Protect your cash from the tax increase

24 March 2022, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, General, Musicians, Sole Traders

The Spring Statement 2022 confirmed increases to tax and National Insurance from 6th April 2022. The (mild) good news is that the threshold for paying National Insurance increases to £12,570 from July 2022. There are still opportunities for most taxpayers to take advantage of a tax break in the form of pension contributions. What is […]

December 2021 PAYE weekend payment date

9 December 2021, Charities, Companies, Employer, General, Sole Traders

Electronic payment deadline falls on a weekend The December 2021 PAYE electronic payment deadline falls on Saturday 22nd January 2022. To make sure your payment for December reaches HMRC on time, you need to have cleared funds in HMRC’s account by 21 January 2022 unless you are able to arrange a Faster Payment. Remember that […]

December payroll – do you pay it early?

1 December 2021, Charities, Companies, Employer, General, Sole Traders

Many businesses pay their December payroll early. However, for employees who also claim Universal Credit, this can cause a problem. What if the normal payment date falls on a weekend? If you pay your employees on the same date each month e.g. 28th, this date will sometimes fall on a weekend. In November 2021 the […]

Can my company pay my personal phone bill?

21 November 2021, Charities, Companies, Creative Industries, Employer, General

It is tempting to have your company pay personal phone bills, but this article will alert you to some of the pitfalls. On the face of it you might think you save money on a cheaper personal contract. However after considering the VAT, income tax and National Insurance you might be better off on a […]

Tax free van benefit in kind - did you know that the van Gogh Museum is open on Christmas day?

Company Van Benefit in Kind trap

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 […]

PAYE payments can be made monthly or quarterly

Monthly PAYE payments or quarterly payments?

15 May 2019, Employer

How to pay your PAYE to HMRC The easiest way to pay your PAYE to HMRC is by bank transfer. The bank details for HMRC are shown below. You’ll need to use your 13-character accounts office reference number as the payment reference. You can find this on either: the letter HMRC sent you when you first registered […]

Childcare voucher scheme – closure delayed again!

9 May 2018, Employer

Scheme open to new entrants until 4 October 2018 Childcare voucher schemes were supposed to close to new applicants on 5 April 2018, but has been extended for a further six months. Should you consider offering childcare vouchers to your employees while you still can? Summary of childcare voucher scheme The childcare voucher schemes were supposed to […]

Sole Director Companies and Auto Enrolment

18 March 2017, Auto Enrolment, Employer

A company, or individual without employees is not required to have an Automatic Enrolment Pension Scheme. Where a company has no-one on payroll and no workers it is normally clear that Auto Enrolment doesn’t apply. The situation is less obvious with sole director companies and auto enrolment. If you are the sole director of your company and have no staff or workers, the company does not have automatic enrolment duties

PAYE refund – how to get one

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.

HMRC telephone scam

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.

HMRC interest rate change can save you money

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.

HMRC new bank account

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.

RTI Late Reporting Codes

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.

National Insurance for Company Directors

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.

Marriage Allowance update April 2016

17 April 2016, Advocates, Artists, Creative Industries, Sole Traders

The Marriage Allowance is a tax break for couples where one partner doesn’t use all their tax free allowance. For the 2016-17 tax year, which runs from 6th April 2016 to 5th April 2017 the tax free allowance is £11,000.

SRIT – the Scottish Rate of Income Tax

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.

Digital Tax Accounts – the end of tax returns?

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.”

Not the new childcare voucher sheme

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?

Company Directors salary (updated for 2016-17)

26 May 2015, Companies, Employer

The new tax year started on 6 April and with it came a rise in personal tax-free allowances and National Insurance (NI) limits. How do these and other factors affect the level of company directors salary? View image | gettyimages.com Company Directors salary If you’re a major shareholder of a private company it’s usually a […]

Childcare vouchers

5 May 2015, Advocates, Artists, Barristers, Charities, Companies, Employer, Musicians, Sole Traders

As one door opens another closes A new tax-free childcare voucher scheme will start in Autumn 2015. When this happens the current scheme for employees will close to new entrants, but still remain in place for existing employees. If you are an employee, you will need to think about signing up now if the existing […]

Relaxed PAYE late filing penalties

24 February 2015, Auto Enrolment, Charities, Companies, Employer

HMRC will not impose PAYE filing penalties for short delays All UK employers are required to report wage payments as Real Time Information (RTI) to HMRC. Until now this has meant that you need to submit your payroll information to HMRC on or before the date you pay your employees. However HMRC announced that they have relaxed PAYE […]

Know your staging date

16 February 2015, Auto Enrolment, Charities, Companies, Employer, Sole Traders

What is a staging date? Your staging date is the date your automatic enrolment duties come into effect. You must be prepared for this date, at which point you are obliged to have a suitable pension scheme in place. The law on the new employer duties and safeguards commenced in July 2012. Each employer is […]

Real Time Information for payroll processing – are you ready?

17 February 2013, Charities, Employer

Change required for all employers All employers will have to change the way they process payroll in 2013. If your organisation pays wages to anyone including salaried directors, you will need to provide information in “Real Time” to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Real Time Information (RTI) requires employers to submit payroll information before […]