r/TaxUK

Does anybody be else out there (in the uk) think there should be a vote (referendum) on whether the Uk tax payer should have a choice about paying their money to fund asylum and immigration ?

There's a lot of quiet panic about this so here's the calm version. Not declaring isn't the same as hiding, and it's fixable.

HMRC has a specific route for exactly this, the tell HMRC about unpaid tax on cryptoassets service. The key thing: if you come forward yourself before HMRC contacts you, the penalty for an honest mistake can be as low as nil. If they find it first, it starts at a chunk of the tax owed. Big difference, and the timing is the part you actually control.

Also worth knowing: from this year UK exchanges report your data straight to HMRC (the CARF rules), so "they'll never know" isn't really a thing anymore.

The actual move is just: work out what you really owe for each year, then disclose it. Most people owe less than they fear once losses and the allowance are in. Happy to point anyone to the HMRC pages if it helps.

I’m looking for some guidance on how CGT works for shares I inherited in the UK.

About 2 years ago, my grandfather transferred a share portfolio to me using a stock transfer form. There was no probate and no will. The transfer of shares happened in March 2024, and he passed away in June 2024. At the time, the portfolio was worth around £60k, and it has since grown to around £185k–£190k.

I’m now planning to sell a significant chunk of the portfolio, and I want to make sure I report the capital gains correctly. My understanding is that my base cost should be the market value of the shares on the date of death, but I’m not sure about the actual filing process.

Do I:

- report it through Self Assessment, or use the real time CGT service?

- need to hire an accountant?

- need to send HMRC any documents like the death certificate or stock transfer form?

- calculate and pay it myself, or does the broker/HMRC handle any of it?

Any advice from people who’ve dealt with inherited shares would be appreciated.

Hi all,

Just looking for some tax advice with the below:
- I have quit my UK job and have got 2.5 months of travel (Europe + Australia) before starting a new job back in Australia in mid September.
- I have lived in the UK the past 7 years, doing 3 years at uni and 4 years of work
- I have both a UK and Australian passport
- Australia may be long term, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I do one more stint in the UK later on (in 5 years or so, depending on how the economy looks)

In terms of the above, I’m trying to understand what I need to undertake:
- complete a P85 to confirm I will no longer be a tax resident. Should I complete this once I have left the country for the final time? I am flying out of London to Australia in late August. I will hopefully get back all the tax I have paid in FY27 so far.
- register to still contribute to NI whilst I’m away. If I spend the rest of my life in Australia, yet contribute to NI for another 31 working years (bringing the total to 35 years of NICs), will I be entitled to a full state pension (assuming there are no changes to how it works in the future)? Is this worth it or not?
- is there anything else I need to consider from a UK tax perspective?

Really appreciate your help :)

I'm trying to understand the tax treatment when a UK limited company buys a car that will be used for both business and private purposes by the director. From what I've read, if the car is available for any private use, HMRC generally doesn't allow the company to reclaim the VAT on the purchase, even if the majority of the mileage is for business. If that's correct, I have a few questions:

1. Is it true that the company cannot reclaim any VAT on the purchase if there's any private use?
2. Are there any exceptions that would still allow VAT recovery?
3. If the company cannot reclaim the VAT, can it still claim capital allowances (or 100% First-Year Allowance if it's a qualifying new electric car)?
4. Does the director's private use reduce or prevent the company from claiming capital allowances, or is the private use dealt with separately through the Benefit-in-Kind rules?
5. Is it possible for a company to receive no VAT recovery on the purchase but still receive full corporation tax relief through capital allowances?
6. For those who advise owner-managed businesses, what factors do you consider when deciding whether to buy a car personally or through the company? Do VAT, corporation tax, Benefit-in-Kind, and running costs usually drive that decision?

How the VAT rules, capital allowances, and Benefit in kind interact, as they seem to be treated quite differently.

Evening all,

In August 2025 I dug out my old collection of card collectibles (and similar items) and began listing them on EBay.

In the period August 2025 to April 2026, I sold 50 items totalling roughly £1,100, all of which were part of my previous collection. I also purchased 11 items totalling £200 to complete half finished sets etc, that are unsold and unlisted (and I intend to keep).

Do I need to register for self-assessment for 25/26? Although sales are over £1,000 in the period, I don’t think I meet the criteria for trading given I haven’t bought any item and subsequently sold it, but I’m seeing mixed advice online.

If I do need to register, what is my cost base for my sold items, given they were bought 15+ years? Or is the full £1,100 taxed?

Any input much appreciated.

