companies
Introduction of the Patent Box at its beneficial 10% corporation tax rate – despite challenges from across the EU
Enhancements to Entrepreneur’s Relief that now allows entrepreneurs to benefit from a 10% CGT rate on the first £10m of lifetime gains
Reduction in the main corporation tax rate down to 20%
Plus video games tax relief and other reliefs for creative and digital companies

Taken together these measures keep the UK on track to meet George Osborne’s pledge to make it the most attractive place to do business in the G20.

It is worth noting that many of the above tax incentives were first introduced during Labour’s last bout in office; albeit in a more watered down form in most cases – although who’s to say that Labour might not have followed a similar path had they stayed in the office…? Truth is, we don’t know.

And herein lies the problem…

Labour do not appear to have shared much detail on their thinking and policies around these areas and, in particular, these specific tax incentives. The danger is that an incoming party wants to “shake things up” and “make their mark” which may threaten the stability and progress made around these important areas for UK entrepreneurs.

We may just be about to find out more…

Budget 2011 supports digital, technology and creative businesses (mostly!)

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Steve Livingston Tax N2K 0

Yesterday’s Budget speech provided largely good news for entrepreneurs in the digital, technology and creative sectors.

George Osborne had promised an “unashamedly” pro-business, pro-growth and pro-aspiration Budget and, although it might be over-flattering to suggest that he achieved this, he certainly made some positive inroads toward addressing some of the roadblocks facing early-stage startups and fast growth companies.

The headline grabber was that the UK is set to have one of the lowest company (corporation) tax rates in the G7. To achieve this Osborne accelerated the previously promised rate cut by introducing a 26% standard rate from 1 April 2011. This will be followed by a series of 1% cuts until it reaches 23% by 2014. This is a further 1% cut to what we were expecting. Good news if you’re a big company but of little consequence if you’re a startup or SME – as the standard rate only applies for single companies with taxable profits over £1.5m. Unfortunately there was no 2% cut for the small companies rate that applies for most startups and SMEs – the rate will be 20% from 1 April 2011 as previously promised. Still, 20% isn’t bad and if you’ve yet to incorporate your business into a company, it may well be worth crunching the number to see if tax savings could be made.
R&D tax credits get a whole lot better – Research and Development Tax Credits are a key tax incentive for many companies in the tech and wider sectors so it was great news to see Dyson’s recommendations followed and in fact improved upon. Most startups and fast growth companies are already entitled to claim a further 75p tax deduction for every £1 they spend on qualifying R&D activities (primarily comprising relevant staff salary costs), however, it was announced that from 1 April 2011 companies can claim an additional £1 tax deduction for every £1 spent (i.e. a 200% tax deduction) and this set to go up to £1.25 for every £1 spent from 1 April 2012! There are also plans to remove the requirement for the company to have generated sufficient PAYE to cover the cash repayment, a requirement that has been a key roadblock for many companies, particularly start-ups, in making repayment claims. How many companies have significant PAYE bills in the early stages? Not many. There are also plans to abolish the de minimis limit of £10,000 qualifying R&D spend before you can make an R&D tax claim. These changes should open the doors to more companies being able to access cash at an earlier stage than was previously possible. All good news and if you haven’t looked at this for your business, please drop me a line.
Entrepreneur’s Relief lifetime allowance doubled from £5m to £10m for sales after 5 April 2011. For all the blood, sweat and tears put into building your business it is encouraging to know that you will be able to shelter £10m of your gain at a tax rate of just 10% – that’s a potential £1.8m tax saving compared to applying the general CGT rate. I would have liked to have seen a relaxation in the qualifying criteria to assist employees with less than 5% shareholdings, but still, in theory, it will be possible to shelter gains of £200m at just 10% if structured correctly. Mouth-watering huh? At the very least, it is important that you ensure that you are maximising this relief by allocating shareholdings at the optimum levels although care must be taken as there are many pitfalls for the unwary – remember, there is potentially £1.8m of tax at stake….(a subject for another post – or drop me a line).
Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is made much more attractive for investors in startups and fast growth companies. Accessing funding for business has been tough of late and we are increasingly seeing the private business angel networks as well as family and friends stepping into the fray to lend financial support where possible. EIS allows investors in qualifying businesses to obtain income tax relief as well as capital gains savings in relation to investments in startups and fast growth companies. The income tax relief will be increased from 20% to 30% from 6 April 2011 and we will see further sweeping changes in 2012 to increase the amount that can be invested and the breadth and scope of the relief.
The ‘Patent Box’ is on its way! As previously announced, the UK will be following other countries in introducing a lower rate of corporation tax (10%) for patent income to encourage investment in new technologies and methodologies. Although likely to be of most interest to life science and pharma companies, it will be worth keeping an eye on this relief as more details emerge in readiness for its introduction from 1 April 2013 to see if it can be applied to tech companies more generally. As currently drafted, the rules will be too restrictive for most tech companies as few derive significant income from patents but I am hopeful that there will be a widening of scope to catch broader intellectual property classes as it undergoes consultation.
21 Enterprise Zones to be introduced (including in Greater Manchester and Liverpool) and £100m investment in Life Sciences and Technology with £10m to be invested in Daresbury Innovation Park. Creating clusters of innovative businesses builds support networks and knowledge transfer leading to fast growth businesses. A win-win.

These were the headline announcements relevant to digital, technology and creative businesses – we await the draft legislation which may throw up some anomalies or slight tweaks and I’ll keep you all posted.

Please drop me a line via the contact form on the about me page or my email address is in the sidebar – otherwise, please air your views below.

Budget 2011: How to inform (and engage?) businesses

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Steve Livingston Tax N2K 0

Hmmh, so its this time each year (more than once per year in recent years) that accountants / tax advisers, like myself, scratch our heads and wonder how best we can inform our clients on issues relevant to them that emerge from the Budget speech.

This approach is constantly evolving – my plan for tomorrow’s Budget speech is to:

Tweet points of interest as they emerge during George Osborne’s Budget Speech on Twitter. I’ve used CoveritLive! in the past but fail to see exactly what this adds over and above using Twitter directly. Tweeting comments as the speech unfolds in realtime also allows me to take notes ready for blog posts to be drafted post speech.
Set up the hashtag #budget11 on Twitter to check for interesting conversations (and of course to keep an eye on the competition :)) Also set up RSS feeds for “Budget 2011” on Google for emerging news and commentary.
Download the Treasury Budget Notes from the HM Treasury website as soon as George sits down – the devil’s always in the detail! Usually, lots to digest.
Extract the key points relevant to my clients and targets and draft short commentaries as blog posts and separate client briefings. Post links to blog posts on Twitter and keep an eye out for feedback, comments, questions etc.

Then of course cascade and discuss points of interest directly with our clients – normally via a meeting or call.

This approach is a lot different to the approach in the past in which it was largely a ‘fact race’ to be 1st to clients and targets with a summary of the key points. The internet has blown this approach out of the water for all but the biggest and bravest. This, in my view, is no bad thing as the prize is now more about contextualising the issues relevant to clients and in looking at new ways of sharing this information with clients and prospects in ways that not only informs but also engages (both them and us).

Any thoughts, comments or observations on how we can better engage with businesses on issues emerging from the Budget speeches would be gratefully received…