Smarter accounting
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 […]
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 […]
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
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.
24 August 2016, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders
Following the Bank of England’s cut in its base rate from 0.5% to 0.25% on 4th August the HMRC interest rate has changed too.
20 June 2016, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders
Most people will pay their tax electronically either through their payroll, direct debit or by bank transfer. Tax payments made from overseas now go to the HMRC new bank details.
19 June 2016, Auto Enrolment, Charities, Companies, Employer
All UK employers are required to report wage payments on or before wages are paid, under the system known as Real Time Information (RTI). Under limited circumstances HMRC will accept late payroll information. To avoid a late reporting penalty you will need to use one of the 7 remaining RTI late reporting codes.
9 May 2016, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer
The employment allowance enables most employers to claim a £3,000 deduction against National Insurance Contributions.
24 February 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 Paisley on Friday 26th February.
29 November 2015, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders
From 5th April 2016 a new Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT) will come into force in Scotland. Although is it currently anticipated that taxpayers in Scotland and the rest of the UK will pay the same rate of tax next year, it is likely that the regions will diverge in coming years as more power is devolved to Scotland.
26 November 2015, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Companies, Creative Industries, Musicians, Sole Traders
The Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 from Chancellor George Osborne confirms that the government is committed to Digital Tax Accounts. The following extract is from the transcript of the speech delivered on 25th November 2015: “We’re going to build one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world. So that every individual and every small business will have their own digital tax account by the end of the decade, in order to manage their tax online.”
5 November 2015, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Charities, Companies, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders
A new government-backed tax-free childcare scheme was set to go live in the autumn of 2015 but so far it has not materialised. What has happened and is this new scheme still going ahead or not?
11 October 2015, Artists, Charities, Companies, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders
We’re in Wales for the next few days We will be visiting clients in Cardiff over the next couple of days. No time for the rugby, but spotted this crashing through Cardiff Castle. Creative Industries in Cardiff Cardiff is the home of BBC Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Welsh National Opera and of course […]
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