Smarter accounting
29 March 2020, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Sole Traders
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Furlough FAQ All UK employers will be able to access support for furloughed workers. This includes charities, non profit and public bodies. The government expects that the scheme will not be used by many public sector organisations. The majority of public sector employees are continuing to provide essential public services […]
26 March 2020, Artists, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders
Grants for business Each local authority will be processing COVID-19 small business grants in Scotland. Applications must be made to the local authority where you are liable for non-domestic rates. How to claim COVID-19 small business grants in Scotland There are two types of grant available to ratepayers: £10,000 grant to ratepayers of businesses in […]
26 March 2020, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries
Company Accounts If your company accounts can’t be prepared in time due to the COVID-19 emergency you can apply to extend your accounts filing deadline by 3 months. How to extend your accounts filing deadline Company accounts for a private limited company are normally due for filing 9 months after the year end date. If […]
27 March 2020, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Sole Traders
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme All UK employers will be able to access support for furloughed workers who would otherwise be laid off during the COVID-19 emergency. Details have now been released. An online portal will be made available to claim funding from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which will backdate funding to 1st March 2020. […]
23 March 2020, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Sole Traders
Furloughed workers and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme All UK employers will be able to access support for furloughed workers who would otherwise be laid off during the COVID-19 emergency. Details have now been provided by the UK Government. An online portal will be made available to claim funding from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, […]
16 March 2020, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries
Defining the Circular Economy The circular economy is a viable alternative to former unsustainable ways of operating. Accountants are joining other businesses and the City of Glasgow in recognising the positive impact of changing working practices to create a more sustainable future. The circular economy is a direct challenge to the ‘take-make-waste’ mentality of the […]
26 January 2020, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, General, Musicians
Van benefit in kind tax charge Driving a van as your company vehicle has tax advantages over a car. The tax charge is generally low compared with a car, and can even be zero in circumstances where a car would be taxable. What conditions must you satisfy to eliminate a van benefit in kind tax […]
24 January 2020, Advocates, Companies, Creative Industries, Sole Traders
A recent case of missing documents highlights the need for supporting information for VAT expenses to minimise your VAT bill to HMRC. Make sure you have good bookkeeping systems to get the VAT back that you are entitled to.
13 December 2019, Companies, Creative Industries, Sole Traders
Alterledger is coming to Tramshed Tech in Cardiff to give free tax and accounting advice at 11:00 on 20th December Alterledger has been on tour with sessions for the creative industries in Glasgow on 10th December 2019 and Belfast on 12th December 2019. It will be Cardiff’s turn on 20th December so Tim Alter will be in […]
3 December 2019, Advocates, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, General, Sole Traders
You can give gifts to your staff and customers at any time of the year. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls of paying tax and VAT on your generosity.
20 September 2019, Companies, General
When your company has a tax charge on a director’s loan If you are a director or shareholder in a ‘close’ company, any money owed to the company can trigger a tax charge on a director’s loan. What is a close company? A close company is broadly defined as a company which is under the […]
19 August 2019, Advocates, Barristers, Companies, Sole Traders
MTD Registration – Key numbers The Making Tax Digital (MTD) rules became law for VAT periods starting on or after 1 April 2019. MTD registration requires VAT-registered businesses with taxable turnover over £85,000 to keep their VAT records digitally. They must also submit their VAT return direct from their Making Tax Digital-compatible software. The MTD […]
13 May 2019, Auto Enrolment, Charities, Companies, Employer, Sole Traders
How to complete your auto-enrolment pension re-declaration of compliance Any employers who started employing workers before 1st October 2017 will have been issued with a staging date. This is the date when they had to have a qualifying auto enrolment pension in place. For anyone who starting employing people after 30th September 2017 pension duties […]
8 May 2019, Auto Enrolment, Charities, Companies, Employer, Sole Traders
Pension Re-Enrolment due every three years All employers should now be aware of the their pension obligations. Any employers who started employing workers before 1st October 2017 will have been issued with a staging date. This is the date when they had to have a qualifying auto enrolment pension in place. For new businesses / […]
