Investments

Share incentive plans (SIPs) and save-as-you-earn (SAYEs) schemes will see higher limits from 6 April.

The maximum value of free shares that can be awarded in a SIP will rise from £3,000 to £3,600 a tax year, while partnership shares will be capped at £1,800 (from £1,500), subject to the figure being no more than 10% of an employee’s annual salary.

The maximum monthly amount an employee will be able to contribute to SAYE savings arrangements will go up from £250 to £500.

The previous accountant of a new client showed the income and expenditure relating to five let properties as being from self-employment. The presumption is it should be shown as income from property

Under an unfunded unapproved retirement benefits scheme, an employee and their employer had agreed that a pension of £85,000 a year would be paid. Instead, a lump sum of £1.4m was paid to the employee

Tax planning for loving couples

Taking an interest in clients’ investment matters

The economic outlook is improving, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies, but problems lay ahead

A UK-domiciled taxpayer worked in Australia for many years, but has returned to the UK. He has an Australian pension fund, which is not subject to tax in Australia but is in the UK

The father of two grown-up children has purchased their first homes using buy-to-let mortgages. The children reimburse their father for the monthly mortgage payments each month

Record filings

A record 10.74m tax returns were filed for 2012/13 by 31 January, the highest proportion (93.4%) of on-time submissions recorded. Around 8.48m were filed online, passing last year's figure by 0.55m. The busiest day for online returns was 31 January, when HMRC received 569,847. The busiest hour occurred between 4pm and 5pm on the same day: 45,706 returns were received at more than 12 a second, while 21,027 taxpayers filed their return between 11pm and midnight on deadline day.

R Brown (TC3118)

By John Feaster; £68.50; third edition; paperback; 246 pages; Claritax Books

The only activity of a limited liability partnership is as a property investment business. Tax losses are being carried forward with some reduction by subsequent profits. One of the partners now has personal property income, but the LLP losses cannot be set against it