Update February 2023

The Joys of Spring

With the days getting longer and the temperatures rising, we can hopefully look forward to a great Spring and Summer to brush away the blues of 2022.

However…

There’s a Budget next month but we hope for positive news following the miserable autumn statement.

In the meantime, there are few topics that we want to bring to your attention in case they impact on you.

National Insurance Record

Under the current rules, for those of you who will retire after 6 April 2016, you must have 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions in order to get the maximum new state pension.

It is possible to make voluntary contributions to your National Insurance record to fill in any gaps. Normally, you can go back 6 years to do this. Until 5 April 2023 however, you are able to go back to the 2006/2007 tax year and fill in any gaps to date if you choose.

Therefore, we would urge you to check your National Insurance record to see if you have any gaps. Only you can decide whether to make any voluntary contributions and we are unable to advise on this. However, a Financial Advisor may be able to assist with guidance.

Once we are in the 2023/24 tax year you will only be able to go back and contribute to the 2017/18 year.

Follow the link here to check your record. If there are any discrepancies between what you know to have paid and what HMRC show, then you will need to contact HMRC here. More details about paying voluntary contributions are here.

Latest HMRC “Nudge” letter campaign

HMRC have targeted various sectors of the economy over time where they feel that the income being reported may not be quite what they think it should be. We’ve had letters to landlords, dentists, offshore companies that own UK property, people who may have sold shares in unlisted companies and many other areas.

The idea is to dangle a carrot, for voluntary disclosure, whilst threatening the stick of a full tax enquiry if you do nothing.

The latest group of taxpayers to be targeted are those described as “Digital Influencers”. These are people that derive income from content that they post on various digital platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok or Facebook, amongst others.

For example, people can create their own channel on YouTube and share content they have filmed. Once you have reached a certain number of views of your content and subscribers, YouTube will monetise your channel and provide you with a share of advertising revenue. Like night follows day, this is taxable.

Whether you have received a nudge letter or not, if you have any un-declared income from digital platforms, do contact us so that we can advise on the appropriate disclosure to HMRC.

My Estate Online

Did you know that 56% of adults in the UK don’t have a will?

If you don’t have a will how will your family and loved ones know what assets you have and what you would like to happen to them when you pass away?

Also, it’s been estimated that there is nearly £1bn in lost or forgotten UK bank and building society accounts and £19.4bn in unclaimed pension funds.

My Estate Online has been set up by Jon and two colleagues from the Legal and Financial Services sectors to cater for the protection of your estate both before and after you die.

They securely store your important financial and legal documents, both digitally and physically. My Estate Online doesn’t give advice but has already referred various clients to solicitors to create or update their wills so that their estate goes where they want it to.

Please follow the link here for further details of the service.

And Finally

We are going to change the office opening hours from Monday 20 February 2023.

We will open earlier at 8am Monday to Friday. Our closing time will remain at 5pm Monday to Thursday with an earlier closing time on Fridays of 2.30pm.

That’s all for now, but if you wish to discuss further any of the items raised in this email then please do contact us.

The Team at Cleverdons