Hi all,

I set up a limited company (sole director, no employees or anything) to buy a house with hopes of renting it out, bought it in a bad condition on a bridging loan and been fixing it up, remortgaged it for a higher price and got some money that is currently still being used towards utilities/ council tax/ insurance/ mortgage and materials for fixing it up - all through a Tide business bank account set up at the start

I have not had any rental income, it’s not yet ready for tenants

I need to file my taxes/ CT600/ accounts really soon

Had a few questions I was wondering if anyone has any experience with:

1. ⁠as I haven’t had income, I will just be filing accounts of losses, is this worth it to carry forward? Or is it better to say the company was dormant?
2. ⁠the remortgage money that came in, not sure what to categorise that as? It’s not really income it’s just a bigger loan
3. ⁠what are the benefits of registering for VAT? Don’t intend on having employees and stuff, just want to buy a few houses and rent them out
4. ⁠What comes under capital asset of property purchase - all the solicitor fees too? I understand this cannot be offset against rental income when I get it, it only comes into play if I ever sell the house against capital gains tax
5. ⁠the bathrooms were in bad condition, so ripped it out and put a new one in and new flooring because it was nonexistent - does this count as repairs expense or capital asset as renovation ?
6. ⁠I am using Free Agent software, has anyone used this and can confirm that it’s a good choice?

Really appreciate any comments or tips 🙌

Hi

My employer wants to buy one my displacement payments from me in a one off lump sum and I'm trying to figure out what the tax implications would be if anyone could help advise please.

My standalone take home figures are:

Annual Salary: £61 000 Overtime (approx): £20 000

Displacement Pay: £104.20 per shift (average of 14 shifts per month

The offer is to give me 5 years of displacement pay for just over £100 000, this would be paid via my wage so would be taxable as normal. I've estimated that I would lose just over half of this to normal tax rules but what would the implications be on my rest of the year wages on my normal take home pay? I understand that this would put me in the 50% tax bracket but not too clear on the rules around that bracket and the overall affect on take home pay.

Any help is appreciated, let me know if more info is required, thanks

Running a small practice (just me and one part-time assistant) and the document chasing is slowly killing me. Every year I tell myself I'll have a better system, and every year I'm still sending the same Whatsapp messages and emails to the same clients who just don't respond until the last minute.

Curious how others handle this,
do you have a formal onboarding process that sets expectations early? Any tools or workflows that have genuinely made a difference? Or is this just the reality of running a small practice and you learn to live with it?

Would love to hear what's actually working for people rather than the theoretical "just set boundaries" advice.

Almost 20 years ago I bought a flat by myself. In the interning years I left the country and got married. But I kept that flat, letting it out.

We have now decided to sell the flat. I expect there will be a positive difference between the original purchase price and the selling price, on which I will pay capital gains tax. ChatGPT suggested that I should add my spouse's name to the title deeds, as this will double the personal allowance on capital gains tax.

So here's my question: How long would I reasonably expect to wait between adding her name to the title deeds, and putting the property on the market? Will HMRC complain if it's a matter of weeks?

Hi all, I've received a letter from HMRC saying that I've been flagged up as having to pay tax on worldwide income. I'm from New Zealand originally and have a bank account there. I am working full time in the UK and pay tax using PAYE.

I bought a property in New Zealand in 2014, lived there for about seven months, then started renting it out and moved to the UK in 2015. I paid tax on the rental in New Zealand. I then sold the property in 2022. I co-owned the property with an ex. After the sale, I put some of the proceeds in term deposits. The gain was over $200k in NZD, and my ex and I split the remainder after covering each of our original investments such as the deposit. I've never transferred anything to the UK.

I didn't realise that the UK would have any claim over this until the letter arrived - so now I'm worried I'm due for a huge tax bill. I was wondering if anyone has any advice, will I have to pay penalties as well?

Hi all. I have a question regarding corporation tax that might be due. I have small startup which I am trying to build from group up. I launched a crowdfund campaign a while back and received nearly 10k on it which will be used to build the platform, obtain certifications and permits needed to launch the business.

I am now concerned about the tax implication on this amount raised. This is sort of donated to me and I am not going out any equity or product in return for this.

Can someone guide me if and how it will be taxed? And how should I account for this amount?

Hi,

My wife currently has around $200k\\\~ in one company stock which she has gained from RSU’s and ESPP’s whilst working there. We are looking to pull a fair chunk of this out as this amount in 1 stock as many of you know is crazy. She has left this to vest over many years and basically just ignored it.

Now the shares we are looking to pull are most RSU gain shares and there’s some which are ESPP. As these shares are US and as she is a UK resident, does she have complicated Tax implications on the ESPP shares?

With the RSU gains, she has already paid the NI & Tax on these so the CGT is pretty straight forward I believe. But I thought I read somewhere where ESPP gains may be different?

We’re thinking of pulling out $100k, maybe more. We are speaking to a financial advisor of where’s best to place this money. I was just curious regarding the tax, so was hesitate to pull it out.

Thinking of just pulling the money and then sorting the tax after as the stock price is doing very well at the moment and her shares have performed impressively. Especially as she only has a window until the 15th July of being able to pull these stocks out.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I (39m) have ASD and ADHD.

I have not had a formal diagnosis as the waiting list for the NHS services in my area was too long and I was in a bad place so opted to go private.

Due to limited budget, I chose to focus on treatment rather than formal diagnosis, and eventually found a good clinical psychologist and psychiatrist. I’ve managed to make progress but the cost of treatment is high. The NHS is still not an option for the foreseeable.

