Year End Tax Review 2009/2010 Contents Lead articles The year ahead... This year, next year Pension hit Employees Too much NIC NIC and pensions Company cars Tax-free benefits Business - General Time to incorporate? His and hers Family bonus Profit and loss Show me the money Can't pay, won't pay? Turning back the clock Business - VAT Standard VAT or flat VAT? VAT goes down - must come up? European revolution A good start for VAT Happy returns? Investments Top-up savings Rainy day money Capital Gains Gains favoured Splitting gains A place in the country Holiday lets end Families Family fortunes Where there's a Will Credits and debits Piggy banks Still trustworthy? Administration Penalty shoot-out Paperwork, paperwork Pay tax later Opportunity knocks again Charity Give and save Non-Domiciled People Home and away Interest Interesting times

Can't pay, won't pay? HMRC have in the past been criticised for being too ready to close a business down if it could not pay its tax: since late 2008, it has been official policy to be flexible and to try to keep the business going. Delaying a payment to HMRC is likely to be easier and cheaper than extending a bank overdraft. There are conditions: the taxpayer must be in genuine financial difficulty, and it must be likely to be able to pay if given more time. It is worth having detailed financial information to make a case to HMRC. If the business has no prospect of ever paying the liability, they are likely to take the usual enforcement action and cut their losses. There are some major concessions: if you agree a "time to pay" arrangement before VAT falls due, there are no default surcharges to pay. A construction industry business can defer tax without losing entitlement to be paid gross. The important thing is to be prepared. The business is supposed to put a proposal to HMRC before the due date - not wait until HMRC are sending red letters for overdue tax. Action Point! Could you make a case to HMRC for easy terms on business tax payments?