TQOTW: Trading Allowance

A. Finance Act (No. 2) 2017 introduced £1,000 trading allowance and £1,000 rental allowance from 6 April 2017. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on trading allowance.

This means that:

• individuals with trading income of £1,000 or less in a tax year do not need to declare or pay tax on that income; and
• individuals with trading income of more than £1,000 can elect to calculate their profits by deducting the allowances from their income, instead of the actual allowable expenses.

The trading allowance also applies to certain miscellaneous income from providing assets or services.

In certain specified circumstances the allowances do not apply, such as to: income which attracts rent-a-room relief; income of a participator in a close company; or any income of a partner from their partnership.

These rules apply for the purposes of a profession or vocation as they do for a trade.

ITTOIA 2005 S783A onwards sets out the various conditions in which this allowance applies. S783AC outlines the “relevant income” that the allowance applies. S783AC(2) states “The reference to the receipts of a trade for a tax year is to all the amounts which would, apart from this Chapter, be brought into account as a receipt in calculating the profits of the trade for the tax year.” This would indicate the £1,000 allowance related to gross receipts and not the profit.

However, there are other factors to consider when looking at this allowance:

1. Where trading income exceeds £1,000, the legislation allows for so-called partial relief. (ITTOIA 2005 S783AH). Effectively, individuals can choose to either:
   1. Deduct their actual business expenses from trading income in the usual way, or
   2. Elect instead for the £1,000 trading allowance as a deduction from income.
2. The relief is not available for partnerships or rent a room schemes (ITTOIA 2005 S783AN).
3. If the exemption applies then the taxpayer is not required to complete a tax return if this is the only untaxed income or has not been issued with the notice to file a return (HMRC manual page EM4551 on who needs to complete a tax return).
4. If you have more than one trading business, the individual’s trades are combined and one threshold is applied. This seems a little unfair to someone for example that is employed and receiving a small amount of trading as well in comparison to those that have two trade that could take them over the allowance amount.
5. No relief is available if the sole trader receives income from:

   An employer, or a spouse / civil partner’s employer.

6. A partnership in which they (or a connected party) are a partner; or
7. A close company in which they (or an associate) are a participator.

In reality, this exemption is likely to benefit people with a small sideline of a business. If you need more information on rental allowance (ITTOIA 2005 S783B), please speak to our tax advisors for more information.

If you have a tax query, why not contact the Tax Advice Line on 0844 892 2470 to discuss it. Our team of experts have a wealth of experience and can also provide a written consultancy service at £180 per hour plus VAT.