March 2023

We hope you will contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss any matters in more detail. 

HMRC urges eligible couples to claim Marriage Allowance

HMRC has reminded married couples eligible for the Marriage Allowance to make use of the tax relief.

Over 2.1 million couples currently benefit from the Allowance, HMRC said. Married couples could save up to £252 a year, it added.

Eligible couples are those who are married or in a registered civil partnership; one spouse or partner does not pay income tax, or their income is below the Personal Allowance of £12,570; and the other spouse or partner pays income tax at the basic rate.

It is possible to backdate claims to include any tax year up to 6 April 2018, which could be worth up to £1,242 in tax relief.

Advisory fuel rates for company cars

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published and took effect from 1 March 2023.

The guidance states that you can use the previous rates for up to one month from the date the new rates apply. The rates only apply to employees using a company car.

The advisory fuel rates for journeys undertaken on or after 1 March 2023 are:

HMRC guidance states that the rates only apply when you either:

• reimburse employees for business travel in their company cars
• require employees to repay the cost of fuel used for private travel.

You must not use these rates in any other circumstances.

The Advisory Electricity Rate for fully electric cars is increased from 8p to 9p per mile. Electricity is not a fuel for car fuel benefit purposes.

If you would like to discuss your company car policy, please contact us.

Inflation remains close to 40-year high

Inflation remains close to a 40-year high despite falling in January, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS found that inflation fell to 10.1% in the year to January 2023 from 10.5% in December 2022. The Bank of England has also reported that inflation 'might now have turned a corner' . The drop has been linked to the costs of fuel, restaurant and hotel prices slowing.

However, the ONS found that food inflation remains high with the 12 month rate to January 2023 at 16.7%. The largest upward contributions to the annual Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) inflation rate in January came from housing and household services, food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Record 11.7 million tax returns received on time

A record 11.7 million self assessment taxpayers submitted their tax returns by the 31 January deadline, HMRC has revealed.

The final day for self assessment returns saw 861,085 customers file online to meet the deadline, some with minutes to spare. There were 36,767 customers who filed in the last hour before the deadline, but the peak hour for filing on the day was between 4pm and 4:59pm, when 68,462 customers submitted their tax return.

More than 12 million customers were expected to file a self assessment tax return for the 2021/22 tax year. HMRC is urging customers who missed the deadline to submit theirs as soon as possible or risk facing a penalty.