HM Revenue and Customs have announced that some major changes to the VAT fuel scale charges, these changes will come into force on 1st May 2007. A new scale must be used by businesses from the start of their first accounting period beginning on or after this date.

The existing VAT fuel scale is based on the car’s engine size and the fuel type is to be replaced by a fuel scale charge which is solely bases on the CO2 rating of a car. The new system will determine the fuel scale charge by CO2 rating alone and there will be no adjustments for the type of fuel your car uses. The exemption will be made for vehicles that are too old to have an official CO2 rating; businesses in this situation will be assigned a set band within the new system that is based exclusively on engine capacity.

The new scale charge table will be available in full when the 2007 budget is announced on the 21st March.

The CO2 rating of your car can be found on the vehicle certification agency CO2 database.

According to a survey conducted by website ‘advicenow’ many cohabiting couples believe they have similar inheritance rights to those of married couples.

However, legally, cohabiting couples have no right to automatically inherit assets from a dead partner. Instead, property at death is distributed either according to terns of a will, or if there is no valid will in place the law of Intestacy.

Under Intestacy, married or civil partners stand to gain the most and what ever is left over usually goes to children or other family members, Cohabiting partners can be left with nothing.

For further advice regarding inheritance please speak to your client manager who can put you in touch with a specialist that we deal with. Alternatively email Cheryl@a4gsolutions.co.uk

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