A raft of tax changes have come into effect today. The main changes that affect individuals and businesses are:
- the Income Tax Personal Allowance increases to £10,600
- the higher rate income tax threshold increases to £42,385
- the new Marriage Allowance is active
- employers will no longer pay employer NICs for employees under the age of 21 (read more at https://cooperfaure.co.uk/payroll-ni-news/)
- Class 2 NIC for the self-employed can now be collected through Self-Assessment
- Employment Allowance extended to include people employing care and support workers to look after themselves or family members
- the starting rate of savings income tax reduces from 10% to 0% for savings up to £5,000
- the cash ISA limit increases to £15,240
- Child Trust Funds can be transferred into Junior ISAs
- spouses can now inherit their deceased partner’s ISA benefits
- individuals over the age of 55 have flexible access to their defined contribution pension savings (read more at https://cooperfaure.co.uk/pension-flexi/)
- if an individual dies before the age of 75, they can now pass on their unused defined contribution pension savings free of income tax
- Capital Gains Tax annual exemption amount has increased to £11,100
- Shared Parental Leave active from 5th April (read more at https://cooperfaure.co.uk/spl/)
Our detailed 2015-16 UK Tax Rates and Allowances Guide is available here.
If you would like any further information or clarification on these or the other tax changes that come into effect, please email us at welcome@cooperfaure.co.uk.