Another area commonly under HMRC scrutiny is tax relief on motoring and travel related expenses.  In ‘Avoiding travel turmoil’ we remind you of the specific rules for self-employed individuals.

We also look at two areas concerning corporation tax. ‘- iXBRL deadline fast approaching’ looks at the changes ahead that require all corporation tax returns to be filed online and ‘Counting the costs’ looks at a new development in the rules surrounding associated companies.

There are also two areas of change from April 2011 which affect all businesses.

The first area of change concerns National Insurance Contributions (NIC) where new rates and bands apply for 2011/12 as well as changes as to when self employed Class 2 NIC is payable.

The second concerns the Bribery Act 2010 which comes into force from April 2011.  As this is applicable to every business, regardless of size, we have included a brief outline to keep you in the picture.

On the personal tax side, you may be aware of child trust fund (CTF) accounts. However, new accounts are no longer available for a child born after 3 January 2011. Instead, for children born after that date, a new savings account – the Junior ISA is to be introduced later this year.  In ‘Child savings accounts’ you can find out more.

For all this and more click Spring 2011 Newsletter

The rate of interest on overpaid Income Tax, NIC, CGT, stamp duty and certain other taxes remains unchanged at 0%. For overpaid and early paid corporation tax, the rate fell from 1.25% to 0.75% as of 16 February and from 0.75% to 0.25% as of 16 March.