Barbara Nicholas (Ely)

Barbara joined the firm as a tax specialist in 1990. She began her career with the Inland Revenue, before 'crossing the fence' to work for a London firm and then a 'Big 4' firm in Cambridge. She is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and a member of the Association of Taxation Technicians. As such, she deals solely with personal tax related compliance and planning issues. Based in our Ely office, Barbara is the partner that heads up our private client tax and payroll bureau departments. Her expertise is in demand throughout the firm and she makes regular trips to all offices. Outside of work, Barbara enjoys playing tennis and is a keen supporter of Leicester Tigers rugby club.

Specialisms

Property

Private Client Tax

My Latest Blogs

Barbara Nicholas

9th July 2019 31 July: Can you elect to reduce your tax payment?

Most individuals who are required to prepare and submit a self-assessment tax return to HM Revenue & Customs in each tax year should now be preparing for their next half-yearly tax payment which is due by July 31. This tax is the second payment-on-account for the 2018/19 tax year. It is automatically calculated as…

Barbara Nicholas

27th October 2017 Tax Relief on pension contributions – Budget Day looms….

At the moment, tax relief remains available on pension contributions at an individual’s top rate of tax, making pensions a very tax efficient form of investment. Especially when the new provisions for flexible access of pension funds is taken into account. But we have yet another Budget approaching, on 22nd November, and it…

Barbara Nicholas

19th September 2017 HMRC advice on phishing emails and bogus contact

I have blogged on this subject before. Unfortunately, this type of fraud is on the increase. HMRC have published an up-dated warning with examples of bogus emails, text messages, and social media scams purporting to be from HMRC. They also mention again bogus callers leaving messages about the need to make immediate tax…

Barbara Nicholas

31st August 2017 Inheritance Tax – new exemption for residences

For deaths occurring on or after 6 April 2017, an additional exemption is available where a residence passes to a direct descendant. At the moment, this amounts to £100,000 but it’s set to increase over the next few years, to a maximum of £175,000 in April 2020. Commonly known as the Residence Nil Rate Band…

Barbara Nicholas

10th August 2017 HMRC scam alert

A number of our clients have been on the receiving end of bogus calls/emails purporting to be from HMRC – either threatening legal action for unpaid taxes or offering refunds. Our experience is that these can be very well drafted and the telephone scams in particular have fooled a couple of our clients, one…

Barbara Nicholas

30th June 2017 Non-Resident Capital Gains Tax Returns – penalties eased

Since April 2015 non-residents selling UK residential property have been required to report the disposals within a Non-resident Capital Gains Tax return within 30 days of the conveyance. You can view HMRC’s guidance here The timeframe is very tight – some may think unreasonably so, especially since many individuals are unaware of this requirement until…

Barbara Nicholas

19th June 2017 Capital Gains Tax when you sell your house – make sure you disclose all the facts to HMRC

HMRC’s ongoing scrutiny of private residence relief is in the news again, with another case going before the First Tier Tribunal. Mr & Mrs Ritchie were partially successful in their claim for relief on the sale of their home, which cost them less than £200,000 but which they sold to a developer for £2 million.…

Barbara Nicholas

13th March 2017 Pre 5th April Tax Planning

Income Tax Married couples – consider transferring assets between spouses, to ensure income is taxed at the lowest marginal rate, Let properties – if you let property in need of re-decoration, repair, etc, consider bringing forward expenditure to accelerate tax relief, Family businesses – consider employment of spouse or increasing the employed spouse’s earnings, to…

Barbara Nicholas

2nd February 2017 Beat the Budget

Wed-8-Mar-17: Consider Advance Pension Contributions? Another budget looms, on 8th March. Tax planning would be much easier if we all had the benefit of a crystal ball, but we don’t. We expect that there will be some announcements in the Budget surrounding Making Tax Digital and the promised review of the R&D regime, but…

Barbara Nicholas

3rd November 2016 Mobile Workers

Employers with internationally mobile employees: New NIC rules. The NIC regulations have been updated to provide clarity for employers whose employees work abroad. The amendment made confirms that several categories of expenses are not liable to Class 1A NIC, specifically: travel between employments where duties performed abroad travel costs and expenses where duties performed abroad:…

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Barbara Nicholas (Ely)

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