The tax rules for employed for claiming working from home expenses are different. Though you can claim for gas, electricity and water expenses, it would not be in the same way as a self employed person. Your bills, insurance and mortgage repayments are seen to be fixed anyway as they are your usual household bills regardless of whether you work from home or not. You can therefore only claim for the extra energy that you have used and not a percentage of the overall costs. You cannot claim relief for the cost of your telephone line rental or internet access as you would have them for personal use anyway. You can however, ask for a deduction for the cost of the calls made on behalf of the business. A reasonable and acceptable amount to ask for would be about £3 per week plus the cost of business calls on top. If you did want to claim more than this then you will be asked to prove that your household bills have increased (by the figure you have asked for) due your work. You can potentially claim these expenses dating back several years depending on what you have stated on previous (if any) Self Assessment Tax Returns.

The HMRC tends to like these expenses to be paid by the employer as opposed to them, as it is a mutual agreement between yourself and your employer that you work from home. If however your employer refuses to pay then there are other certain criteria that must be met, and if any of these requirements are not met then no relief at all will be given.

• First and foremost that you must show that you have no alternative choice but to work from home. As stated in the HMRC Tax Bulletin Number 79,

“there is an objective requirement that those duties should be carried out at the employee’s home and nowhere else.”

• There is a very fine line with this rule and if the employee has even the slightest choice, they will not be given any form of relief. For example it is acceptable if your employer’s premises are too far away for you to be reasonably expected to travel there on a daily basis providing that you did not have a choice in this, i.e. by moving further afield, excepting a job too far away or turning down an offer to relocate you.

•  The work you carry out from home must be “all or part of the central duties of employment”.

•  You require certain hardware/software or other facilities that are not available at your employer’s premises.

So to summarise, tax deductable expenses for working from home can be claimed providing that they are realistic, that you meet certain strict criteria and that your employer does not already pay you for these additional costs you incur due to your job. Please ask a trained accountant if you require additional information or clarification as to what you can claim.

Written by Becky Drummer-Jones

Simply enter your annual profits and calculator below will inform whether or not you will save more money by staying as a sole trader or registering a limited company.

Always seek professional advice before making a final decision.

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HMRC can at any time request to visit your business premises to inspect your “VAT, customs and excise duties records”. And if you claim expenses for working from home then they may well request to visit you there. However, you do have the option to arrange the appointment at alternative venue and it is normally recommended that this takes place at your accountants office. If they are adamant that your home or business premises is the place they want to visit you at then they must have a specific reason for this and there are certain rules they must abide by:

• They can only “inspect” the areas of your home that are used for business.
• You can request they leave at any time but they will want to know your reasons for wanting this and also to arrange another visit. If you refuse this then it could lead to further questions and possible penalties ranging from £60 per day up to £3000.
• They have the right to “inspect” your premises, not “search”. Meaning that they can not specifically hunt for things to go against you. They can only look at the records they have requested, to check that all is in order.
• They have the right to look at business records but not to question/interview employees to find out more information.
• They can request information on the personal financial position of the proprietor/director of the business to check that their position is in line with the taxes being paid, but once again they cannot go “fishing” for extra information.
• As a general rule, they cannot remove documents from the premises without your agreement, they can only make copies or take extracts. But there are some documents that they do have the right to remove such as “legally privileged papers, tax advisors papers and appeal material”.  If they do remove anything from your property then you must make sure you get a full and detailed receipt of exactly what has been taken.

Though the HMRC can make unannounced visits, they usually provide you with either a phone call or letter seven days prior to their visit. In that notification they will state exactly when and where they will be visiting you, the name of the visiting officers and what documents they are coming to look at.

Once at your premises, they cannot demand to see extra documents that were not stated in the original notification. They would have to arrange another appointment for these. However if they find anything useful or unusual relating to another area in the documents they already have permission to view, then they can pass this information for further investigation.

