HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC have one clear objective, to recover past government expenditure and then recycle the cash collected to repay government borrowing and release funds for future expenditure. To do this, HMRC are obliged to assess taxes by adopting the current legislation to collect taxes from individuals and businesses. Fundamentally, HMRC base their judgement of the tax you owe on...
Obtaining the HMRC mobile app
HMRC’s free tax app is available to download from the App Store for iOS and from the Google Play Store for Android. The latest version of the app includes some updated functionality to update your name, save your National Insurance number to your digital wallet and to obtain help from HMRC's digital assistant. The APP can be used to see: your tax...
Help to pay your tax next month
If you are having trouble paying your tax on time you may be eligible to receive support from HMRC by applying for an instalment payment plan. An online payment plan for Self-assessment tax bills can be used to set up arrangements for paying tax liabilities of up to £30,000. The large majority of taxpayers, who are due to make payments on...
Tax exempt accommodation costs
There are special rules for the provision of living accommodation for employees. In most cases, employees will pay tax on any living accommodation provided by an employer unless they qualify for an exception. However, where an employee qualifies for an exemption, there is no tax to pay on the provision of living accommodation. The definition of living accommodation includes houses, flats,...
Help to Save scheme
The Help to Save scheme is intended to help those on low incomes to boost their savings. Eligible users of the scheme can save between £1 and £50 every calendar month and receive a 50% government bonus. The 50% bonus is payable at the end of the second and fourth years and is based on how much account holders have...
Tax Diary January/February 2024
1 January 2024 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 March 2023. 19 January 2024 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 January 2024. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 January 2024). 19 January 2024 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 January...
More delays contacting HMRC?
HMRC have announced that they will be focussing the use of its Self-Assessment helpline on priority queries from 11 December 2023 to 31 January 2024. Taxpayers calling with queries that can be quickly and easily resolved online will be directed to HMRC’s online services from 11 December until the SA deadline on 31 January. The department’s expert advisers will focus on answering...
Do you have a problem we could help you solve?
From time to time, we may spot issues when preparing accounts or tax returns that indicate problems that we subsequently help you solve. But the problems we are going to identify in this way will relate back to past events, and these events may or may not be capable of an effective resolution due to the passage of time. For example, if...
Muras Matters: Merry Christmas!
Called HMRC recently?
Call queues are becoming a unwelcome feature of communicating with HMRC. In a recent post on the GOV.UK newsfeed a new strategy is emerging. As you would expect, it steers taxpayers towards their online accounts or other information posted online by HMRC. We may be heading for a completely impersonal approach to handle communications between taxpayers and HMRC. In their post,...