The latest Money Matters column from the Carmarthenshire Herald

The latest Clay Shaw Butler Money Matters column from the Carmarthenshire Herald.
By Mark Jones, director of Carmarthen-based Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants.

There were plenty of ‘headlines’ in the recent Budget from Chancellor George Osborne.
But, sometimes, it is the smaller bits of detail that matter most to businesses and individuals.
For example, here’s a short round-up of what the Chancellor had to say about tax and travel matters.
Car and fuel benefits:
The taxable petrol and diesel car benefit is based on the car's CO2 emissions. It is calculated using the car's UK list price and applying the 'appropriate percentage'. The car fuel benefit is calculated by applying the same percentages to the fuel benefit charge multiplier, which for 2015/16 is £22,100.
From April 2015, the five year exemption for zero carbon and the lower rate for ultra-low carbon emission cars came to an end. Two new bands were introduced for ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs). These were set at 0-50 g/km and 51-75 g/km.
The appropriate percentages for the remaining bands have increased by 2% for cars emitting more than 75 g/km, to a new maximum of 37%.
From April 2016, all the appropriate percentages will be increased by 2% up to the maximum of 37%. In addition, new European standards which come into force in September 2015 require diesel cars to have the same air quality emissions as petrol cars. The 3% diesel supplement will therefore be removed in April 2016, so that diesel cars will then be subject to the same level of tax as petrol cars.
The appropriate percentage will increase by 2% for cars emitting more than 75 g/km to a maximum of 37% in each of years 2017/18 and 2018/19.
As previously announced, the van benefit for zero emission vans is to be increased on a tapered basis so that there will be a single van benefit charge applying to all vans by April 2020.
For 2015/16 the charge will be 20% of the value of the standard van benefit charge (i.e. £630). There is no fuel benefit for such vans.
The Government will explore the options for requiring motorists with new cars to undergo the first MoT after four years, rather than three, as part of the forthcoming Motoring Services Strategy.
In other Budget news –
Dividend taxation:
From April 2016 the Dividend Tax Credit will be abolished and a new Dividend Tax Allowance of £5,000 a year will be introduced.
The new rates of tax on dividend income above the allowance will be 7.5% for basic rate taxpayers, 32.5% for higher rate taxpayers and 38.1% for additional rate taxpayers.
Restricting finance cost relief for individual landlords:
New legislation will mean that landlords will no longer be able to deduct all of their finance costs from their residential property income to arrive at their property profits. They will instead receive a basic rate reduction from their income tax liability for their finance costs.
This will be introduced gradually from 6 April 2017.
Reform of the Wear and Tear Allowance:
The Government will, with effect from April 2016, replace the Wear and Tear Allowance with a new relief that allows all residential landlords to deduct the actual costs of replacing furnishings.
Rent-a-Room relief:
From April 2016 the level of Rent-a-Room relief will be increased from £4,250 to £7,500.
Pensions: reduced Annual Allowance for top earners:
For those with income (including the value of any pension contributions) above £150,000, the benefits of pensions tax relief will be restricted by tapering away their Annual Allowance to a minimum of £10,000. This will be effective from 6 April 2016.
In order to facilitate the taper, legislation will also be introduced to align pension input periods with the tax year as well as transitional rules to protect savers who might otherwise be affected by the alignment of their pension input periods.
At Clay Shaw Butler, we aim to do our level best to explain the Budget and all its details to our clients.
You can find out more about money matters on the new-look Clay Shaw Butler website (under our news for business section) -
http://www.clayshawbutler.com/news/latest-news-for-business
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