The things they will usually be looking to review are things like your receipts, expenses of the business, sales and purchase records as well as possibly your PAYE and VAT files. They may also check equipment, raw materials and products produced. This is to make sure that all of these areas are relative to each other and that you are not claiming fraudulently. These inspections can take anywhere from a few hours to several days depending on the size of your business.

It is always a good idea to cooperate with the HMRC when they want to visit as though you can negotiate when and where the meeting will take place, you can never actually stop them from coming at all. And it is best to be prepared for them, than to have them make an unannounced visit which they would inevitably do if they are constantly turned away. You do have the right to refuse them entry but this could result in deeper investigations and if you have nothing to hide, then you have little to worry about.

Written by Becky Drummer-Jones

You can only claim for “allowable expenses”. The HMRC describes these as the expenses you have incurred for the,

“travelling you had to do whilst doing your job”

 or the

“expenses you had to pay whilst doing your job and which related ONLY to doing your job”

There are also a few other factors that determine how much you can claim. Whether you are self employed or employed is one. How often you work from home is the second. And the third is whether or not you have a choice in working from home.

Self Employed

If you are self employed and work solely from home then you can claim back part of the costs for household bills such as water rates, gas and electricity as you are effectively using more energy in order to carry out your work. You could potentially even claim for a relief against your council tax, rent, home insurance and mortgage payments as these are also things that need to be paid in order for you to not only live in your home, but also work there. However, it is not beneficial for you to have a room dedicated solely to work, such as a home office that is private or out of bounds to the rest of the family. This is because it could cause problems further down the line regarding Capital Gains as your Only/Main Residence is now being used for work too. This usually reduces any gain to zero. It could also impact on your home insurance. It is therefore much better to simply have certain times that it is a “work zone” and other times for more recreational or family use.

If you are working mainly from home then the method to work out roughly what you should attempt to claim follows this simple formula:

 Total bills (water, electric, gas etc) ÷ number of rooms in the house = Amount A

Amount A x number of rooms used for work = Amount B

Amount B should be relative and in keeping with the type of business you run. As if you try to claim a little extra than normal, this will often be noticed by HMRC and in turn cause them to investigate. This is also the same situation if the second method of estimation is used. This option would be used if you work rarely or inconsistently from home. Common sense says that if you are only doing small amounts of paper work from home then far less energy will be used as opposed to if you were running the business solely from home. However this does not stop people slightly exaggerating their claims. There are no set limits or levels for particular trades but the main objective is to stay consistent and in line with your normal household bills and type of work.

The other way that you should be able to claim working from home is through fixed HMRC allowance. In the main the taxman will not ask questions if you claim these allowances. You will get a flat rate deduction of £3.00 per week (from 2008-09) for each week that you’ve got to work at home, this doesn’t include the cost of business telephone calls

Written by Becky Drummer-Jones

The general rule of thumb is that you cannot claim for the cost of clothing that is “ordinary clothing worn by a trader during the course of their trade”. For example you cannot claim for business suits or smart office attire. Although these items are the general standard most companies require, they have an “intrinsic duality of purpose”. This means clothing can be used for work and non-work purposes.

Tax relief is available for certain types of clothing. These include:

• Uniforms.
• Items of clothing with the company logo.
• Safety wears such as boots, gloves, overalls and helmets that you cannot do your job without.
• This is also extended to tools you have to buy/repair yourself in order to continue working.

The reason for this is that there is no real opportunity for you to wear these clothes in a casual setting, outside of work. This is then considered the sole use of the items involved and therefore a business expense. The tax relief also covers the cost of cleaning, repairing and replacing the items concerned.

The amount of tax relief you will receive depends on the nature of your work. You can either claim tax relief on the full amount that you have spent over the year (you would therefore need to collect all receipts that relate to purchases or up keep/cleaning of your work clothes). Another option is to claim a flat rate relief. You will receive a “flat rate deduction” that is decided by HMRC which varies from trade to trade. For example a carpenter may receive up to £140 per tax year due to the fact their clothes/uniform will have more wear and tear than say a security guard who could potentially claim up to £60 in tax deductions per year in order to purely cover the laundry/repair costs.

