Tax and Financial Planning

A property owner who demolishes an existing dwelling house and replaces it with an entirely new one is entitled to reclaim VAT on the costs of construction – but what...

There have always been wolves in sheep’s clothing ready to take unfair advantage of private investors and they can be difficult to spot without professional advice. In one case, a...

People aged over 55 who have only a small (less than £30,000) pension pot in a defined benefit (final salary) scheme or in some instances in a defined contribution scheme...

Just how tough HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) can be was illustrated by a recent case in which they imposed a penalty of £1,300 for the late filing of a...

Like many pieces of tax legislation, the ‘additional threshold’ (AT) for Inheritance Tax (IHT) – which, in simple terms, limits the potential IHT charge on high-value residential properties – is...

You can claim tax relief if assets that you have acquired become worthless or loans that you have advanced prove to be irrecoverable. However, in a case that will be...

Investment advice is best obtained from authorised professionals and it is unwise to rely on friends’ recommendations, no matter how trustworthy they may appear. In one case that proved the...

An argument that assets which HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said belonged to a deceased man (and were thus subject to Inheritance Tax) were actually owned in whole or in...

We have often written about the dangers of taking advice from unqualified and/or unregulated advisers. A recent change in the regulations surrounding financial advice will cause some concern for those...

When a taxpayer named Mr Coomber sent his cheque by post to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to settle his tax demand, he thought that would be the end of...