Natalie Simmons

Natalie Simmons

Reclaiming the cost of statutory payments

Employers must make statutory payments to employees who meet the eligibility criteria. This includes statutory maternity pay (SMP), statutory paternity pay (SPP), statutory adoption pay (SAP), statutory shared parental pay (SSPP), statutory parental bereavement pay (SPBP), and statutory neonatal care…

Using the advisory fuel rates

HMRC publish mileage rates for petrol, LPG and diesel and electric cars. The rates are known as the advisory fuel rates and are updated quarterly with effect from 1 March, 1 June, 1 September and 1 December. The rates are…

Relief for homeworking expenses

Where an employee works at home, they may incur additional household expenses as a result, such as additional heating and lighting costs, the cost of business phone calls on a home phone, additional insurance costs and additional cleaning costs. Reimbursed…

Writing off a director’s loan

In a personal or family company, there are often transactions between the company and the director(s). For example, the company may meet personal expenses on the director’s behalf, or the director may loan money to the company to help cash…

Escaping the HICBC

The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is a tax which claws back child benefit where the recipient or their partner has adjusted net income of £60,000 or more in the tax year. The charge is equal to 1% of…

Benefits of an alphabet share structure

Where a business is operated through a limited company, profits need to be extracted if they are to be used personally. Where the personal allowance remains available, it is generally beneficial to pay a salary equal to the personal allowance…