The process of claiming tax relief depends on whether you are self -employed or you are an employee. It is fairly straight forward.

Employees – Employees on PAYE can request a P87 form (for claims under £1000) from HMRC.  Tax relief is given will be given through adjusting your tax code (not a direct refund) to allow for the expense. You cannot claim tax relief on your clothing where your employer reimburses you for this expense..

Self Employed – As a self- employed person you can claim tax relief on when filling out your self assessment tax return. But the best way would always be to use a good accountant as they have a much better insight as to what and how much can be claimed.

Written by Becky Drummer-Jones

The customer is the most important person in the world, right? If there were two people left in the world and one has to die, you or the customer, who would it be?

Now, we’re agreed you are the most important person in the world.

The problem is that the customer thinks they are and that’s why you have to treat them that way if your business is to be successful.

Would you believe that if your customers are satisfied, you’re in trouble? That’s right, you read it correctly…

Let’s say you have a 95% customer satisfaction rating. Sounds great, but what it means is that you have 5% going round telling everyone how awful you are. The other 95% felt ok about you so they may shop with you but they could shop anywhere – they don’t have any special loyalty to you.

What’s more, a dissatisfied customer is 20 times more likely to tell someone. So if 95% of your customers are happy, you’ll have more negative than positive message out in the market place.

It’s loyalty you should be after, not just satisfaction. For example, the typical customer satisfaction question may ask “did you enjoy your stay?” or  “were we friendly?” The only answers these give are ones of satisfaction, not designed to find out if the customer felt great and had a memorable experience that creates loyalty. You must use questions designed to find out how loyal your customers are.

Here are typical examples of how most businesses treat their customers and why their customers will never be anything more than just satisfied…

“We’ve done all we can…”

“You’ll have to…”

“That’s not my job…”

“The person who deals with that is on holiday”

“Our policy says…”

“We’re out of stock, I don’t know when we’ll have some more”

“What seems to be the problem”

“Let me transfer you”

“I’ll have to check if that’s OK”

“Sorry, that offer ended yesterday”

“Why didn’t you…”

An insincere “Sorry about that”

“You don’t have to be rude about it”

“I’m just doing my job”

And aren’t those computerised phone systems great for customer service, not!

The list is endless. So many people seem to act like they’re doing the customer a favour.

The best rule to follow is…

If you wouldn’t like it done to you, don’t do it to someone else.

Please visit our Home page. We are accountants in Mitcham, accountants in Wimbledon, accountants in Wandsworth, accountants in Southfields, accountants in Putney, accountants in Balham and accountants in Tooting

A frequently asked question by sole traders and partnerships is about basis period (the dates their self assessment returns should cover). They are clear laid down rules on this area under tax law. This is best explained by an example:Pauline starts to trade on 1/08/2009 making up the accounts to 31 July 2010.

First tax year

The basis period for first tax year runs from the date trade starts to the next 5/4. So in Pauline’s example, the first basis period will be from 1/08/2009 to 31/03/2010 or 5/4/2010. This would be for the tax year 2009/10.

Second tax year – You need to ask a series of questions

Here I am responding to these questions by using Pauline’s example.

Is there a period of accounting ending in tax year 2010/11?

Yes – The accounting year end is 31/07/2010.

How long is this period of account?

12 months or more? In Pauline case it is 12 months exactly to 1/08/2009 to 31/07/2010.

So in tax year 2010/11 Pauline will be tax on the profits of 12 months to 31/07/2010.

The third tax year (2011/12)

This will be the period of account ending in the third tax year. In Pauline’s case this would be 1/08/2010 to 31/07/2011.

Later tax years

The basis period would be the period of account ending in the tax year. This is known as current year basis of assessment. In Pauline’s case the fourth tax year would be 2012/13. This would cover her accounting period 1/08/2011 to 31/07/2012 and so on.