30 March 2019, Advocates, Barristers, Companies, Sole Traders
How many VAT registered businesses in the UK are there? Figures from the Office of National Statistics state that there are 2.67 million businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE. Any business with employees must register for PAYE, but not all of these businesses are registered for VAT. This prompts the question – how many VAT […]
29 April 2019, Advocates, Barristers, Companies, Sole Traders
When is my first Making Tax Digital VAT return due? If you are asking yourself “How late can I register for Making Tax Digital for VAT? (MTDfV)” you are likely to be storing up problems. Suppose you submit quarterly VAT returns to June and have to register for Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTDfV); your […]
15 March 2019, Advocates, Barristers, Companies, Sole Traders
Has Making Tax Digital for VAT been delayed? Making tax digital for VAT legislation requires you to have “digital links” between your financial data and your VAT reports to HMRC. What changes might you need to make to your record keeping to achieve this? A “soft landing” delays the date that you need to have […]
2 March 2019, Advocates, Barristers, Companies, Sole Traders
Advocates Making Tax Digital for VAT Questions and Answers Tim Alter gave a lunchtime talk to the Scottish Bar on 1st March 2019. The members of the Faculty of Advocates were highly engaged in the session on Making Tax Digital for VAT. There was a lively and heartfelt response including a wide ranging discussion on […]
28 February 2019, Advocates, Barristers, Companies, Sole Traders
Advocates Making Tax Digital for VAT seminar We are looking forward to presenting the Advocates Making Tax Digital for VAT seminar in the Mackenzie Building in Edinburgh on 1st March 2019. Tim Alter will be presenting the lunchtime talk to the Faculty of Advocates. For any advocates who can’t make the Edinburgh talk at 1:00 […]
1 May 2018, Companies, Employer, General
How do you know what an employer is looking for when they post a job advert? This post will point you in the right direction
22 November 2018, Advocates, Barristers, Companies, Creative Industries, Sole Traders
HMRC VAT letter – what does it mean? Many business have received an HMRC VAT letter in the last week. This letter informs VAT registered businesses that HMRC processes are being modernised, known as Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT. What do I need to do? The HMRC VAT letter doesn’t require you to do anything […]
2 December 2017, Advocates, Companies, Creative Industries, Sole Traders
HMRC’s VAT Input Tax Toolkit highlights common errors businesses make when they reclaim VAT on purchases. As you would expect from an HMRC publication it focuses on situations where you can’t or shouldn’t reclaim VAT.
16 November 2017, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries
Charities and Corporation Tax returns are often misunderstood. Charities may think that they are automatically exempt from tax on all their income. As the article explains below, charities may be subject to Corporation Tax on profits / surpluses.
13 October 2017, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Sole Traders
Following an anonymous complaint to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), a small Manchester-based company received a fine of £2,500 for failing to have adequate Employers Liability Insurance (ELI). What are the rules?
27 September 2017, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer
HMRC has announced extra help from its tax specialists to offer mid-sized businesses free tax advice.
5 February 2017, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Musicians
Most employees will pay Class 1 National Insurance each pay day. The weekly threshold is £157 a week with the monthly threshold being £680. If an employee earns above these amounts, they will start paying National Insurance above the threshold at 12%. National Insurance for Company Directors can be worked out differently.
30 September 2016, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders
If a trader on the flat rate scheme for VAT purchases services from outside the UK, the business needs to account for Flat Rate Scheme Reverse Charge VAT according to Directive 2006/112/EC. Small businesses on the Flat Rate Scheme for VAT do not usually account for VAT on purchases.
25 September 2016, Charities, Companies, Employer
The normal process for reclaiming overpaid PAYE to HMRC is to deduct the amount HMRC owes you from your next regular payment. For this reason HMRC does not normally process an automatic PAYE refund.
7 September 2016, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders
There are two new scams that you need to be aware of. Callers are leaving a phone message or posing as an HMRC investigator. If you are on the receiving end of an HMRC telephone scam you can report it on 0300 1232040 or on the Action Fraud Website.
6 November 2016, Auto Enrolment, Charities, Companies, Employer
If you are thinking of starting up a social enterprise or need advice on running an existing business, come along to the Firstport event in Glasgow on Friday 11th November. A series of free workshops have been organised to help you Start Up and Fine Tune your Social Enterprise.
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Telephone: 0141 443 4581 advice@alterledger.co.uk
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