If you’re eligible for tax credits, time is running out to renew your claim – you have until Sunday the 31st of July or payments will stop.

ANNUAL DECLERATION NOTICE

If you currently received tax credits, you should have been sent an information pack, you must let HMRC know about any changes to your circumstances and provide details of last year’s income. Renewal is necessary in order to:

o Keep your information up to date with the Tax Credit Office
o Make sure you get paid enough (or not too much) for the next tax year

If you delay renewing, your provisional payments could be based … Continue Reading

We’ve been told for years that tax doesn’t have to be taxing – it is though, really, even for accountants! The tangle of codes, which caused so much grief at the start of the year, makes it an unnecessarily confusing process.

It seems the new Government agrees and on Tuesday (20 July) the Office for Tax Simplification was launched. This new department is tasked with cutting through the 11,000 pages that currently make up the country’s tax codes. Chancellor, George Osborne, announced that the UK has one of the most “complex and opaque tax codes” in the developed world, with exemptions … Continue Reading

The number of new companies has started to rise again following two years of steep fall. Businesses registered with Companies House surged by 10 per cent to 362,300 in 2009/10, up from 330,100 in 2008/9.

This dramatic increase is very encouraging considering that in 2007/8 company incorporations fell by 17 per cent, followed by a further drop of 11 per cent in 2008/9 – casualties of the recession.

These figures are a telling indication of the fact that the small businesses sector has got back on its feet pretty quickly, despite being hit hard by the economic crisis. Part of the reason … Continue Reading

The summer is here and the exams are over, so many young people will be leaving school or college this month to take their chances in the jobs market. It is a daunting prospect; trying to cope with the tax and benefits systems for the first time.

If your child is in this position you could point them towards the HMRC website designed for 16 to 19 year olds: http://www.taxmatters.hmrc.gov.uk

It covers topics such as NI and how the NI number is important, what is PAYE and self-assessment. There are also quizzes and a teacher’s area including materials teachers can use … Continue Reading

Compulsory online filing for VAT returns is here. The first period for which an established business with a turnover of £100,000 or more is required to submit their tax return online is the quarter ending 30 June 2010. That VAT return is due in by midnight on 31 July 2010. In fact as the VAT return is submitted online the submission date is stretched to 7 August 2010, although a VAT repayment claim must still be received by 31 July.

Businesses who always receive VAT repayments can ask to complete monthly VAT returns, in which case the first period for which … Continue Reading

There are a number of approved share schemes that a company can use to provide its employees with shares in the company they work for, or options to buy those shares at a favourable price. The scheme designed for small companies to use is the Enterprise Management Investment scheme (EMI).

If the company chooses not to use one of the approved share or share option schemes and issues shares or options to its employees, there can be some very serious tax consequences, such as:

- The employee is taxed on the value of the shares he receives as if that value was … Continue Reading

The June Budget introduced some complex changes to capital gains tax (CGT) that apply from 23 June 2010. For disposals made on or after that date there are now three alterative tax rates for individuals.

Taxable income and gains after deduction of allowances up to £37,400 are taxed at 18%. Those over the £37,400 limit are taxed at 28% and gains subject to entrepreneur’s relief are taxed at 10%.

The old CGT rate of 18% applies to all capital gains made by individuals and trustees from 6 April 2008 to 22 June 2010 inclusive, irrespective of the amount of the gain or … Continue Reading