O mia babbino caro – what a Jolie story we have here (not)

What do I have in common with Angelina Jolie? Well, not a lot at first glance but it turns out there is something, or rather someone. Because, funnily enough, before I began putting quill to parchment on this latest missive to you, dear reader, I was idly doom-scrolling through social media. I’d heard some rumours […]

Capital Gains Tax on the sale of an inherited property.

The tax man likes to get his money somehow, and one of the “easiest” ways is on inherited property. An estate including property, may be passed to beneficiaries without any inheritance tax (IHT) being paid as it depends on the value of the estate, how many children inherited and if there is any spousal transfer […]

Oyster and TFL Travel

Transport for London travel evidence I get a lot of queries about TFL Oyster card travel and TFL contactless travel, with people stating they don’t know how much their business spend is on their cards as they don’t have any detail. Well, we can deal with that. It’s very, very simple. All you need to […]

Beware about on-line stock trading

Online stocks & coin trading and UK tax I want to give you a bit of a health warning about online trading and UK tax issues.   I’ve seen a massive increase in people playing on online platforms for bits of spare money they might have. Be it Bitcoin, Chip, Coinbase, Trading 212, interactive investors, […]

What’s new with class 2.

What’s new for Class 2 National Insurance for tax year 22/23 onwards?   For those of you that have already completed your tax return for this year and didn’t have a high level of self-employed profit, you may notice something strange is going on. You always have an option to pay Class 2 National Insurance […]

National treasure alert – Martin Lewis is right, you need to check this

You’ve gotta love Martin. Fighting the good fight and genuinely doing his best to ensure the great British public get their fair share and don’t miss out. He’s a national treasure but what about your treasure? You know, the pension you’ve been carefully squirrelling away ever since you were employed? Wait, you’re self-employed now…OK, that’s […]

Once upon a time, there was a land where dreams came true

Or they did if you wished upon a star anyway*. However, some who went in search of this magic kingdom wanted to become the very star themselves, or at least snaffle a cameo role to add to their portfolio. Now, the leaders of this magical kingdom knew this and they sent out heralds throughout the […]

HMRC in “chaos” SHOCK news – refunds worth thousands delayed

Imagine my surprise (spoiler alert…none) when this Saturday’s wholesome brekka with a coffee and the newspapers was rudely interrupted by the taxman. Not literally. There wasn’t someone in a bowler hat rapping at the door with an umbrella. If there was, there is always the very real threat that I might break into a Mary […]

Scottish Tax Payer

Am I a Scottish Tax Payer? I know it sounds like a daft question, but it is not that obvious as you could live in England and work in Scotland, or live in Scotland and work in England. So where do you pay your taxes?   The simple answer is: if you live in Scotland, […]

What is this cash basis thing?

When you complete your self assessment tax return and the self employment section, there is a question about if you have used “the cash basis” to do your accounts.   Many people understand it to be if you have created your accounts based on money received and money spend in the year. It’s supposed to […]