Is your child starting school this September? Tax-Free Childcare could save you up to £2,000 a year. Check your eligibility now and start planning ahead.

Working families whose children are starting school for the first time September 2025 could save up to £2,000 a year per child on their childcare bills, thanks to the government’s Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme.

Designed to ease the financial burden of childcare, the TFC scheme offers eligible working families valuable support through a wide network of registered childcare providers. This includes childminders, breakfast and after-school clubs, and approved UK play schemes. Families can also build up their TFC account throughout the year, allowing them to save for higher childcare costs during school holidays.

The scheme is available for children up to the age of 11, with eligibility ending on 1 September following the child's 11th birthday. For children with certain disabilities, the scheme extends eligibility until 1 September after their 16th birthday.

Under the TFC scheme, for every £8 a parent contributes, the government adds £2, effectively topping up childcare savings by 25%. This support is capped at a maximum of £10,000 in contributions per child each year, meaning parents could receive up to £2,000 annually per child, or £4,000 for children with disabilities.

TFC is open to a wide range of working families, including the self-employed and those earning the National Minimum or Living Wage. Parents on paid sick leave, maternity, paternity, or adoption leave (both paid and unpaid) are also eligible. To qualify, each parent must work at least 16 hours per week and meet minimum income thresholds. However, households where either parent earns more than £100,000 a year, or those receiving Universal Credit or employer-provided childcare vouchers, are not eligible for the scheme.

Commenting on the scheme, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services said:

“Starting school can be an expensive time – there’s a lot to buy and organise. Now that you know where your child will be going to school, it’s a good time to start planning your childcare arrangements. Tax-Free Childcare can help make those costs more manageable. Sign up today on GOV.UK and start saving.”

With school starting in just a few months, now is the perfect time for parents to check their eligibility and take advantage of the savings available through the scheme.

Tax perks for Furnished Holiday Lets have ended. From April 2025, lettings fall under standard rental rules. Check the transition rules to avoid surprises.

The tax advantages that were previously available to property owners letting their properties as short-term holiday lets, known as Furnished Holiday Lets (FHL), has now ended. The changes took effect on 6 April 2025 for Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, and on 1 April 2025 for Corporation Tax and Corporation Tax on chargeable gains.

The following is a summary of the key transitional rules that apply as FHL status is phased out and properties are brought under the standard property rental business regime:

• FHLs will no longer qualify for capital allowances but can claim "replacement of domestic items relief." Existing capital allowance pools can still use writing-down allowances, but new any expenditure will follow standard property business rules.
• FHL losses, which could only be offset against future FHL profits, will now be absorbed into the wider UK or overseas property business and offset accordingly.
• Carried-forward FHL losses can still be set against future profits of either the UK or overseas property business as appropriate.
• Eligibility for reliefs like roll-over relief, business asset disposal relief, and gift relief have now ended, however, where criteria for relief includes conditions that apply in a future year these specific rules will not be disturbed where the FHL conditions were satisfied before repeal.
• Business asset disposal relief may still apply if the FHL business ceased before the changes and disposal occurs within the normal three-year period following cessation.
• An anti-forestalling rule, effective from 6 March 2024, blocked the use of unconditional contracts to secure capital gains relief under old FHL rules.

Not all state benefits are tax-free! Some, like the State Pension and Carer’s Allowance, are taxable, while others, like PIP and Universal Credit, are not. Knowing the difference can help you stay on top of your tax responsibilities and avoid surprises.

HMRC’s guidance outlines the following list of the most common state benefits on which Income Tax is payable, subject to the usual limits:

• Bereavement Allowance (previously Widow’s Pension)
• Carer’s Allowance or (in Scotland only) Carer Support Payment
• Contribution-Based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Incapacity Benefit (from the 29th week you receive it)
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Pensions Paid by the Industrial Death Benefit Scheme
• The State Pension
• Widowed Parent’s Allowance

The most common state benefits that are not subject to Income Tax include:

• Attendance Allowance
• Bereavement Support Payment
• Child Benefit (income-based – use the Child Benefit tax calculator to see if you’ll have to pay tax)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Free TV Licence for Over-75s
• Guardian’s Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support – though you may have to pay tax on Income Support if you’re involved in a strike
• Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Industrial Injuries Benefit
• Lump-Sum Bereavement Payments
• Maternity Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Universal Credit
• War Widow’s Pension
• Winter Fuel Payments and Christmas Bonus

Understanding which state benefits are taxable and which are tax-free is important in order to understand the tax implications and ensure compliance with HMRC rules. If you are receiving any of the benefits listed and are unsure about your tax obligations, please do not hesitate to contact us.

After a business closes, income can still arise. Post-cessation receipts must be properly reported and taxed under specific rules. Knowing what qualifies — and what does not — ensures businesses and individuals stay compliant with UK tax law.

Under the legislation, the individual or entity who receives, or is entitled to receive, the post-cessation income is liable to Income Tax or Corporation Tax on that income. This recipient does not need to be the same person who originally carried on the trade. The key factor is whether the income in question meets the definition of a post-cessation receipt.

To fall within the scope of these rules, the income must:

• be received after a person permanently ceases to carry on a trade;
• arise from the carrying on of the trade before the cessation; and
• not be otherwise subject to tax.

Additionally, the legislation outlines specific types of income that are treated as post-cessation receipts beyond those that naturally arise from the winding down of a trade. However, certain types of payments, such as consideration received for the transfer of trading stock, are specifically excluded from this classification and are dealt with under different tax rules.

Not all LLP members are taxed as partners. HMRC may treat them as employees if they meet certain conditions. Here's how the salaried member rules work, what the three-part test involves, and who’s excluded from the legislation.

The salaried member legislation can apply to certain members of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). This can happen where HMRC consider that a member of an LLP is not a risk-taking partner and can be re-classified as a salaried member.

Prior to 2014, all individual members of an LLP were taxed as if they were a partner. The salaried member legislation brought in new provisions that means that individual members of an LLP are effectively treated as employees for tax purposes.

The legislation includes a three-part test to see if LLP members should be taxed as salaried members. If all three parts apply, then the member will be considered a salaried member.

In a simplified format they are:

• Condition A: a member’s regular payments from the LLP have the characteristics of a “disguised salary”, i.e., at least 80% of the member's pay is fixed or if variable do not vary in line with actual profits and losses of the LLP.
• Condition B: a member has no significant influence over the affairs of the LLP.
• Condition C: a member’s capital stake in the business is less than 25% of their expected reward package.

As long as an LLP member is able to demonstrate that at least one of the three conditions does not apply to their circumstances, they will continue to enjoy the status of a regular partner. HMRC’s internal manuals include a number of examples to help clarify how these rules are applied in practice.

This means that the salaried member provisions do not apply to:

• companies
• individuals who do no more than invest money
• individuals who no longer perform services for the LLP but who continue to receive a profit share.