Do you own any income generating investments or assets abroad which you have not declared in the UK?

HM Revenue & Customs recently launched New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) allowing anyone who has unpaid taxes that are linked to offshore accounts or assets to notify HM Revenue & Customs, settle the tax liabilities and suffer a penalty rate of 10%. This compares favorably to the rate that would apply should HM Revenue & Customs ‘discover’ this offshore income themselves.

To take advantage of the NDO you will need to notify HM Revenue & Customs of your intentions by 30th November 2009 which can be done by phone on 0845 302 1401, or online using the NDO online service from October 2009.  

If you think you may be affected, you can find out more on HM Revenue & Customs website at :

Download the guidance - NDO1 (PDF 80K)

Download the forms - NDO1(F) (PDF 334K)

Download the FAQs (PDF 140K)

Alternatively, please contact your client manager to discuss your position.

In the current climate, more and more people are choosing to work from home and converting a room, loft space or space at the bottom of the garden into their office or workshop.  If your business is VAT registered, can the VAT on the conversion costs be re-claimed? 

Assuming the company pays for all the costs incurred, the normal answer is that VAT can be re-claimed on any equipment or furniture but not on any building work or decorations as these claims are specifically blocked by VAT legislation.   

However, a little-known concession to the rules does allow the recovery of input VAT in certain circumstances. In short, if you can make a reasonable case to the VAT office to show that the conversion will be entirely for business purposes with no domestic involvement in any way shape or form, then you may be able to recover the VAT on all conversion costs incurred. 

It is important to note that exclusive business use of part of a residence may affect eligibility for CGT principal private residence relief, as well as home insurance, mortgages and possibly even council tax.  All these aspects should be considered before making the relevant claims.

If you are considering working from home and some form of conversion will be required, please feel free to contact your client manager prior to commencing the project who will be able to discuss the VAT and tax points to consider.

At a time when interest rates are almost non existent and the FTSE 100 index is still well below its peak from 2007, Nick Gray from our sister company A4G Wealth Management will show you how to invest securely with the chance of a return of over 7% and how investing in the offshore property market can still provide a good return, as well as ways in which offshore bonds can be used with corporate bank accounts as a very effective method of corporate tax planning.

The seminar will be taking place on Thursday 1st October in our boardroom at our Kings Lodge office near Brands Hatch, arriving at 7.45 for an 8am start, with tea / coffee and breakfast rolls provided and an aim to finish by 9am. If you would like to attend or require any further information on our seminars please email Jenny at jenny@a4gsolutions.co.uk. We regularly update our website with the latest seminar information which can be found at www.a4gsolutions.co.uk/weekly-seminars .