Nov13
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.
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbledon & London.
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Nov7
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:
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
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbledon & London.
Oct31
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
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Colliers Wood.
Jun9
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:
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
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbledon & London.
Feb24
We are like any other business. We are looking for cost effective ways to increase our exposure to potential clients. One area we think will generate good return on investment is on car branding. Most accountants are traditionalist through their training as a result they have not exploited this lucrative area.
We are different. We would like to brand our cars with tasteful designs that is in keeping with the profession but at the same time are not boring and stuffy. Here is where you come in.
We would be grateful for your views (feedback) on the car branding design links below. Please indicate which one you like. The one with the highest number of votes will be our chosen design.
Thank you in advance for your time.
Here are the links:
beetle_rosette This file has 6 pages
lines This file has 2 pages
A big thank you to Bison Bison (one of our clients) for the designs.
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbledon & London.
Jan9
Question: Two years ago I joined the Flat Rate VAT and my turnover has gone up about the one hundred and fifty thousand pound limit. Does this mean I am done with the scheme?
Answer: Well there have been some changes and so long as your turnover does not top two hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds net of VAT for the twelve months, with cessation after one year of you joining the scheme, you are able to keep going.
However you need to include the two hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds and any non-inclusive income like lottery winnings or bank interest. If this pushes you past the limits, then you need to depart at the end of the VAT quarter.
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbledon & London.
Dec12
They should reflect what you are trying to portray with your décor and choice of furnishings. This doesn’t always mean you want them to look expensive, as you may not want people to think they are paying for your luxury premises.
Use posters and blow-ups of adverts and press articles about you inside the building.
Your premises need to be tidy both inside and out. An untidy premises infers an untidy disorganised business. How often do you see the team at McDonalds tidying up outside – they know it matters. Tax Inspectors are trained to interview people in rooms without any other files. What this does is create an impression they have all the time in the world to look into your affairs. Take a look at how tidy your premises look and whether it conveys the impression you want.
Not all businesses need special premises, and many self-employed people can work from home, creating convenience and cost savings. You may need to notify your house insurers as working from home can change the risk and your mortgage company. However, they are not normally a major obstacle. You could also look at using a shed in your garden and there are many suppliers of garden offices and workshops. Insurance for these will be a bit higher because of there being less security.
Serviced offices are also a very flexible way to take premises without any long-term commitment, often taking a licence for just one month at a time. They also offer services such as typing, reception, furniture, phone lines, etc.
If renting, get a solicitor with commercial experience to look at the lease. Areas to consider include…
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbledon & London.
Dec6
If your prospects don’t believe you, you won’t make the sale.
This is where the power of testimonials and case studies comes in. It’s praise from your existing customers, the media, other experts or even a celebrity. They are extremely powerful.
You must have systems to collect them and then leverage the power of them by using them in all your marketing materials.
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbleon & London.
Dec5
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.
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbledon & London.
Nov21
Using the right fonts in your marketing materials will dramatically increase results. You need to select the fonts you are going to use and use them consistently in everything you do. You must understand where to use serif fonts and where to use sans serif fonts and all the formatting tricks you can use in marketing materials. You don’t need an ad agency to do any of this.
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Southside Accountants Wimbledon & London.
