If you are a couple that is getting separated or divorced, apart from the emotional stress, there are also tax issues that can have significant implications. Whilst this is unlikely to be uppermost in your mind it is important that the tax consequences of the break-up are carefully considered.

Whilst Income Tax does not automatically cause an issue for separating couples as it is an individually assessed tax, there are other taxes that need to be considered. For example, when a couple are together there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) payable on assets gifted or sold to your spouse or civil partner. However, if a couple separate and do not live together for an entire tax year or get divorced then CGT may be payable on assets transferred between ex-partners.

This means that the optimum time for a couple to separate would technically be at the start of the tax year so that they would have up to a year to plan how to split their assets most tax efficiently. Obviously, in the real world most couples will have far more on their minds than deciding to get separated on a certain day, but these issues should be kept in mind.

It is also important to make a financial agreement accepted by both parties. If no agreement can be reached, then applying to the court to make a 'financial order' will usually be required. The couple and their advisers should also give proper thought to what will happen to the family home, any family businesses as well as Inheritance Tax implications.

HMRC publishes a list of income streams that are excluded from a UK property business. The list includes fishing concerns, hotels and guest houses, tied premises, caravan sites, lodgers and tenants in your own home, extra services to tenants and letting surplus trade accommodation. In most cases the income from these activities will be taxed as income of a trade and not as property income.

In addition, there are certain receipts that can arise out of the use of land, and which are specifically excluded by statute from a rental business. These include yearly interest, income from the occupation of woodlands managed on a commercial basis, income from mines and quarries and income from farming and market gardening.

There is also a £1,000 property income allowance that applies to income from property (including foreign property). If a taxpayer’s annual gross property income is £1,000 or less, the amount is exempt from tax and does not need to be reported on their tax return.

The UK government has announced plans to introduce a new tariff suspension scheme. This new scheme will help UK firms become globally competitive.

This will be done by allowing companies to request that duties be partially or wholly reduced for a set period. This in turn will result in lowering the cost of importing raw materials and decreasing production costs. Once a suspension has been introduced, all UK importers will be able to benefit from the reduced rate.

The new scheme will be launched from 1 June 2021 and will allocate suspensions based on the needs of firms in the UK and the wider economy. Prior to Brexit, firms had to submit applications to the EU bloc to request suspensions, which then had to be assessed by all member states.

The government has also confirmed that existing duty suspensions that the government has rolled over from the EU will be extended beyond 31 December 2021.

There are special procedures for importing goods into the UK. Following the end of the Brexit transition period, the process for importing goods from the EU effectively mirrors the process for all other international destinations.

Businesses, especially those that only trade with EU, should be aware of the rules and be working accordingly. Businesses can make customs declarations themselves or hire a third party such as a courier, freight forwarder or customs agent to do the paperwork.

HMRC lists the following eleven-steps that should be considered when importing goods:

1. Check if you need to follow this process. The steps listed below apply if you are moving goods permanently to England, Wales or Scotland (Great Britain) from a country outside the UK or to Northern Ireland from a country outside the UK and the EU. There are different rules for goods that move between Great Britain and Northern Ireland or between Northern Ireland and the EU. 
2. Get your business ready to import. This includes ensuring you have an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number. You also need to check that the business sending you the goods can export to the UK.
3. Decide who will make custom declarations and transport the goods.
4. Find out the commodity code for your goods.
5. Find out if you can delay or reduce your duty payment.
6. Check if you need a licence or certificate for your goods.
7. Check the labelling, marking and marketing rules.
8. Get your goods through customs.
9. Claim a VAT refund.
10. What to do if you paid the wrong amount of duty or rejected the goods
11. Keep invoices and records.

If you are self-employed as a sole trader or as a partner in a business partnership, then you must keep suitable business records as well as separate personal records of your income. 

For tax purposes, the business records must be held for at least 5 years from the 31 January submission deadline for the relevant tax year. For example, for the 2019-20 tax year where online filing was due by 31 January 2021, you must keep your records until at least the end of January 2026. In certain situations, such as when a return is submitted late, the records must be held for longer. 

If you are self-employed you should also keep a record of:

• all sales and income
• all business expenses
• VAT records if you’re registered for VAT
• PAYE records if you employ people
• records about your personal income
• grant details if you claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme because of coronavirus

You don't need to keep the vast majority of your records in their original form. If you prefer, you can keep a copy of most of them in an alternative format, as long as they can be recovered in a readable and uncorrupted format. For example, a scanned PDF document. 

If your records are no longer available for any reason, you must try and recreate them letting HMRC know if the figures are estimated or provisional. There are penalties for failing to keep proper records or for keeping inaccurate records.