Please see our Home page. We are accountants in Mitcham, accountants in Wimbledon, accountants in Wandsworth, accountants in Southfields, accountants in Putney, accountants in Balham and accountants in Tooting.

No inheritance tax is payable on gifts between spouses or civil partners as long as both parties are domiciled in the UK. This is often used as a basic method of IHT avoidance. If the gift is a transfer to a foreign domiciled spouse it is only exempt up to £55,000.

With effect from 9th October 2007 spouses and civil partners will now be able to make full use of the nil rate band belonging to each spouse. This is retrospective and applies to anyone with a spouse or civil partner previously deceased. That gives a total inheritance tax exemption for a married couple of £650,000 (for 2010/11). The new rules allow any unused part of the nil rate band on the death of the first spouse or civil partner to be passed to the surviving spouse or civil partner for use on their death.

Say Fred dies on 1 October 2010 with an estate worth £650,000 and his wife did not use her nil rate band when she died previously, he now has the benefit of two nil rate bands totalling £650,000. Now Fred’s executors will pay no IHT at all.

The amount of the nil rate band that can be transferred is the proportion of the nil rate band that was unused on the death of the first spouse or civil partner. For example if on the first death, 50% of a 325K nil rate band was unused, if on the second death the nil rate band is 350K at that time, then 50% x £350K = £175K is available for use in addition to their own nil rate band.

There is a maximum of an amount equal to the nil rate band in force at the time of the second death that can be used in addition. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how many ex-spouses or civil partners there are, it is not possible to have a total nil rate band of over 650K in 2010/11.

Please contact us for futher help.

Give It Away And Live For 7 Years

No inheritance tax is payable on most gifts in your lifetime so long as you live 7 years after the gift. These gifts are known as a Potentially Exempt Transfers (PET)

If a gift is made but there is some reservation on it, such as gifting your house with the understanding you can still live there until you die, this will not count as a PET and will still form part of your estate that is subject to IHT on at death. However, the gift will be effective for capital gains tax, which can create a double tax charge for the person a that inherits the house.

If you give away cash that is used to purchase your house, you can be liable to income tax on the benefit of living in the house. This is called the pre-owned asset charge.

There is a sliding for scale for the amount of IHT payable for death within the 7 years.

Of course if your estate is worth less than £325,000, no IHT is ever payable.

Other Gifts That Are Always Free Of Inheritance Tax

The following will always be free on IHT, whenever they are made…

• Small gifts to the same person of not more than £250 in a year.

• Gifts in consideration of marriage of £5,000 from parents, £2,500 from grandparents and £1,000 from anyone else.

• Normal expenditure out of income where the amounts given are part of your normal expenditure taking one year with another.

• Amounts up to £3,000, with any unused amount being allowed to be carried forward to the following tax year.

• Any gifts between spouses/civil partners, where the person who receives the gift is domiciled in the UK.

• Any gifts to charities or political parties.

Please contact us for your Inheritance Tax planning needs.

Southside Accountants is very pleased to be working with Cathy Grimmer. Cathy is Chartered Tax Adviser. She has been in the tax business for 30 years. We are pleased to have access to such an experienced professional on taxation matters . All our clients want to pay less tax within the law. Cathy’s experience will enable us to help our clients with more complex and grey areas of tax.

It is very important to get any legal tax saving schemes right from the start. Otherwise it may mean paying thousands of pounds to the taxman.

This is another step Southside Accountants has taken to exceed client expectations. To see what our clients think about us, please click here.

Please feel free to contact us to help you with your tax savings.

What is the flat rate scheme?

The VAT flat rate scheme is designed to make it simpler and quicker for small businesses to complete their VAT return.

This is because VAT payable to HMRC is calculated as a particular percentage of the gross turnover of the business and not as the difference between VAT on individual sales and purchases. In particular there is no need to record the VAT incurred on most purchases and determine whether it is reclaimable or not, so there is less chance of error. The amount of VAT charged to customers remains the same whether using the flat rate scheme or not.

