Summary of tax changes 2015-16

HMRC have published a list of the various corporate and personal tax changes that became operative from the 1st or 6 April 2015. To save you time in browsing for the information we have reproduced the two lists below.

The following tax changes came into effect Wednesday 1 April 2015:

1. The Corporation Tax rate has been reduced to 20%
2. The new Diverted Profits Tax has been introduced
3. The bank levy has increased from 0.156% to 0.21%
4. Air Passenger Duty has been restructured – abolishing bands C and D
5. Hospice charities, blood bikes, search and rescue, and air ambulance charities will be eligible for VAT refunds
6. Business rates changes (England only):

   – The business rates multiplier has increased from 48.2p to 49.3p (47.1p to 48.0p for small business multiplier). This includes the 2% inflation cap
   – The Small Business Rate Relief scheme has doubled for a further year – providing 100% relief for businesses with a single property with a rateable value of less than £6,000, and tapered relief with a rateable value of £6,000 – £12,000
   – The business rates discount for shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants with a rateable value of £50k or below has increased from £1,000 to £1,500

7. The cultural test for high-end TV tax relief has been modernised and the minimum UK expenditure requirement for all TV tax reliefs has reduced from 25% to 10%
8. A new tax relief on the production of children’s television has been introduced
9. The amount of banks’ annual profit that can be offset by carried forward losses has been restricted to 50%
10. Two new bands for the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) have been introduced
11. Capital Gains Tax exemption for wasting assets will only apply if the corporate selling the asset has used it in their own business
12. An investment allowance for North Sea oil and gas, replacing the existing offshore field allowances and simplifying the existing regime, has been introduced
13. A reduced rate of fuel duty to methanol will apply – the rate is 9.32 pence per litre
14. Fuels used to generate good quality electricity by CHP (combined heat and power) plants for onsite purposes are exempt from the Carbon Price Floor
15. Climate Change Levy main rates have increased in line with RPI
16. The VAT registration threshold has increased from £81,000 to £82,000 and the deregistration threshold from £79,000 to £80,000
17. Scottish government’s Land and Buildings Transactions Tax (LBTT) will replace Stamp Duty Land Tax in Scotland
18. The associated companies rules have been replaced with simpler rules based on 51% group membership
19. The standard and lower rates of landfill tax have been increased in line with RPI

The following tax changes came into effect Monday 6 April 2015:

1. Individuals over the age of 55 have flexible access to their defined contribution pension savings
2. The Income Tax Personal Allowance increases to £10,600
3. The higher rate income tax threshold increases to £42,385
4. The new Marriage Allowance comes into effect
5. The starting rate of savings income tax reduces from 10% to 0% for savings up to £5,000
6. The cash ISA limit increases to £15,240
7. Child Trust Funds can now be transferred into Junior ISAs
8. Spouses can now inherit their deceased partner’s ISA benefits
9. If an individual dies before the age of 75, they can now pass on their unused defined contribution pension savings free of income tax
10. Beneficiaries of individuals who die under the age of 75 with a joint life or guaranteed term annuity can now receive any future payments from such policies free of income tax
11. Employers will no longer have to pay employer NICs for employees under the age of 21
12. Class 2 NICs for the self-employed can now be collected through Self-Assessment
13. The Employment Allowance extends to include people employing care and support workers to look after themselves or family members
14. A new annual remittance basis charge of £90,000 is introduced for non-domiciled individuals who have been resident in the UK in at least 17 of the last 20 years, and the charge paid by non-domiciled individuals who have been resident in the UK in at least 12 of the last 14 years has increased from £50,000 to £60,000
15. Non-UK resident individuals, trusts, personal representatives and narrowly controlled companies are now subject to Capital Gains Tax on gains accruing on the disposal of UK residential property
16. Capital Gains Tax annual exemption amount has increased to £11,100
17. The Capital Gains Tax charge on disposals of properties liable to ATED extends to cover residential properties worth £1 million – £2 million
18. The requirement that 70% of Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme money must be spent before EIS or VCT funding can be raised is removed
19. The Fuel Benefit Charge multiplier for both cars and vans increases by RPI
20. The Van Benefit Charge increases by RPI – in 2015-16 the Van Benefit Charge rate paid by zero emission vans is 20% of the rate paid by conventionally fuelled vans
21. Tax Credit payments are stopped in-year where, due to a change in circumstances, a claimant has already received their full annual entitlement

    And of course there will likely be more changes afoot after the May election…