T definitions
| taper relief | Relief given for capital gains purposes by scaling down the gain on the disposal of an asset by reference to the period of ownership of that asset after 5 April 1998. |
| Tax Adviser | Someone who can handle your personal taxation affairs and deal with the Inland Revenue on your behalf. |
| tax assessment | Before self assessment was introduced, the Inland Revenue calculated your tax and then issued a tax assessment showing any tax you owed. These types of assessments are now not normally issued. An assessment may be issued if you have omitted income from your Tax Return if the deadline for raising enquiries by the Inland Revenue has passed. |
| tax code | Your tax code (also called you PAYE code) enables your allowances to be taken into account when calculating the tax to be deducted from your pay under the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) scheme. The code number is constructed by adding the allowances available and deducting benefits in kind from which tax cannot be deducted, and other untaxed income. It can also be adjusted to collect amounts of income tax not deducted in earlier years. |
| tax credit | Although tax is not actually deducted from certain types of income, you may be given a tax credit as if tax had actually been deducted. For example, you are given a notional dividend rate tax credit on dividends you receive. The dividend you receive being treated as the net amount (after deduction of the tax). |
| tax credit relief | Relief you may claim for foreign tax paid. The relief is given by deducting the foreign tax paid from the UK tax payable on the foreign income. |
| tax deducted | Tax which has been deducted from any income before the income is paid to you. This is known as receiving the "net income". The tax deducted is paid to the Inland Revenue. For example, tax is deducted from your salary under PAYE and from interest paid to you by banks and building societies. |
| tax deduction certificate | Shows the tax deducted from the income you have received, such as tax deducted from interest you received on cash deposits during the tax year or trust income you received. You may have to complete a tax deduction certificate for charitable covenants that you pay, or payments you make under the Gift Aid scheme. |
| tax month | The period running from the 6th day of the month to the 5th day of the following month. |
| tax office | The Inland Revenue has many tax offices situated around the UK. Your records will be held by one tax office which may not be geographically close to you. You can visit any tax enquiry centre for advice or to pay your tax. |
| tax preparation expenses | The expenses incurred in preparing tax computations and returns such as those by a Tax Adviser or accountant. The cost of preparing tax computations for your business or for your property letting, may be deducted from your income as allowable expenses. |
| tax rebate | A refund of tax due to you. |
| Tax Return | The return which the Inland Revenue may require you to send to them. This return would include details of all of your income and gains for a tax year as well as any claims for tax reliefs and allowances. |
| tax year | The year running from 6 April one year to 5 April the following year. The tax year 1999/2000 is the year ending on 5 April 2000. |
| taxable | Income and gains are taxable if they are liable to income tax or capital gains tax under the tax statutes. |
| taxable benefit | A benefit which is included as part of your taxable income, and is liable to income tax. |
| taxable income | Income which you are taxed on by the Inland Revenue. The term is often used to refer to your total taxable income, which is the aggregate of all your income less deductions and reliefs, and then minus your personal allowances. |
| tax-free | Income and gains are tax free if they are exempt from income tax and capital gains tax. Examples are income from PEPs, interest from TESSAs/ISAs, interest on National Savings certificates, lottery prizes and so on. Tax-free gains include gains on your home (subject to certain restrictions), cars, shares held in PEPs/ISAs and so on. |
| tax-free income | Income which is not liable to income tax. Examples are income from Personal Equity Plans, interest from TESSAs, interest on National Savings certificates, lottery prizes and so on. |
| tax-free slice | Expression often used to refer to a portion of income or gains which is covered by an exemption whilst the balance of the income or gain is taxable. |
| taxpayer's charter | Document issued by the Inland Revenue in which they set out your rights and obligations as a taxpayer and their rights and obligations to you. |
| temporary workplace | A workplace which you attend to perform a short term task or other temporary purpose. A workplace is not temporary if you expect to have to attend there for a period in excess of 24 months and to carry out a reasonable proportion of your employment duties there. |
| TESSA | Acronym for Tax Exempt Special Savings Account. You may pay up to £9,000 into a TESSA account over a 5 year period. Provided the account is maintained for 5 years and that you withdraw no more than the interest on the account, subject to a deduction equivalent to lower rate tax, the interest is tax free. No new TESSAs may be opened after 5 April 1999, but you may continue to contribute to an old TESSA after that date and may be able to reinvest your mature TESSA in certain circumstances. Replaced by Individual Savings Accounts. |
| tools of trade | Equipment which traders use to carry out their trade. |
| top-slicing relief | A tax relief given where, for instance, you receive a payment on a life insurance policy which has been in force for several years. The relief is given by charging tax on the whole gain at the rate of tax that would have applied had only one year's worth of the gain been taxed. |
| total income | The sum of your income from all sources, earned and unearned, less any reliefs and deductions which you are entitled to claim, but before deducting personal allowances (these are deducted later). |
| trade | Alternative name for business. Any activity commercially run with a view to making a profit will normally be treated as a trade. |
| trade creditors | Money you owe other businesses for goods or services you have received, but which remain unpaid at your accounting date. |
| trade debtors | Money you are owed for goods you have sold or work you have done that is included in turnover, but remains unpaid at your accounting date. |
| trade union | Organised association of workers formed for their protection and promotion of common interests. |
| training | Instruction given to you to develop skills that will help you in your employment, present or future. |
| training courses | Courses on which you receive instruction either to improve your work skills or to give you professional or vocational qualifications. |
| transferring or using unused allowances | If you or your spouse are on a low income, you may have surplus married couple's allowance or blind person's allowance. These unused allowances may be transferred by one spouse to the other to reduce the tax liability of the other spouse. |
| transitional allowance | An allowance which was first given to married women in 1990/91 if their husbands were on low income. It was given to compensate for the fall in allowances that would otherwise have resulted on the introduction of independent taxation. It may still be claimed provided the woman has been entitled to it in every year since 1990/91 because of her husband's low income. |
| travel and subsistence | Payments made to you for the cost of travelling whilst on business and for the cost of meals, refreshments and accommodation on business trips. |
| trust | An arrangement where trustees (those responsible for the trust) hold assets for the benefit of particular people (the beneficiaries). The trust deed will set out how the trustees must deal with the income and capital of the trust. |
| trust distributions | Payments made to you from a trust. Normally payments are made out of income, and so taxable, but you may also receive payments of capital (which are not taxable). |
| turnover | Money earned by your business before deducting any business expenses. It includes receipts in cash or in kind for goods sold or work done, commission, fees receivable, tips, insurance proceeds for loss of stock and profits, and so on. It does not include Business Start-Up Allowance (or Enterprise Allowance). Also, do not include amounts received from the sale of capital items, that is assets which are of lasting use to the business, such as business premises, plant, machinery and vehicles. Turnover should be included in your accounts when it is earned, even if you do not receive the money until later. |
This page was last reviewed on 07 July 2004. The information may not reflect changes in legislation made after this date.
This is only a guide to your tax position and should not be relied on in place of professional accounting or tax advice. Any calculated figures are illustrative and are based on the data you provided.
