If your tax return is not accurate and submitted before the deadline, the penalties for late filing, late payment of tax, and any errors made, can quickly add up. Additionally, deliberate tax evasion and fraud are viewed very seriously by HMRC.
The onus is on you to comply with tax rules and regulations. Even if your accountant deals with tax issues on your behalf, you are responsible for any penalties or problems that ensue…. Continue Reading
It’s a Friday evening and you’re in the pub, enjoying a well-deserved drink with a couple of friends after a long, hard week’s work. In walks your friend Rob. Grinning from ear to ear, he produces a wad of twenty-pound notes and treats you all to a round. He’s just got a huge tax refund, he tells you, and on Wednesday, he is off to Spain for a fortnight’s holiday with the family.
You know Rob charges the same daily rate as you, but your tax refund was a lot less than his. How can that be right? Has he got a better accountant than you?… Continue Reading
One question accountants get asked up and down the country is, How can I save tax? The answer depends heavily on your personal and business circumstances. In this blog, we’ll outline some methods applicable to most people.
Plan in advance
Reducing potential future tax bills is much easier than attempting to reduce tax bills in hindsight. If the tax liability is left until after the year end, your accountant is very much restricted to processing what has taken place and understandably, tax law allows very little alternative treatment of the figures. … Continue Reading
Self-employed sub-contractors may come across other subbies who work through a limited company or an umbrella company. You may not be familiar with what limited companies or umbrella companies are in practical terms. In this blog, we will consider both of these types of companies to help you decide if one might be appropriate for you…. Continue Reading
If you have recently started trading through a limited company, you have likely come across references to dividends. You might not, however, have come across a definition and explanation of how they work in your company. This blog provides a clear guide to dividends.
If you run your own company, you likely have three different roles in the business:-… Continue Reading
As a company director, you will naturally be keen on saving on your corporation tax bill. It might be tempting to simply hand over your end of year accounts to your accountant and hope for the best, but a pre year-end evaluation of your company’s likely taxable profits will be of huge benefit. Such an approach can identify areas of potential tax savings. Naturally, you will not be able to predict your exact profits before the year end, but you should be able to make a reasonable estimate based on past results and trends. So, what kinds of tax savings options for companies are available ?… Continue Reading
We are often asked to advise on the what should be disclosed in a personal tax return. We hope our blog helps.
Accidentally omitting information from your tax return can result in your tax and National Insurance bills being miscalculated, or you could wind up receiving the wrong level of benefits, such as child tax credits. Errors can even trigger an enquiry from the Revenue, who may levy financial penalties for filing an inaccurate return. … Continue Reading
Here is our concise guide to being a sub-contractor.
What is a sub-contractor?
If your business (whether a sole-trader, partnership or limited company) provides labour in construction projects to other businesses, your business will become a “sub-contractor.” This means your customer, known as the contractor, is obliged to deduct 20% tax from labour payments made to you. The contractor pays this tax to the Revenue on your behalf. The system is referred to as the “construction industry scheme” or CIS for short.
As a new tax year kicks off, make it your new (tax) year’s resolution to get your payroll system on top form. Further, it is important that you are are up to date with the changes in employer payroll taxes.
Not only are there important changes to payroll, there are optional allowances and provisions that could well benefit your business and employees.
Personal Allowances
The most basic change is the increase of the standard personal allowance to £10,600 as from 6th April 2015. Most of your staff will probably be on the tax code 1060L. … Continue Reading
Could you please tell me what HMRC have decided to do with regard to real-time information and late filing penalties?
The change applies to businesses employing less than 50 members of staff. Basically, HMRC have decided to delay the implementation of penalties for late filing of real-time PAYE returns until 6th March next year for businesses of this size…. Continue Reading
