New defensive controls recently deployed by HMRC have put an end to fraudsters spoofing the tax authority’s most recognisable helpline numbers.
It looks increasingly likely that we are heading for a no-deal Brexit. Taken literally, this means that our present relaxed trading relationship with customers and suppliers in the EU will cease at the end of October this year.
The government have recently announced that they are to extend the criteria for an approved, and therefore tax-effective, cycle-to-work scheme as part of their drive to reduce pollution and CO2 emissions in urban environments.
From 1 October 2019, contractors who employ subcontractors, will need to assume responsibility for declaring and paying the VAT that was previously settled by their VAT registered subcontractors.
If you employ students to manage your staff needs over the summer break period, you will need to add them to your payroll and apply PAYE and NIC rules.
It is possible to make small tax-free payments to employees, including directors, and this might be an appropriate time to make a small tax-free bonus in advance of the annual holidays.
As we are approaching the annual holiday season it would seem to be a suitable time to set out employees’ rights to receive holiday pay.
There are a number of tax incentives that you can take advantage of if you own and let a Furnished Holiday Lets property (FHL).
If you are an employer, you have a statutory duty to provide your employees with a copy of their P60 (pay and tax details for 2018-19) on or before the end of May 2019.
You will pay Scottish Income Tax if you live in Scotland, Income Tax if you live in England or Northern Ireland and the Welsh Income Tax if you live in Wales.
The expenses you claim against your property income will need to follow the usual HMRC ruling that the costs must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of renting out the property.
On the face of it, this sounds implausible. How can you change your will if you have died?
The following comments were written on the 13th March 2019 immediately following Philip Hammond’s presentation of the 2019 Spring Statement to Parliament.
By law, the total minimum contributions you must pay into your staff’s workplace pension schemes increase on 6 April 2019...
You can give away £3,000 worth of gifts each tax year (6 April to 5 April) without them being added to the value of your estate. This is known as your ‘annual exemption’.
According to a recent announcement on the GOV.UK website, preparations include the recruitment of 700 new staff to work on EU Exit policy.
A reminder that from 1 April 2019, VAT registered traders with turnover in excess of the current VAT registration limit, £85,000, will need to file returns after 1 April 2019 linked to HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) systems.
Options for adopting 99% of tax planning opportunities for 2018-19 ends on 5 April 2019, just a couple of months away.
For the tax year 2018-19, taxpayers can make tax-free capital gains of up to £11,700. This allowance is available on a per person basis and so married couples (and those in a civil partnership) have a combined CGT allowance of £23,400.
The highest rate of Income Tax is 45%. However, there are times when this 45% can rise to as much as 90%.
This is an ideal time to consider your business and personal financial planning options for 2019. What are your options?
As all our self-assessment readers will be aware, 31 January is the date by which any arrears of tax for 2017-18 need to be settled, together with a payment on account for 2018-19, if one is due.
Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year from all of us at A G Smith & Co!
Many businesses take time out to provide their employees with a work based party or similar event. If you are concerned about the tax consequences of Christmas celebrations, read on. We have included in this article ways to organise these events without falling foul of HMRC.
Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,190 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner - if they earn more than you.
When a director has been found guilty of mismanagement verging on fraud, one of the remedies that the courts can impose is disqualification as a director. But what does this actually mean?
HMRC have sent out letters to some VAT registered businesses with turnovers above £85K detailing the changes required for Making Tax Digital.
We're ready for Making Tax Digital for VAT, are you? We've partnered with Sage, an award-winning leader in accounting software, to provide an intuitive cloud-accounting bookkeeping service.
HMRC is still required to obtain certain returns from you even if there is no income or tax to declare...
Guidance on the use of a British passport to travel abroad after 29 March 2019, if there is a “no-deal” Brexit, was issued by government last month.
Suppliers who sell goods and services to larger concerns often find that the terms of their supply limits or bans the process of factoring the debts to release funds into cash flow.
A government think-tank, the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS), was briefed to consider a non-tax issue, a restricted form of limited liability for sole traders.
If a business owner makes a loss as a self-employed person, they can set off the losses against any other earnings of the same year. In effect, the business losses are moved side-ways against other earnings.
The gradual restriction of tax relief for buy-to-let mortgage interest has received much publicity since the process commenced 5 April 2017.
Up to £20 million is being made available to increase productivity and sustainability in crop and ruminant agriculture systems through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Due to further expansion we are delighted to announce Somer Moss MAAT joining A G Smith & Co.
Three of our staff members are now officially certified in Sage Business Cloud and Sage 50c after a training day and exam at the NEC Birmingham.
Scammers are making automated calls purporting to be HMRC, claiming you owe tax and need to pay immediately.
UK residents can ask for publicly owned land and buildings to be sold if they think that the property is vacant or underused. You will need to track down the owner of the land and ask for the property to be sold.
A new test is to be added to the qualifying criteria for rent-a-room relief from April 2019: the home owner) will need to share occupancy with the lodger...
Notwithstanding any of the comments in this post, an individual is allowed to make tax-free capital gains of £11,700 during 2018-19. There are also a number of circumstances when a disposal does not create a taxable gain.
HMRC has outlined a significant change to the way they will be levying penalties for late filing breaches under the Making Tax Digital regulations.
Whether you pay income tax or National Insurance, the effect on your cash flow is the same. The payments are a necessary part of our obligation to fund the activities of State, but the self-employed are often surprised that their bi-annual tax payments cover both “taxes” - NIC and income tax.
Many director shareholders take a minimum salary and any balance of remuneration as dividends. This tends to reduce National Insurance Contributions (NIC), and in some cases income tax.
A reminder that from April 2019, HMRC’s much vaunted Making Tax Digital (MTD) scheme will apply to certain businesses.
It would seem that HMRC is keen to plug the apparent drain from VAT receipts when contractors and sub-contractors charge their customers VAT and then go missing, keeping the VAT for themselves. This is described in legislation as “missing trader fraud”.
Reforms are being considered that will ensure that Scottish Limited Partnerships continue to be used as a legitimate vehicle for investment in the UK.
The following definitions should help to clarify employee and employer rights and responsibilities regarding entitlement to holiday pay.
HMRC will consider extended options for settling your outstanding tax bill. The key is to contact HMRC, explain why you can’t pay on time, and discuss how you can settle any outstanding liabilities.
In a recent press release, HMRC urged underpaid workers to complain as figures show that the number of workers getting the money they're owed by employers has doubled after interventions by HMRC.
