PTaxQ (personal tax review questionnaire)


Why use PtaxQ Questionnaire? The questionnaire has been designed as a quality control checklist, ensuring everyone delivers pro-active advice to the same level to all personal tax clients


Client information

Q1
Client Information and completion data

Tailoring Questions

Q2

Your responses here determine the sections that will be included in this checklist.

Tailoring of sections

Answering No will skip the questions in the relevant section - you must tick a button on each line before you can proceed to the next stage.

Married Couples

Q3
Consideration has been given to reorganising investments so that income is paid to the partner who pays least tax on it.


Q4
Is marriage allowance claimable this year/was marriage allowance claimed last tax year? (Tax software may flag this for attention)


Q5
Are you aware of any impending separation/divorce?


Children (under 18)

Q6
Ensure dates of birth of children are held in our records


Q7
Consideration has been given to children utilising their personal and other tax allowances


Q8
Consideration has been given to the eligibility or otherwise of Children's Tax Credits


Q9
If Children's Tax Credits are being claimed, consideration has been given to the effect of income variations in the current tax year and how this will impinge on provisional and future claims


Q10
Enquiry has been made as to receipt of Child Benefit and the High Income Child Benefit Charge (where either party has 'adjusted net income' in excess of £50,000) and whether the clawback can be reduced e.g. by pension contributions etc


Q11
Consideration has been given to any savings the children may have

Trust Funds ? Junior ISAs ?



Higher rate tax payer?

Q12
Enquiry has been made as to whether payments have been made under Gift Aid and consideration has been given to possible carry-back to prior year?


Q13
Consideration has been given to managing income to mitigate the loss of personal allowances where income may be between £100,000 and £125,140 in 2022/23(£100,000 and £125,140 in 2021/22)


Q14
Should client be made aware of tax relief available on gift of shares to a charity?


Q15
Should client be made aware that tax relief can be obtained on gifts of land and buildings to charity and there is no capital gains tax?


Q16
Client has been made aware of the tax benefits of making additional pension contributions


Q17
Where pension contributions are to be paid, consideration has been given to unused reliefs brought forward.


Q32
If auto-enrolment contributions are being paid e.g. to NEST (which are paid net of basic rate tax), have you claimed higher rate tax relief in the tax return?


Q18
Consideration has been given to the various forms of tax free savings


Q19
Consideration has been given to investing for capital growth rather than income to utilise CGT exemptions


Q20
Client has been made aware of the EIS - Enterprise Investment Scheme and/or SEIS Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme


Q22
Client has also been made aware of tax benefits of investment in Venture Capital Trusts


Q23
Where dividends > £2,000 in 2021/22 or 2022/23and/or interest > £500 are received, consideration has to been given to whether investments can be rearranged to make use of the 0% rate bands.


Income from employment

Q24
Consideration has been given to joining the Employer's Occupational Pension Scheme/ Auto-enrolment scheme and also the possibility of making Additional Voluntary Contribution/higher percentage contributions


Q25
Consideration has been given, where there are two or more employments, or a self employment and employment, as to whether the annual maxima for NI contributions been exceeded


Q26
Are mileage allowances for use of own vehicle on business paid?


Q27
Consideration has been given to any tax allowable flat rate expenses or subs to professional bodies etc


Q28
Consideration has been given to State pension rates and any other tax return information available on HMRC website


Q29
Consideration has been given to possible PAYE underpayments brought and carried forward and entered on the Tax Return and tax coding notices have been reviewed to identify any collections via coding adjustments


Q30
Consideration has been given, where there is an underpayment of less than £2,000, or a liability arising in the current year under review, of collection via PAYE adjustment instead of payment by lump sum and the client has been given the option


Saving and investing

Q31
The client has been made aware how the dividend tax rules will affect their tax liability, and consideration has been given to planning to reduce tax liabilities e.g. use of ISAs for other shareholdings/high yielding shares held outside of the owner managed business etc


Q32
Have any gilts or fixed interest stocks been bought or sold?


Q33
Have Tax free savings been considered - especially Help to buy ISAs where not on property ladder?


Q34
Consideration has been given to eligibility for the 0% starting rate on interest income


Q35
Exempts from tax up to £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers and £500 for higher rate tax payers (Nil for additional rate payers). Consideration has been given to making use of this allowance. Similarly, where interest will exceed these limits, client has been warned that tax will be payable on interest received - consider reinvestment of funds.