While my job enables me to be able to afford treatment, it is also the greatest cause of my problems. I like my industry and I am good at my job, but my working environment is extremely mentally unhealthy in addition to my condition. I have just gotten a new job and am working my notice, but I will still need therapy and medication for the long term.

Last November I got hit with a large tax demand from HMRC. After spending time looking into the calculations I realised I had missed a change which happened in the midst of the burnout period, which caused my tax deductions to be wrong for most of the year. After looking at my accounts in more detail I noticed how much I had spent on therapy and psychiatry including medication (Elvanse/vyanse which is a life saver).

Following this I decided to apply for PIP. Having applied in January and gone through the process, in late April I was given 0 and denied PIP.

I instead completed a tax return in order to treat my therapy as a an expense. HMRCs requirements seem to make these admissible, as they were a necessary cost for me to do my job and the guidance available did not exclude this. Given that DWP do not rate my disability serious enough to warrant support, I am viewing the necessary costs arising from condition as an expense as I cannot do my job without support. My work situation is such that i cannot ask and my employer would not give any support.

At this point HMRC have sent me the same guidance document twice, but have still not told me how it applies to exclude therapy as an expense. The language available is imprecise.

This is still on going and due to HMRC insisting on using the post to communicate, progress is very slow. Most recently I asked for more specific direction and guidance reverting to the Equalities Act in order to request an accommodation to provide a proper and detailed explanation in a way I can understand.

I wondered if anyone has tried a similar approach in order to support their therapeutic treatments. Is there any route I have not thought of?

Thanks in advance.

TLDR denied PIP and trying to get my therapy treated as tax deductible.

EDIT PIP is the personal independence payment which is a non means tested benefit intended to enable those with disabilities to be able to get the support they need. ASD = Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD = Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

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Crypto isn’t as tax-free as many people think.

HMRC treats crypto as an asset, not currency, so tax can apply when you:

• Sell crypto for GBP

• Swap one crypto for another

• Use crypto to buy goods or services

• Gift crypto, unless it’s to your spouse or civil partner

These are usually Capital Gains Tax events.

Income Tax may also apply if you receive crypto from:

• Mining

• Staking or validator rewards

• Being paid in crypto

• Certain airdrops

Common mistakes:

• “I didn’t cash out, so it’s not taxable”

• “Swapping coins doesn’t count”

• “The exchange handles the tax”

HMRC expects clear records, including dates, GBP values, wallets, exchanges and transaction history.

Crypto tax doesn’t need to be scary, but ignoring it can be expensive.

A surprising number of people overpay tax without realising it.
It can happen if you:
Changed jobs during the tax year
Stopped working for a while
Paid emergency tax
Had work expenses you never claimed
Started or left employment mid-year
Most people assume HMRC automatically sorts everything, but that’s not always the case.
Have you ever received a tax refund? If so, how much was it?
I have tried this tool to check the values for myself.

I am an accountant by qualification and just not practicing accountant. Please don’t tell me I need to see a tax professional as my questions are very simple. If you can help great, or TIA that I should see a tax professional.

1. For Micro entity - which is the cheapest and user friendly software for CT600
2. I have a BTL company, never bought a property, just have few expenses of valuation fees, solicitor fees and some incidental expense to buy a property for a purchase that never got completed - so I qualify for a dormant account tax filing or trading entity?
3. Finally. I filed my company house return for first 18 months ending in Aug 2025. For ct600 I got a letter from HMRC to file two returns with one from start date 29 Aug 2024 to 28 Aug 2025 and another for 29 Aug to 31 Aug 2025 (3 days). Do I need to file two returns? Do the dates for tax and company house filing need to align?

I have received a promotion at work that comes with back payment for the wages for the last 3 years. This lump sum has pushed me into the higher tax bracket for this year and also means my personal savings allowance is lower. Is there anything I can do about this as if I had received the wage over the 3 years I would not have been in a higher tax bracket. TIA

I'm really hoping someone can point me in the right direction regarding this please. I can only provide limited details to protect personal information.

An individual with a pre-1998 Local Government pension should have received their pension from age 60. However, they were not contacted by the pension provider to begin payment, nor did the individual contact the pension provider.

Subsequently, the individual passed away a few years after the age of 60 without receiving the pension.

The pension provider was notified of the passing promptly, but took nearly 18 months to pay the pension arrears and retirement lump sum. They claim that, since payment of the lump sum was made beyond 12 months of the passing, it is subject to a 40% late payment charge.

I've tried to research this online, but I can't get my head around all the complexities of it.

My question is this: If the payment of the retirement lump sum had been made WITHIN the 12 months of the passing, could this late payment tax have been avoided, or would it have been due anyway because the payment was not made when the individual turned 60?

Any advice would be much appreciated. If you have any reference material to refer to, that would be fantastic. Thanks.

I’m sorry but in the UK we pay a lot of tax as it is but HMRC now taxing ISA’s at 22% from April 2027 is an absolute joke. Genuinely what is the point in this, such a joke