Q. I've heard I could reduce inheritance tax by leaving money to charities in my Will. How does this work? Do I have to leave a minimum amount?A. Any bequests to charities in your Will are free of inheritance tax (IHT). This means the executors of your estate will only pay IHT at 40% on the value of your estate after deducting the following: -...

If you are employing students over the summer months, don't forget to give them the HMRC form P38S (2011) to sign. This form allows the student to earn their full annual allowance of £7,475 from their holiday work before any tax is deducted. The student must confirm they will return to full time study at a named college, school or universi...

You can now set up an email reminder service for your company or LLP at Companies House. Once you have registered you will receive timely emails to remind you of the due dates to submit the annual return and accounts for your business, and paper reminders will cease. You can register up to four email addresses for each business. Each email ad...

Last month we warned you the Taxman was planning a campaign to encourage businesses to register for VAT. The Taxman is calling this campaign the 'VAT Initiative'. To launch the VAT initiative the Taxman is writing to about 40,000 businesses whose turnover has apparently already exceeded the compulsory VAT registration threshold. Those business...

Another set of regulations is set to fall on the shoulders of all employers. This time it's a compulsory pension scheme for all employees. This new pensions law is due to be introduced over four years from October 2012. The largest employers (120,000 or more employees) will be forced to sign up first. Those who employ less than 50 workers will...