How will it help you?

The aim of the scheme is to simplify the way small businesses account for VAT so that you will spend less time and money keeping VAT records and calculating the VAT payable to HMRC. 

Might you pay more VAT by using the flat rate scheme?

Some businesses will pay more and some will pay less VAT by using the scheme. This is because the flat rates are averages. You can estimate the effect on your business by using our calculator. Please click here for the calculator.

Who can join the scheme?

The scheme is open to small businesses whose annual taxable turnover (not including VAT) does not exceed £150,000.

Who cannot join the scheme?

There are some exclusions. You cannot use the scheme if you:

• already use any of the schemes for second-hand goods, tour operators or capital goods;

• have been guilty of a VAT offence or dishonesty in the last 12 months;

• have been ‘associated’ with another business or have registered as part of a VAT group or in VAT divisions in the last 24 months.

How does the scheme differ from normal VAT rules?

Under the normal VAT rules you have to identify the VAT on each sale you make, record the value and VAT separately and pay the VAT to us as output tax. Similarly you have to identify the VAT included in the things your business buys, record the value and the VAT separately and claim the VAT back from HMRC as input tax.

Under the flat rate scheme you do not have to identify, or separately record, the VAT on your sales and purchases to calculate the VAT you owe. You simply record all the sales your business makes, including exempt sales, and apply the appropriate flat rate percentage for your trade sector to the total in each period. The result is the VAT you owe to HMRC.

How are the flat rates calculated?

The flat rate percentages are calculated from the net tax paid by all the businesses that are currently registered for VAT and eligible for the scheme. The net tax paid varies with different trade sectors and so there are a variety of flat rate percentages. You can find the flat rate perentage for your business here. The net tax calculated using the flat rate percentage allows for the fact that businesses can usually recover the tax paid on their purchases. Under the flat rate scheme you normally cannot claim input tax with some exceptions.

How do you calculate my flat rate turnover?

To calculate your turnover, you record the sales you make either at the time you invoice your customers or at the time you receive payment.

How do you calculate the VAT due?

At the end of each VAT period, take the VAT inclusive turnover of your business and multiply this by the flat rate percentage for your trade sector. For example, if your business is the repair of motor vehicles and your VAT inclusive turnover for the VAT period is £20,000 the calculation is: £20,000 x 6.5% = £1,350. So your tax due is £1,350.

What is the 1% reduction for new VAT registrations?

Newly VAT registered businesses use the flat rate for their sector minus 1%. So, if the rate for your sector is 9%, you apply a flat rate of 8% in your first year of VAT registration.

How do you recover VAT?

If you use the scheme you do not make a separate claim for input tax (VAT on your purchases) or for VAT on imports or acquisitions. The flat rate percentage includes an allowance for these items. Two exceptions follow.

What if you buy an expensive capital asset?

If you buy a single capital asset with an invoice value, including VAT, of £2,000 or more you can claim the the VAT on your VAT return in the normal way.

If you do recover VAT on an expensive capital asset, any subsequent disposal of that asset has to be accounted for using the normal VAT accounting rules. Add the VAT calculated to your flat rate calculation of VAT due.

Should you  issue VAT invoices?

If your customers are registered for VAT, follow the normal rules and issue a VAT invoice. The flat rate scheme affects the way you calculate the VAT you owe to us but does not change the VAT rate applicable to your sales. This means that when you issue a VAT invoice, you show VAT on it at the normal rate for that type of supply (not the flat rate percentage)

Who can join the scheme?

You can apply to use the scheme if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the following turnover test is met:

• Your taxable turnover (not including VAT) in the next year will be £150,000 or less.

How do I calculate my taxable turnover for the first turnover test to join the scheme?

The flat rate scheme is for small businesses. The first turnover test is the value of your taxable supplies  (ie your sales) excluding VAT. For the first test, exclude any anticipated sales of capital assets but always include all of the following:

• the VAT exclusive value of standard rate, zero rate and reduced rate supplies (ie Sales);

• the VAT exclusive turnover from the sale of second hand goods sold outside the margin scheme; and

• any sales of investment gold that are covered by the VAT Act

How do I calculate my total income for the second turnover test to join the scheme?

The second turnover test is the value (excluding VAT) of all your business supplies (ie sales) except anticipated sales of capital assets. This includes, in addition to your taxable supplies (sales), both of the  following:

• the value of any exempt supplies, such as rent or lottery commission; and

• any other income received or receivable by your business. This includes any non-business income such as that from charitable or educational activities.

Note: non-business income is included in the joining test because the scheme is for small businesses. When you use the scheme, non-business income is not included in the VAT inclusive turnover to which the flat rate applies.

How do I know what my future turnover is going to be?

You may forecast your future turnover in any reasonable way. If you have been registered for VAT for 12 months or more, the turnover declared on your returns may be a reasonable guide but take into account any proposed or expected changes. If you are not VAT registered when you apply for the scheme, you may forecast your turnover by looking at:

• any period of trading before you join the scheme or registered for VAT;

• the turnover of the previous business owner; or

• information on business plans or loan applications.

What if my future turnover rises over my forecast?

However you estimate your future turnover, HMRC will not penalise you provided there were reasonable grounds for what you forecast. It is sensible, therefore, to keep a record of what figures you used to calculate your future turnover. If your forecast of turnover had no reasonable basis, you may be excluded from the scheme immediately or even from the date your ineligible use began..

What if my turnover rises once I have joined the scheme?

You may stay in the scheme provided your total VAT inclusive turnover for the year just gone does not exceed £225,000. Make this check on each anniversary of your business joining the flat rate scheme. Additionally, you must leave the scheme if your income increases so that there are grounds for believing it will exceed £225,000 in the next 30 days alone.

How can I apply?

Call the National Advice Service on 0845 010 9000. They can take your application over the phone.

Please contact us to help you with your VAT needs.

Broadly speaking, in calculating rental  profits a taxpayer can deduct business expenses so long as they are:

• incurred wholly and exclusively for business  (rental) purposes; and

• are not of a capital nature.

It is not possible to set out all the expenses that are allowable for tax purposes in all circumstances but some idea of the main types of expenses that are likely to arise in a rental business and also some idea of what can or cannot usually be claimed as a deduction in calculating rental business profits are covered in this post.

For an expense to qualify the business purpose must be the sole purpose. A non-business or private purpose prevents any deduction from business profits where there is no objective yardstick by which any business element can be distinguished from the non-business element.

Examples of deductible expenses include:

• Repairs and maintenance;

• Interest paid;

• Capital allowances;

• Wear and tear or renewals allowance;

• Travelling expenses;

• Legal and professional fees;

• Managing agent’s fees;

• Insurance;

• Rents and ground rents paid;

• Lighting, heating, cleaning, gardening, security, caretaking etc.;

• Advertising;

• Accountancy fees for preparing the accounts and agreeing taxation liabilities;

• Council tax, business rates and water rates – if paid by the landlord;

• Bad debts and the cost of pursuing debts;

• Staff costs, including statutory redundancy pay and training.

Repairs and maintenance

• Expenditure on repairs is deductible, including ordinary repairs and decorating before the building is first let;

• Expenditure is not deductible for the cost of alterations and improvements, or the cost of bringing a newly bought building into a fit state for letting. These are capital expenses;

• Expenditure reimbursed by insurance is not deductible.

Interest

Interest payable for the purpose of the property letting business can be deducted in the accounts. This includes interest on a loan to buy or improve the property or to fund repairs.

