BPS 2020
Basic Payment Scheme 2020 The 2020 BPS scheme opens for online applications on 12th March with a claim deadline of 15th May. The scheme is primarily online and paper forms will only be sent on request. DEFRA have confirmed that the current system will remain in place for this year with payment cuts from 2021. Thereafter payments will continue to fall, on a trajectory still to be agreed, to zero in 2028. The overall budget has been guaranteed for the duration of this Parliament. A new environment scheme, ELMS, as well as productivity initiatives, will be phased in with the large scale roll...
Read MoreChanges to Probate Fees
Probate fees are due to rise in May 2017. Following a consultation in 2016, significant increases in the fees payable for a grant of probate are due in May this year. Currently the system requires a flat fee to be paid, which is, if carried out through a solicitor, £155 and if not, the fee is £215. This will change in May to a banded fee, relative to the value of assets and the estate. A table below shows the potential costs and significant potential increase, which could have implications on families, assets held and businesses involved within the probate. Value of Estate (before...
Read MoreDevelopment prospects
Whatever you might think of immigration it is clear that housing demand is growing and this part of East Anglia feels the pressure more than most. Edge Analytics produced a report in May 2015 that suggested Essex needs to build 190,000 new houses between 2012 and 2037. These figures, together with other evidence, are being processed by the various District Councils for incorporation into the emerging Local Plans. Many local authorities are rushing to get an adopted Local Plan in place following the Government’s announcement in October 2015 that ‘if councils fail to produce and bring into...
Read MoreBrexit impacts on farming
Well, we have only gone and done it! Whilst the polls were always close ‘those in the know’ were sure that the bookies had it right and we were going to stay in the EU. Wrong again, and now we have a mad scrabbling for position which just delays the difficult decisions a little further. Agriculture was the biggest recipient of EU funds and has the most to lose in a tussle with the NHS. The CLA and NFU have produced papers outlining priorities for a UK Agricultural Policy (UKAP). The core point is that agriculture has to remain a profitable business if the countryside is to retain its...
Read MoreNet tightens on Inheritance Tax relief for Furnished Holiday Lets
HMRC have recently won a tribunal decision that confirms that inheritance tax relief will only be available on furnished holiday lets (FHL) in exceptional circumstances. Simon Dixon Smith of Land Partners comments ‘the newly released case of Green v HMRC confirms that the majority of holiday lettings businesses will not attract inheritance tax relief. This will be costly to the families of holiday cottage owners’. It is estimated that there are over 75,000 units of FHL in the UK. Many of these will have been purchased for the primary benefit of the owners with holiday lets offered as a way...
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