It has been recently announced that the minimum £5 stamp duty on the transfer of stocks and shares has now been abolished.

This means that the transfer of stocks and shares will not longer need to be stamped where the value of the transfer is under £1000 and the £5 fixed charge on transfers below this value will no longer be charged.

It is estimated that around 220,000 documents submitted for stamping each year will no longer have to be presented to HM

Revenue and Customs, saving time and hassle at both ends!

For more information please contact janice@a4gsolutions.co.uk or alternatively speak to your client manager.

Whilst introducing the new format tax return for 2008, HM Revenue & Customs are continuing to encourage individuals as well as employers to file all forms electronically.  They have therefore revised the filing deadline for self-assessment tax returns to 31st October if you are going to submit a paper copy of the form.  After this date, all forms must be filed electronically in order to avoid late filing penalties, which remain at an initial £100.

Assuming your tax return can be filed online, the deadline for submission remains as 31st January 2009 and any tax liability due must also continue to be paid by this date whether you filed the original form electronically or not.

We would recommend that all individuals attempt to complete and submit their returns by the 31st October deadline from now so that if there are any problems with an online submission penalties can still be avoided. Therefore, we would ask that our clients for whom we complete their self-assessment tax returns collate all of their information as it arrives over the next couple of months ready to pass to us as soon as possible.

For further information please contact janice@a4gsolutions.co.uk or alternatively speak to your client manager.

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL