| rateable value | Before council tax was introduced (and before poll tax which preceded council tax), local taxes were called rates. Business premises are still liable to business rates. The rate charge was based on a value agreed for each property, the rateable value. These values were updated periodically. Water and sewerage charges may still be based on rateable values. New properties will not have a rateable value. It may be necessary to negotiate an equivalent value with the Inland Revenue. |
| rebate | An amount you get back from the Inland Revenue when you have paid too much tax. A tax rebate is a tax refund due to you. |
| redeemable preference shares | Like preference shares, but these can be cashed (redeemed) by the company at set dates. |
| redeemable shares | Shares which are capable of being redeemed or repaid, such as redeemable preference shares. |
| redundancy | Leaving your employment because your employer no longer has work available for you to do. Redundancy can be voluntary where employees are offered the choice of leaving, or compulsory, where employees are dismissed. |
| redundancy payments | Payments made to employees who leave after being made redundant (compulsory or voluntarily). Depending on the length of the employment for the person made redundant, there may be a statutory minimum payment. |
| references, books and magazines | If you are self employed, the cost of these is tax deductible provided they are used wholly and exclusively for business purposes. If you are employed by a third party, it is very difficult to get tax relief as they must be bought "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" in the performance of the employment |
| registered profit related pay scheme | A scheme arranged by your employer and approved by the Inland Revenue, where the amount of pay you receive under the scheme is directly related to your employer's profitability. Profit related pay is tax free up to set limits and income tax relief is given by deducting the tax free amount from your pay before calculating the tax to be deducted under PAYE. Tax relief for profit related pay is being phased out. |
| reinvestment relief | A capital gains tax relief which enabled a gain made on the disposal of an asset to be rolled over if you acquired shares in an unquoted trading company. The rolled over gain was deducted from the capital gains tax base cost of the shares you acquired. The relief has been replaced by enterprise investment scheme deferral relief from 6 April 1998. There were a number of stringent tests that had to be complied with. |
| release | If you have options to purchase shares in a company but you release your options, you will not be able to exercise your option to buy the shares. Any payment you receive for the release is taxable. |
| relevant discounted securities | Securities which pay little or no interest but are either issued at a discount or are redeemable at a premium. The discount must be at least 15%, or, if less1/2% for each year of the bond's life. Any gain on sale or redemption is liable to income tax. |
| relief | Something which reduces your taxable income. A relief may also reduce your tax liability although your taxable income is not reduced. For example farmer's averaging may reduce your tax liability if you transfer income from one year to another, and your marginal tax rate is lower in that other year. |
| relocation packages | A package of benefits and expenses paid to an employee who is required by his employer to work in a different area, or who moves on taking up a new employment. Up to £8,000 may be tax free. |
| remittance basis | You are taxed on foreign income only when you bring it into the UK. Term applies to people who are not UK domiciled and certain people who are not ordinarily resident in the UK. |
| rent | Amount paid for occupying land and/or property owned by someone else. |
| rent a room | Scheme under which you can receive an income of up to £4,250 from letting out rooms in your own home tax free. The limit is halved if someone else also lets out rooms. If your income exceeds £4,250 (or £2,125) you can claim expenses of up to the exempt amount rather than keeping detailed records. |
| rental or lease expenses | Expenses incurred in letting out land or property. They may be deducted from the rental income. |
| repairs and maintenance | Work carried out to preserve the condition of land and property, plant and machinery, fixtures and fittings and so on. These are allowable tax deductions provided there is no element of improvement in the repair. If there is, the expenditure can be split between repairs and maintenance (allowable) and improvements (disallowable). |
| repayment | The paying back of an amount received from someone. The amount may have been received by way of a loan. For example, companies will make repayments of loan stock. Alternatively the amount may have been overpaid. For example a repayment of tax will be made to you if you have paid too much tax, or if too much tax has been deducted at source (such as under PAYE). |
| replacement tools | Tools which you buy to replace other tools used in your business. The cost of small tools will normally be an allowable expense. The cost of other tools will normally be disallowed but you may be able to claim capital allowances for these instead. |
| resident | You are resident in the UK if you spend at least half the tax year in the UK, or if you spend at least three months per tax year in the UK on average. You may be resident in the UK if you spend less time in the UK, but you will not be resident if you have not been in the UK at all during the tax year. |
| residuary beneficiaries | People who are entitled to a share in the net estate of a deceased person, after the payment of inheritance tax, debts and expenses - and any specific legacies. They may have an interest in income alone, or in income and capital, or their interest may be dependent on the executors deciding to make a payment to them. |
| retail price index (RPI) | Published monthly by the government and based on a selection of goods and services which measures increases and decreases in prices. It is used to calculate the indexation allowance for capital gains, although the allowance has been frozen on 5 April 1998. Also used to increase personal allowances and tax bands automatically, unless the Government overrules the increase. |
| retirement | You are retired if you have stopped working through choice. Although most people generally retire in their 50s or 60s, you can retire at any age. |
| retirement annuity | An annuity paid to you from funds you have paid into a retirement annuity contract during your working life. Although there are minimum ages (based on your occupation) below which you cannot draw a retirement annuity, you need not stop work before you draw the annuity. |
| retirement annuity contracts | These provide a pension when you retire. No new contracts have been sold since 1 July 1988. You may still contribute to a pre - 1988 retirement annuity contract if you are not in an employer's pension scheme, or you are self employed or in partnership. You can choose how the funds are invested. Subject to set limits based on your age and your net relevant earning, payments qualify for tax relief. |
| retirement relief | A capital gains tax relief given to you when you sell your business or shares in your family company, provided you have worked full time for the business or company. You must be aged 50 or over at the date of sale, or be retiring through ill health. The relief is scaled down if you have owned the business or shares for less than 10 years or worked for less than 10 years. The relief is being phased out and will be abolished on 5 April 2003. |
| retraining | Training intended to teach you new skills to enable you to carry out a different type of employment. Retraining provided by an employer who makes you redundant is not a taxable benefit. |
| rights issue | An issue to shareholders of extra shares in a company in relationship to the number of shares they already own. You generally have to pay for the extra shares, usually at a discounted value. |
| roll-over relief | A capital gains tax relief given to you when you sell assets used in your business and purchase new assets. It enables you to defer paying capital gains tax on the proceeds that you have reinvested until the replacement assets are sold. Only applies to certain assets including land and buildings, fixed plant and fixed machinery, and goodwill. |
| RPI | Acronym for Retail Price Index. Published monthly by the government and based on a selection of goods and services which measures increases and decreases in prices. It is used to calculate the indexation allowance for capital gains, although the allowance has been frozen on 5 April 1998. Also used to increase personal allowances and tax bands automatically, unless the Government overrules the increase. |