January Bulletin 2025
Welcome to our January Bulletin
As we step into a new year, now is the perfect time for businesses and individuals to reflect on their financial progress, set clear goals, and ensure you're prepared for the upcoming tax season. Take a fresh approach to your finances and get in touch with our friendly team.
This month's ABMV tax bulletin we will be covering:
January - Time to reflect and plan
Child Benefit - Reminder for high earners & parents
HMRC Scam warning
Government website tests chatbot
1% Gambling levy proposed for April 2025
Changing our fees on selected services
Introducing the ABMV Customer Portal
Did you know?
A Fresh Start: Reviewing your business goals for the New Year
January offers a fresh start for business owners to reflect, evaluate, and plan. It’s the perfect moment to assess your direction, performance, and goals.
Why review now? Running a business often prioritises the urgent over the important. Taking the time now ensures you stay on course. Consider:
Are you meeting financial goals?
Have priorities shifted?
Are there new challenges or opportunities?
This review sharpens focus, whether on growth, stability, or innovation and helps you prepare for what’s ahead.
Child Benefit Reminder for High Earners & Parents
Did you or your partner earn over £50,000 2023/24 tax year? If so, you’ll need to file a tax return by 31st January 2025 to:
Avoid HMRC charges or penalties
Pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge (if applicable)
Here’s What You Need to Know:
For the 2023-24 tax year, earning £50,000+ means you’ll still receive Child Benefit, but you may need to pay some of it back.
The charge is tapered, with 1% of your Child Benefit being repaid for every £200 earned above £50,000.
If you earn £60,000 or more, the full amount must be repaid.
What to Do Next:
1️ Register for Self-assessment if you haven’t already.
2 File your tax return by 31st January 2025.
Claiming Child Benefit is still worthwhile as it provides National Insurance credits that count towards your State Pension.
HMRC Scam Alert
With the 31 January self-assessment deadline approaching, HMRC is urging taxpayers to remain vigilant against fraud. Over the past year, scam reports to HMRC have risen by 16.7%, with nearly 150,000 cases recorded up to November 2024.
Many of these scams involved fake tax rebate claims. HMRC emphasizes that they will never request personal or financial details via text messages, nor will they leave threatening voicemails about legal action or arrest.
If you receive any communication claiming to be from HMRC that requests personal information or promises a tax rebate, consult the guidance on GOV.UK to verify if it’s a scam.
If you are ever unsure, always contact us and we can advise you.
Government website tests chatbot
In response to the growing influence of artificial intelligence, the Government has introduced GOV.UK Chat, an experimental chatbot aimed at providing quick, personalised answers using information from GOV.UK pages.
Unlike HMRC’s traditional tax manuals, this tool is designed to cut through bureaucracy and help small businesses navigate Government resources more efficiently. Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology, the chatbot is currently undergoing a four-week trial with up to 15,000 users.
Stay tuned for updates on how this innovative tool could simplify accessing essential information for your business.
1% Gambling levy proposed for April 2025
Licensed gambling operators could face a new levy from April 2025, calculated as a percentage of their Gross Gambling Yield (GGY). Rates will range from 0.1% to 1.1%, varying by sector, operating costs, and harm caused.
Operators earning under £500,000 in gross profits will be exempt, though this threshold may be reviewed by 2030.
The Government aims to raise £90-£100 million annually, with 50% allocated to NHS gambling treatment services, 30% towards harm prevention, and 20% for research led by the Gambling Commission and the UK Research and Innovation.
Changes to Fees on Select Services
Like most companies we have to review our costs and thus our fees from time to time. Following a recent review, we will be making some increases to our fees in certain areas of the business. We will be in touch with you directly should this apply to you. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Introducing the ABMV Customer Portal: secure access anytime, anywhere
At ABMV, we are committed to delivering added value to our customers. As part of this commitment, we are excited to introduce our new customer portal.
This powerful resource gives you 24/7 online access, allowing us to securely store, manage, and share confidential documents with you. With the portal, you can access your files anytime, from anywhere, with complete peace of mind.
You will hear more on this from us shortly.
Did you know?
Flights leaving the UK will now be greener due to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Mandate coming into force on January 1st.
For all jet fuel used in flights taking off from the UK in 2025, 2% must be SAF. This percentage will increase by 2 percentage points each year so that it is 10% by 2030 and then 22% by 2040.
SAF is fuel that is sourced sustainably and includes household waste and used cooking oil. According to government-provided statistics, fuel sourced from such materials produces an average of 70% less carbon emissions than traditional fossil-based aviation fuel.
