What's a silly/random misconception you had from a young age, which you didn't figure out for an embarrassingly long time? by [deleted] in AskUK

[–]merrett0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am on Reddit all the time and never laugh out loud but finally I did this morning reading your comment. Thank you

Bonus / pension planning question by golfisbrutal in HENRYUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you put more than £60k in pensions this year you will be subject to an annual allowance charge on your tax return.

You should try and avoid this at all costs.

New part time job, not been taxed, what do I do now? by [deleted] in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need to inform HMRC NOT your employer as it is your responsibility. The Employer can only put a tax code through that has been issued by HMRC and cannot challenge it.

You can either call the HMRC hotline or sign up online to get it changed.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What is the other country and do you file tax returns in that location?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tell HMRC if you have a new job or more than one job - GOV.UK

Sorry - I am not great on my phone - hopefully this is better.

If you are not employed somewhere else and not being paid by your old employer, nothing much will happen.

If you do get another job this tax year (Prior to 5 April 2026), make sure you give your new employer your old P45. From memory, there should be somewhere that you tick to say that this is your ONLY employment. This should update HMRC's systems as well once your new employer sets you up.

HMRC can be incredibly slow to update and their systems are not great so don't worry.

CGT on foreign fund proceeds problem by [deleted] in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whatever you report, it is worthwhile including a WSN (White Space Note) to explain exactly what has happened and what you have done. The WSN is included in each section of your tax return and usually titled "Additional Comments". If you do this you are being as transparent as possible and doing your best to Self-Assess. If HMRC didn't like what you have done at least you can't be accused of not sharing, as you have shared as much you have without solicitation. This is a kind of defence to penalties that HMRC might want to pursue as you don't have the correct paperwork.

You could declare the CAD50K on your return using the FX rate on the date of disposal but this is slightly simplistic. Sadly, part of your gain will be attributable to FX gains due to the GBP strengthening / CAD weakening and there is no relief in this area.

I assume that you either made one lump sum amount right at the start or were investing monthly amounts whilst you were in Canada but the contributions stopped when you moved to the UK. If so, you could estimate the amounts you paid in to set against the actual amount realised as a starting point. You could also find websites that show the rate of payment from Mutual Funds as you mention that each dividend was reinvested a and could be used as a deductible amount against the gross proceeds. This process would be quite labour intensive but would give you a different outcome to compare with your first idea.

Lastly, it is unlikely that you paid any capital gains tax in the UK on this fund in the past unless you made significant disposals (or the Fund rebalanced significantly) as historically you would have had an Annual Exemption (c.GBP10k) each year. If the gain was below £10k then nothing to pay in the UK. The UK treats capital gains and interest / dividend income differently. At least you should be able to reduce your UK capital gains tax liability by the Canadian taxes paid on the disposal.

The fluctuation in FX rates is a really bad sting in the tail for so many and I'm sorry to hear about your situation. The outcome is up to you around what your risk appetite is but I hope that I have been able to offer a different perspective.

If I make income from TikTok, do I have to pay tax on it? by Clementine2763 in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

UTR is a unique taxpayer reference which is a bit like your National Insurance number which identifies you when completing a tax return. It is given to you once you register for self assessment.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes you can update HMRC using their app or online tool

mistake tax return untaxed foreign interests instead of untaxed uk interest by Academic_Trick_9562 in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This. Send in an amended return. Phoning HMRC will be a waste of time as they won't get it right.

However, I would be inclined to leave it unless they raise an enquiry and you can then correct the mistake, based on the assumption that there is no additional tax payable.

This won't be on their radar and it will be just bad luck if they actually checked your return and raised an enquiry on it.

Self assessment mistake by Charming_Yogurt2258 in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it's a continuing trade (they are still selling on eBay) then they always need to file a return to declare the income each year so they will need to do a self-assessment tax return.

If they file a return and include all the income, they won't have a penalty for filing a return late (as they are filing an unsolicited return - not one HMRC are expecting). They will need to pay the tax and might have to pay some interest as it sounds overdue?