Travelling expenses

• Travelling expenses are allowed if they satisfy the ‘wholly and exclusively’ rule. For example, the costs of travelling, solely for the purpose of the business, are allowed between let properties, or to a let property from the place where the rental business is administered;

• Travelling expenses are not allowed if private purposes are included in the travel, such as personal shopping or family visits;

• Where the business is administered from the landlord’s home, the cost of travelling from there to the properties is unlikely to be allowed if the home is far away from the properties, as the need for the journey is considered to be dictated by the personal preference of the landlord to live in a particular place, rather than the needs of the property business.

Legal and professional fees

• Fees on the purchase of a property or for the first letting agreement are treated as capital expenses and are not tax-deductible, if they are for a period of more than a year;

• Fees for a letting agreement of less than a year, or for renewing a lease for less than 50 years, are deductible;

• Other professional fees, which are normally allowed, are those for insurance valuations, and for evicting an unsatisfactory tenant in order to re-let the property.

Income from property is affected by a large number of tax rules - the reasons for this are the variety of uses to which property can be put, and the different ways in which income and profits arising from property can be taxed. Substantial profits can be made on single transactions, making tax planning important. The large volume of tax legislation affecting property means that the precise way in which a transaction is structured can significantly affect the tax payable.

Please contact us to help you with your tax planning and for completing your tax returns.

As a taxpayer, you need to keep records to support any of the entries in your Personal Tax Return.

If you’re in business or receive income from property renting, you’ll have to keep the back-up records for five years and ten months (in other words, 70 months) after the end of the tax year when the income was received.

If you don’t have business or rental income, the period of record-retention is reduced to 22 months.

From April 1996:

• the law requires you to keep records of information received from your employer and other records so that you can complete a tax return fully and accurately if you are asked to do so;

• employers must provide their employees with certain information that they need to help them fill in their tax returns (if they get one).

You should keep the following information you receive from your employer:

• P45 which contains details about your pay and tax. If you leave your job during the tax year, your employer will give you form P45. You should keep part 1A of this form.

• P60 containing details about your pay and tax. Your employer should give you this by 31 May after the end of the tax year (if you were in your job at 5 April).

• Details of your taxable expenses and benefits in kind (sometimes known as ‘P11D details’). Your employer should give you these by 6 July after the end of the tax year (if you were in your job at 5 April).

• Your employer may also give you information about expenses and benefits in kind you received which were included in a ‘dispensation’ or ‘PAYE Settlement Agreement’. These do not need to be included on your tax return.

Please click here for our core taxation service.

Please  contact us for further help.

Where as an employee your company van is made available to you for private use,  you will only be taxed on it if you actually use the van for private journeys.  Travelling from home to the main place work and vice versa are allowed without these being classed as private journeys.  Furthermore, you are allowed insignificant private use without any tax implications.  Examples of these include stopping at a newsagent on the way to work or calling at the dentist on your way home. If these circumstances do apply to you then it would be best:

• To keep a mileage record on the use of your van

• Sign an agreement with your employer saying that the van is only to be used for business and insignificant private use and for travelling between your home and the main place of work.

Where the company van is available for private use and you use it for private journeys, this will raise a taxable benefit in kind of £3,000 per annum. For a basic rate tax payer, this would result in £600 tax bill per year. Further, if you are also allowed free or subsidised fuel, this will result in additional benefit in kind of £500 per annum, resulting in a further tax bill of £100 per year if you are a basic rate tax payer.

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A few people are lucky enough not to have the burden of completing a Self Assessment tax  form every year. The Taxman may still keep an eye on you now and then to make sure you are paying the right amount of tax. He will do this by asking you to complete a form called 810.

The taxman  may issue  form 810 every three years. on some ocassions he may issue it more frequently. If you are issued this form, there is no penalty for not filling the form.  However, if more tax is due to the Taxman you may end up with interset to pay plus penalties for late payment. By not completing the form you could lose tax refund that may be due to you.  So it is good practice to keep HMRC informed of change in your income.  Where you do not complete the annual Self Assement  form, form 810 is a good way to keep the taxman informed.

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Tax Centre for tax help sheets.