Personal taxation

Some recent changes

Increase in personal tax rates

From 2010-11, the top rate of personal tax will be 50% (51% including national insurance). This will probably apply to incomes exceeding £150,000. No personal allowance will be available to high earners, being phased out if income exceeds £100,000.

Deadline date

The deadline date for submitting a personal tax return on paper is now 31 October. It is good practice to submit the return before that date to give plenty of warning of the tax payable the following 31 January. However, we submit personal tax returns electronically and so can claim an extension of the deadline to 31 January, if necessary.

If you are entitled to a repayment of tax, you will normally receive the repayment within a few days of us filing the return electronically, provided we have entered your bank account details on the return. If you want repayment by cheque, you now have to ask for that separately.

Capital gains tax

The rate of capital gains tax is now 18% on non-business assets.

People who sell a business or shares in family trading company can claim “entrepreneurs relief”, which reduces the effective rate of tax to 10% on the first £1 million of gain. To qualify for the relief on shares, you must own at least 5% of the voting rights and work for the company.