Tax tips newsletter for professionals

The question of whether a director may be paid by their own company as a self-employed consultant is one that is often asked of tax advisers by their clients. Generally, this will be prompted by the potential tax advantages of reduced income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) liabilities under the PAYE system, and the more generous expenses rule. 

Richard Curtis considers whether directors can be self-employed consultants for their own companies.

Effective from 6 April 2013, a set of rules was introduced to determine the residence status of individuals for income tax and capital gains tax purposes. These rules are contained in FA 2013. They superseded what had been the position for many years, namely HMRC’s practice set out in their booklet, HMRC 6 (formerly IR20).
These rules are referred to as the statutory residence test (SRT).

Malcolm Finney outlines when an investment bond might be advantageous for an individual client.

From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits will count as part of a deceased person's estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. 
For clients who have spent a decade treating their pension as an effective IHT planning vehicle, the planning logic has reversed. 

Sam Hart looks at what accountants need to know now about the forthcoming inheritance tax changes affecting unused pension funds.

The capital goods scheme (CGS) is a method of adjusting the amount of input tax claimed on the purchase of a capital asset in line with its taxable use over a period of time, depending on what the asset is, over either five years or ten years. 

Andrew Needham looks at some of the problems of the capital goods scheme and how to avoid them.

Mark McLaughlin reviews two recent important tax cases:

An individual savings account (ISA) is a tax-free savings account. There are four types of ISAs available to adults, and also a junior ISA for children under the age of 18.
The government is consulting on the introduction of a new first-time buyer ISA which, if introduced, will be offered in place of the lifetime ISA, which is to be withdrawn.
At the time of the November 2025 Budget, the government announced that the maximum amount that individuals would be able to save in a cash ISA each year would be reduced from 6 April 2027.

Sarah Bradford takes a look at forthcoming individual savings account reforms and the consultation on a new first-time buyer individual savings account.

The transactions in UK land rules re-characterise a property gain as trading income. This article looks at how the regime backs up the ordinary trading analysis, why ‘a main purpose’ turns on purpose rather than expectation, and the points at which it reaches beyond the person who sells.

Nick Wright looks at when the transactions in UK land anti-avoidance rules might bite, and the potential implications when they do.