Maslins May 2009 Newsletter

Budget - what it means to you

Well, potentially nothing if your earnings aren't huge.

Personal tax

Those earning over £100,000/year will be affected by a reduction in their personal allowance, and a 50% tax rate for those above £150,000 (from April 2010). There will also be restrictions on the tax relief of contributions to pension schemes for these high earners.

The furnished holiday letting rules are to be abolished from April 2010. This will only affect a small minority of people. If you have a holiday home which you let out whilst you're not there, and it makes a loss, you will no longer be able to set this off against other income.

The annual ISA maximum has increased to £10,200, of which £5,100 can be cash.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) will remain 0% for properties up to £175,000 until 31 December 2009, at which point it will revert to its previous limit of £125,000.

Business tax

Corporation tax rates to stay at 21% and 28% for a while longer.

40% first year allowance reintroduced for expenditure in excess of the £50,000 annual investment allowance (which already effectively achieves 100%).

Extension to loss carry back relief, whereby losses of up to £50,000 can be carried back up to 3 years.

Sole trader 3 line accounting - the limit for which sole traders only need 3 lines to their accounts (turnover, expenditure, profit) has been vastly increased to be in line with the VAT registration threshhold (currently £68k). Therefore you do not need to provide a detailed analysis of expenditure to HMRC (though you should keep such records anyway).

The standard rate of VAT will revert to 17.5% from 1 January 2010 as originally intended.

Tax tip of the month

If you've got fewer than 50 employees, file your P35 online by 19 May 2009. Not only is this quick and easy, but you'll get a £75 rebate from HMRC. This income is, itself, tax free too, so go for it!

Got spare room in your house? Rent it out! You can receive rental income from a room in your own home of up to £4,250 absolutely tax free.

Tunbridge Wells Common

Have you visited the Common recently? Since Targetfollow acquired the site early last year they have invested a considerable sum to refurbish the area. Rubbish has been cleared, new paths have been added, and the whole site is looking vastly improved.

If you can manage a day off when the weather's good, find a few friends/family members, make a picnic, and enjoy the beauty that Tunbridge Wells has to offer.