Restricted Losses Ahead

Newsletter issue - August 2012.

A lot of businesses have made significant losses in the current recession and will continue to make losses for a while yet. Where those losses are made outside of a company they can generally be set-off against the entrepreneur's other income, or in some cases their gains, without limit. There are restrictions on the use of losses made from a business where the trader is not actively involved. Losses are often created by the amount of interest the business has to pay to the bank.

From 6 April 2013 the Government is proposing to cap the amount of loss relief and interest relief given in any one tax year to the higher of:

  • £50,000; and
  • 25% of the taxpayer's income.

The restrictions on losses and interest may affect business decisions you have taken, or which you are about to make in the next few months. Here are five ways the proposed restrictions could affect you:

  1. Where you have significant losses in a current accounting period which will end in the 2013/14 tax year, you may be thinking of selling an asset for a gain to off-set those losses. Such plans need to be reviewed as your total loss relief will be restricted in 2013/14.
  2. Partners who currently pay significant amounts of interest on their partnership loans may need to restructure those loans before 6 April 2013, to ensure their loan interest does not exceed the greater of £50,000 or 25% of their income.
  3. If you are planning to invest in EIS shares or SEIS shares in the knowledge that if the enterprise doesn't work out, you will get income tax loss relief on the capital invested, you need to know that your loss relief may be restricted.
  4. Where you have already subscribed for shares in an unquoted trading company which is sliding into insolvency, you may need to make a negligible value claim for the value of those shares, to ensure the loss falls in the tax year 2012/13 and is not restricted from 2013/14.
  5. If you are planning to set up a new business which is going to make significant losses in the first couple of years, we need to discuss the structure of the proposed new businesses to ensure the losses are used as quickly as possible.

What our clients say about us...

  • "Paul has provided accountancy services to my company for 2 years now. I can recommend Paul very highly; his skills as an accountant are highly detailed and professional and he is always available to provide advice. One aspect of the way Paul works that I greatly appreciate is a preference to meet face to face when there is a detailed conversation to be had. I personally find this more productive and is a benefit of working with a small accountancy firm that you wouldn't get with the large faceless providers."

    ALISTAIR FAIRWEATHER - PROGRAMME & PROJECT MANAGER, DELIVERING/RESCUING I.T. 7 BUSINESS CHANGE WITH BUDGETS UPTO £50M INC SUPPIER MANAGEMENT

  • "I couldn't ask for more from Paul as an Accountant. Paul has been accountant to Work Relief Charity Recruitment for just over a year now and is proving an invaluable asset. Accurate, knowledgeable, flexible with an emphasis on service delivery, I would recommend Paul's services to any organisation looking for an accounts professional."

    Neil Price - Managing Director at Work Relief Charity Recruitment

  • "Paul was a referral from a family member when I started my business 2 years ago. As this was the first time I had ever run my own company I was totally clueless over the financial side of matters and was worried that I may have made mistakes in any of my accounting. I needn't have worried as after enaging Paul for a set monthly fee he was always there on the end of the phone for all sorts of questions I had and no matter how trivial they were Paul gave me all the information I required and more and did an excellent and painless job at the end of my first year! Couldn't ask for any better to be honest. Just two words - hire him!!!"

    Lee Westrap MBCS - Director - Bulldog IT Services

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Booth & Co  |   The Hermitage  |   15a Shenfield Road  |   Brentwood  |   Essex  |   CM15 8AG        Telephone: 01277 224666    |   Email: info@boothandco.co.uk