If you are an employer who provides a company car to your employees, we thought it would be interesting to quantify the actual Class 1A NIC cost to you. Kevin Ferguson takes a closer look. Businesses that choose to provide their employees with taxable benefits such as company cars, health insurance and so on, will...

When it comes to making gifts, timing is the difference between paying Inheritance Tax or not. Making gifts, especially if they are sizeable, usually reduces the potential Inheritance Tax bill on your estate as long as you survive seven years. But there are some rules that can mean that this won’t always be achieved. Kenny...

The 2015 Budget heralded the most radical changes to private pensions in a generation. But the tax treatment of lump-sum withdrawals means that many people are paying too much under bizarre pension tax rules. Steven Turnbull investigates. This relatively new found freedom and choice in pensions means that you no longer have to purchase an...

We are absolutely delighted to be Principal Sponsor of this year’s Scottish Borders Historic Motoring Extravaganza. JRW Partner and keen rally enthusiast Kevin Ferguson brings you up to speed with what’s happening at this year’s event. More than 1000 vintage and classic vehicles and their proud owners will be making their way to the annual...

Re-mortgaging is not so straightforward for the self-employed, Kenny Logan takes a closer look.     The rising trend for self-employment now equates to more than 10 per cent of the employed population in the UK. Given the fact that there are now 4.6 million self-employed people in the country, you might think that lenders would...

With almost £60 billion held in them, there is no doubt that Premium Bonds are the nation’s most prolific ‘savings’ product. But Premium Bonds aren’t really a savings product at all, they are more of a hybrid between a savings product and a lottery. Kevin Ferguson looks at the facts. Premium Bonds were originally launched...

You want to provide your staff with uniforms in keeping with your firm’s corporate image and buy clothing that is suitable to be worn at work, but what is the position regarding claiming the VAT back, and what happens if you give the clothing to your staff? Bob Johnstone investigates. The fact that employees can...

As you will be aware, the proposed increase in National Insurance paid by the self-employed has now been shelved. Whilst this U-Turn is to be welcomed, the announced reduction in the tax-free dividend allowance will affect those who run their own companies, Julie Robertson takes a closer look. The Chancellor had announced in the Budget...

It can’t have escaped your notice that business owners who pay themselves dividends on top of a small salary are being hit hard by the Budget. If you are in receipt of dividend income in excess of £2,000 the reduction in dividend tax allowance will mean that you will be facing higher tax bills. The...

The questions surrounding the issue of how best to extract profits from a company in a tax-efficient manner remain as popular as ever, in fact something we advise on often. Despite the introduction of the dividend allowance, and the personal savings allowance, extraction by remuneration (salaries) and by way of dividend remain the two most...