Personal

Private rental deposits

There are special rules under the Tenancy Deposit Scheme that limits the amount of deposit that landlords in England can request. There are also further limitations on what landlords and agents can charge tenants.

If you are renting a residential

Changes to the High Income Child Benefit Charge

The changes to the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) announced as part of the Spring Budget came into effect on 6 April 2024. The income threshold at which HICBC starts to be charged has been increased from £50,000 to £60,000.

The HICBC is

Childcare Account chores

HMRC’s Childcare account can be used to claim free childcare (if eligible) or pay for Tax-Free Childcare. HMRC’s sign in page for the account states that in order ‘…to keep getting free childcare or Tax-Free Childcare, you must sign in every 3 months

New employment protections

New legislation, including three Government backed cross party Acts, came into force from 6 April 2024.

Pregnant women and new parents will now receive special treatment in a redundancy situation, as a suite of new laws are introduced – delivering

Assistance with debt management

Earlier this month, saw the 10th anniversary of the StepChange Debt Charity’s annual Debt Awareness Week. This is designed to shine a spotlight on the causes of problem debt.

The focus on this year’s campaign is looking at the main barriers to

Rent a Room Scheme – another income stream

The rent-a-room scheme is a set of special rules designed to help homeowners who rent-a-room in their home to create a valuable tax free income stream. If you are using this scheme, you should ensure that rents received from lodgers during the

Cost of living final payment 2023-24

The Cost of Living support package has been designed to help over 8 million households in receipt of means tested benefits. The details of Cost of Living Payments due in the 2023-24 tax year were published in 2023 and have recently been updated with

Setting up a payment plan with HMRC

The 31st of January is a key date for those of us who are registered for self-assessment. There are three deadlines:

The closing date to file your 2022-23 tax return without incurring an initial £100 late filing penalty.
The date by which any

Help with childcare costs

HMRC is reminding parents that they may be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) to help pay for childcare costs. The scheme was used by almost 650,000 families during the 2022-23 tax year. This represented a significant increase over the previous

Help to Save extended to April 2025

HMRC has confirmed that plans to extend the Help to Save scheme by 18 months, until April 2025 have been confirmed.

The Help to Save scheme is intended to help those on low incomes to boost their savings. Eligible users of the scheme can save

Cost of living payments 2023-24

The Cost of Living support package has been designed to help over 8 million households in receipt of mean tested benefits. The details for Cost of Living Payments due in the 2023-24 tax year have been published.

Eligible recipients will receive up

Pensioner Cost of Living Payment 2023-24

The Cost of Living support package has been designed to help over 8 million households in receipt of means tested benefits. The details for Cost of Living payments due in the 2023-24 tax year have been published.

Eligible recipients will receive up

Spring Budget 2023 – Childcare changes

One of the main areas targeted by the Spring Budget was changes to childcare. Billed as a revolution in childcare, the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said that he wanted to reform the childcare system to help more than a million women come back to work.

Mortgage Guarantee Scheme extended

The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme was set to end on 31 December 2022. In a last-minute announcement from HM Treasury, it was confirmed that the scheme will now be extended for a further 12 months until 31 December 2023.

The scheme helps prospective home

Second cost of living payment

Back in May 2022, the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a package of support measures targeted mainly to the most vulnerable members of society. One of the main measures was the Cost of Living support package to help over 8 million households in

Notifying cessation of self-employment

Any taxpayers that have ceased to be self-employed must notify HMRC of their change in status. There are a number of steps that must be followed if a taxpayer ceases trading as a sole trader or if they are ending or leaving a business

Right to Buy home scheme extended

The Right to Buy scheme has been available in various guises since it was first launched in the 1980s and following a relaunch in 2012. In essence the scheme gives qualifying social tenants the opportunity to buy their rented home at a

Mortgage interest on rented property

Under new rules that came into effect from April 2017 the tax relief on mortgage costs for residential landlords was restricted to the basic rate of tax. The finance costs restriction was phased in over a number of years and is now fully in place

The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme

One of the measures announced at the Budget was the introduction of a new Mortgage Guarantee Scheme to help home buyers purchase property. The scheme was officially made available from Monday, 19 April 2021. The new scheme is designed for prospective

What is pensions credit?

Pension Credit is an income-related benefit made up of 2 parts – Guarantee Credit and Savings