Income from Property

Q36
It has been ascertained as to how the properties are owned and whether this is the best method for any future disposals


Q37
Furnished Lettings only -the following have been ascertained for the tax return under preparation - days available for letting, days let on a short term basis and days let to same occupant for 31 days or more


Q39
Consideration has been given as to whether rent-a-room scheme exemption can be claimed


Q40
Consideration has been given to expenditure on improving energy efficiency (loft/cavity wall/solid wall insulation) etc


Q41
Consideration has been given to the tax treatment of any lump sums received (premiums)


Q42
Consideration has been given to the tax treatment of income from overseas properties


Q43
Consideration has been given to the treatment of "wages" paid to cleaners etc


Q44
Consideration has been given and client informed of the impact of the changes to the treatment of interest against rental properties


Q45
If there are any residential properties owned by companies, has the ATED (Annual tax on enveloped dwellings) been considered, and any reliefs/exemptions claimed and tax paid. Note applies to properties valued over £500,000 from 1/4/2016


Q79
Has the Property Income Allowance (of up to £1,000) been claimed instead of actual expenses where beneficial?


Capital Gains Tax

Q46

These questions relate to capital gains tax - the section will be omitted if you answer No to the first question

Where principal residence has been sold and downsized. ensure a record of this is maintained for IHT purposes and the extended Nil rate band - recommend obtain a copy of the completion statement


Q47
Consideration has been given to how assets are held such that a disposal may minimise potential CGT/maximise CGT Allowances on a future disposal


Q48
Consideration has been given as to whether there may be quoted investments which can be treated as of "negligible value"


Q49
Consideration has been given to the existence/use of losses on the disposal etc of unquoted shares


Q50
Consideration has been given to the the possibility of rollover relief on reinvestment of gains into business assets


Q51
Consideration has been given as to whether holdover relief is available in respect of any gifts of business property


Q52
Consideration has been given to the (deemed) disposal proceeds and/or capital losses arising on disposal to a "connected" person?


Q53
Consideration has been given to the possibility of investment in schemes e.g. EIS, VCTs - to defer the CGT payable


Q54
Consideration has been given to the eligibility for Lettings Relief on a property disposal


Q55
Consideration has been given to the Entrepreneur's Relief claimed and reliefs available against future similar gains


Q56
Consideration has been given as to which shareholders will qualify for Entrepreneurs Relief on business disposal


Inheritance Tax and Wills

Q57
Are there wills in place and If Yes when were they last reviewed?

Ensure details recorded in our central database



Q58
Have there been any chargeable or other lifetime gifts during the year which should be noted?

Q59
Are annual and other exemptions being used?

Q60
Have we reviewed / listed assets to consider whether there may be a potential IHT liability?

Q61
Have we ascertained how life and pension policies are written (and/or whether a life policy may be useful to fund IHT) ....and included those not in trust in the estate for IHT purposes?

Q62
Has eligibility for Business Property Relief/Agricultural Property Relief been considered - especially in cases where it may not be "clear cut"?

Q63
Has the client inherited funds from an estate recently where there were quoted shareholdings in the estate (and IHT had been paid)?

Q64
Has client been made aware of the IHT benefits of an AIM Listed Portfolio ?

Pensions section

Q65
Have the benefits of pension contributions been advised to the client - tax reliefs etc.

Q66
Is the client aware of the approximate value of pension funds, and are they likely to be affected by the lifetime allowance value?

Q67
Have stakeholder pension schemes been considered (including possibility of immediate vesting for those over 55, long term savings plan for children, grandchildren etc)

Q68
If client is within 5 years of retirement has a review of pension investment funds been suggested?

Q69
If client is likely to take pension benefits in next 12 months has he been made aware of the myriad of options now available?

Q70
Where old style retirement annuities are still being paid, consideration has been given to sufficient income to obtain tax relief on the contributions, or advised to seek advice to move to a personal pension

General areas not covered elsewhere

Q71
Consideration has been given to the eligibility for Working Tax Credits / Child Tax Credits /Universal Credits


Q72
Have you been "online" to review the client's up to date tax position and to ensure that the Payments on Account that we assume will be paid are in fact correct?


Q73
I have reviewed tax position based on current known information and considered either
a) a reduction in payments on account
b) an additional payment if a postponement had been applied for and additional tax is now due


Q74
Tax coding notices have been checked (online where necessary) to ensure that property income / untaxed income is not included both in a payment on account and also in a tax code


Q75
Tax payable by Coding adjustment - If you do NOT want ANY tax collected by a coding adjustment and client wants to pay in instalments have you ticked the box on the return to say "Do not collect any tax by coding adjustment"


Q76
Have you ascertained with client (verbally or in writing) that there are no adjustments for student loan repayments that need to be on the tax return?


Q77
Have you advised client the amount of the liabilities due and to make sure liabilities are paid on time as interest is charged on late payment?


Q78
Are there any items in the return which may potentially trigger an HMRC compliance check or investigation, and if so, has client been recommended to put in place Fee Protection cover (if not already paying)?


Thank You


You have completed this questionnaire!

Thank you for taking the time to answer this questionnaire

 

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