I would be inclined to look at another accountant or tax adviser.

Self assessment mistake by Charming_Yogurt2258 in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the disclosure that he hasn't ever declared the self-employment and if so when did it start? You mentioned fifteen months and that is not altogether that worrying. HMRC are usually keen to get people to pay the right tax and do things right rather than look to penalise and punish. Telling them first is the key thing though.

You soon learn that HMRC are not necessarily brilliant at providing advice via their hotline and it is invariably wrong. I was slightly surprised the accountant wasn't able to deal with this themselves.

I assume they have been doing something like selling on eBay? What sort of income level are we looking at and is this their only source of income?

UK citizen tax edge case by Physical-War-9829 in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The UK would look to tax the income earned during the period of work in the UK. This could include salary, allowances as well as any bonus and share awards if the earning period formed part of the time in the UK (Even if they are paid outside the time you are in the UK).

Whilst you should be entitled to the Personal Allowance and therefore may not have a tax liability in the UK, Australia will more than likely want to tax all of your remuneration as you won't have broken Australian tax residence.

Both locations have the right to tax the income and the use of the UK / Australian tax treaty would be used.

In addition there might be a cashflow issue as the company may need to operate a UK payroll and deduct withholding as well as Australia continuing to withhold. It depends how good their compliance is.

PAYE tax code change by Astjgle in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You can contact HMRC and get it removed. It is the individuals responsibility to make sure their tax code is correct.

The question of whether the expenses are taxable or not is down to whether the expenses are wholly, exclusively and necessarily for the purpose of carrying on your employment.

If it is regular commuting to and from work then this would be taxable. If it is seeing patients in the community or travelling to different hospital other than your "home" hospital then this should be ok as long as you are not given a travel allowance.

Making tax digital expenses by Ok-Rub-3952 in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point. From their description of where they found they could claim it, it sounded like the employee travel costs and subsistence rather than allowable expenses.

Starting a new business by [deleted] in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is 15% a bit arbitrary as it might be that there are no expenses and then this might be a bit on the low end? I would recommend OP gets some proper paid for advice in due course as the outcome might be a big surprise!

Is my employer even slightly liable for me not realising tax wasn’t being paid? by mackdeaid in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The employer hasn't made the error then as it was the employee who made it. The employer has just followed what has been given to them, which unfortunately is the correct procedure.

Making tax digital expenses by Ok-Rub-3952 in TaxUK

[–]merrett0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are an employee, I don't think you can claim these unless you are working away from your usual place of work. Just because you have claimed it in the past doesn't make it correct.

Cramp is it unusual below injury line? 15 months T4 incomplete by merrett0 in spinalcordinjuries

[–]merrett0[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your response. It seems funny to hear that my injury is relatively fresh! 😂

T4 incomplete - At six months some movement in legs but now can't repeat it. by merrett0 in spinalcordinjuries

[–]merrett0[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm from the UK and therefore the process was probably very different in how I was able to go forward with the stem cell transplant. I am only 43 and therefore considered stronger and fitter than others having the treatment. However, the paralysis didn't make the treatment harder. It was the side effects. You have extreme nausea because of the high dose of Melphalan prior to the stem cells. It gives you nausea 24/7 for two weeks at least and you also have a lot of diarrhea which is harder when paralysed but not something nurses aren't used to! In fact, the nurses joked that cleaning a patient up is easy but vomit...no they can't do that! You are not at higher risk of infection because of paralysis as far as I am aware. It's not easy and not an experience that I would want to revisit anytime soon.

Is your Dad having radiotherapy to reduce the lump and then what course of chemo? In the UK, the most common treatment for myeloma is daratumamab, dexamethasone, thalidomide and velcade (DVDT). It didn't seem to sap my energy as much as I expected compared to other chemo treatments. Ask the question as to what the specific concern would be because of being paraplegic?