Autumn 2006 Newsletter Contents Into The Unknown Season Of Goodwill Farewell Andre Toon Done Doon Day Of Reckoning Artistic Licence Gizmos Again A Free Lunch Sweet As Nectar Security Concerns Going For A Spin The Cap Does Not Fit While It's Hot? Code Cracking Bad Connection Broken Trusts You Can't Take It With You Dividend Returns IR35 RIP? Spam Spam Spam Breaking Up Duty Calls Time Shift Moving Vans

Code Cracking If you are an employee, you will receive a notice of coding from the Revenue. This tells you how much of your annual tax allowances will be set against your pay. Suppose you have a small amount of other income - let's say rent - on which you have to pay tax. The Revenue have a choice: they can put it on your notice of coding and reduce the tax allowances you set against your pay, or they can send you a tax return. If you get a tax return, you will pay the tax much later - generally on 31 January after the tax year, rather than every month through the tax year as part of your PAYE. On the other hand, you will have to fill in a tax return! The Revenue have a clear preference for putting such small items on the coding notice - they get the money earlier and they don't have to process a full return. You would still be expected to check that the coding notice has the right number on it and tell them if it hasn't, but a request to change a coding notice is a simpler form than a full return. The Revenue have the right to put anything on a coding notice if they want to, but the taxpayer has the right to ask them to take non-employment income off it again. You can't argue about benefits in kind, but you can insist that you want rent or interest to be taxed separately. If you are not sure what your coding notice means - or you are not sure whether it is to your advantage to have odds and ends included on it - we will be happy to advise you on the rules.