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. Accounts software providers have been working at some pace to change their software, so they “speak” to HMRC’s MTD servers using a dedicated...
What is the government doing to prepare us for Brexit?
According to a recent announcement on the GOV.UK website, preparations include: Recruitment of 700 new staff to work on EU Exit policy using additional funding allocated by HM Treasury for Brexit preparedness. Passing of new legislation to lay the groundwork for our future outside the EU with 57 out of 63 required statutory instruments required by Exit day, including new laws for...
What can you give away before the end of the tax year?
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’. You can carry any unused annual exemption forward to the next year - but only for one year. Each tax year, you can also give away: wedding or civil ceremony...
Tax Diary February/March 2019
1 February 2019 - Due date for Corporation Tax payable for the year ended 30 April 2018. 19 February 2019 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 February 2019. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 February 2019) 19 February 2019 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 February...
Government fiddles over Brexit
Leaving aside the fact that there were no violins available, it’s interesting to seek a comparison between the supposed musical antics of Nero in AD64 as Rome burned and our government, preoccupied with important political matters as British industry slips ever closer to the cliff edge of a no-deal Brexit. There are just under 60 days left until the present withdrawal...
Are your contractors disguised employees
What is a disguised employee? Very definitely, it is not an individual holding a clock card in fancy dress. It is contractor, usually in the guise of a limited company, that is undertaking work as if an employee, but more importantly, is being paid as a business contractor: this saves the “employer” paying National Insurance and gives the employee/contractor opportunities...
Unbelievable excuses and dubious expenses
HMRC seem to be working on their people skills, either that or they have decided to soften their hard sales approach to tax compliance by injecting a little humour. Last week they published the following responses they had received for late payment of tax and claims for expenses that failed. This what they said: Excuses for not paying tax on time As the...
How do we prepare for Brexit when so much is undecided?
It is hardly surprising that Brexit is fast becoming as big a turnoff as tax. How on earth are we supposed to react or adapt to such far-reaching changes when the exact details of our exit are still undecided just a few weeks before the March 2019 deadline? Businesses that buy or sell goods to the EU must be pulling their...
Why does the UK tax year end 5th April?
A bit of history this week but with a practical outcome for 2019. Up to 1582, Europe used the Julian calendar introduced by the Romans in 45BC. Unfortunately, the Julian calendar differed from the solar calendar by 11 ½ minutes; after 500 years this small difference meant that the Julian calendar was 10 days off the solar calendar. To remedy this error,...
Have you received your tax statement?
HMRC normally send out a tax statement this time of the year to all self-assessment taxpayers that have submitted a tax return for 2017-18. As we reported last week, this will list any balance of tax due for 2017-18 and the amount of any payment on account required for 2018-19 (if any is due). Both amounts will need to be settled...