In his 2010 Budget, George Osborne announced a tax break plan designed to give up to 400,000 small businesses outside the Greater South East relief of up to £5,000 on the national insurance payments for their first 10 staff.

But reports this month suggest fewer than 10,000 businesses have benefited from the initiative.

Speaking to the Press Association, a Treasury spokesman said:

“Over 10,000 businesses have already been helped by the scheme, with these employers benefiting by an estimated £6m. But more businesses could benefit and HMRC has been working to increase this number.”

Are you missing out? Speak to your accountant today, or call us on 01327 … Continue Reading

If you file annual self-assessment returns with HMRC, then you’ll know that once you declare what your income has been for the past financial year, you’ll be given a figure that reflects the tax owed on that sum.

Unless that sum is already covered by PAYE tax payments, or payments made earlier on account, you will required to clear it by making a ‘balancing payment’, which may also include capital gains tax and/or student loan repayments if applicable.

In most cases, the balancing payment must be made by January 31st after the end of the tax year in question so it is likely … Continue Reading

The deadline for filing your 2010/2011 tax return online is January 31st 2012 – are you prepared?

If you’ve never filed online before, you will need to register with HMRC’s self-assessment online service, at www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa.

Click ‘Register for Self Assessment Online’ in the top right hand corner, fill in your details and you’ll be sent an activation code which will be issued in the post. This can take a week or more, so if you haven’t already, now is the time to act! Anyone who fails to meet the 31 January deadline will be fined £100, regardless of whether or not any tax is … Continue Reading

Are you a teacher that does private lessons? Or weekend lessons? You need to make sure you have the correct documentation for HMRC.

Getting on the wrong side of the tax system can create huge problems that are easy to avoid if you do everything right to start with. Check out our guide of what you need to do if you’re a private teacher.

• Keep a record of all your incomings – Private teachers/coaches tend to be paid cash in hand and this why HMRC is now targeting private teachers to make sure they are paying the right amount of tax.
• Keep your … Continue Reading
  

Businesses have to keep records of everything they do in some form or another. One area that is easy to lose track of is your employees’ business expenses but it’s vital that you keep an accurate record as you will need to detail them when completing returns for HMRC.

If you pay any kind of employee expenses or benefits, you will need to complete a P11D (for employees earning more than £8,500 per year) or P9D (for employees earning less than £8,500 per year).

To enable you to complete these correctly, you’ll need to keep a record of every benefit and expenses … Continue Reading

When taking on a new employee, depending on their position or seniority, you may wish to provide them with a company car. You could do this full-time, so only that employee gets to use the car or you could give them casual usage, which means they can use it during business hours e.g. to go to a meeting.

Sometimes employers choose to give an employee a company car to commute to work instead of giving them a pay rise, travel costs or other employee benefits. Company cars are typically given to sales managers, who need to travel long distances or management … Continue Reading

It doesn’t happen very often, but last month the Chairman of HMRC apologised to taxpayers for the way they have been treated over the last year or so. The apology came after Mike Clasper, HMRC Chairman faced criticism from a committee of MPs.

The inquiry found that HMRC’s service to UK taxpayers had dropped to unacceptable levels during the last tax year (April 2010 – March 2011). MPs said the inquiry’s findings were “disturbing”. The Treasury Select Committee stated that the public had lost confidence in the tax system.

When examining HMRC’s performance, the committee stated that “poor service standards have been … Continue Reading

Setting up your own business is easy in some ways (announce you’re in business and, well, you are!) and really quite challenging in others (registration docs and record keeping, anyone?).

Before you know it, you can easily become swamped with all the little bits of admin that need doing, you might even be put off before you start trading!

Here’s our ten-step checklist for start-ups to help you see the wood from the trees and get on with doing what you do best:

1) Have you got the funds (plus a little bit extra saved in case of emergency)?

Starting a business … Continue Reading

If you’re a sole trader or small business, chances are you’re looking after your own books.

To keep things simple, many small business owners use accounting software to help them keep an accurate record of their incomings and outgoings, and to make it easier to file their tax returns at the end of the financial year.

But what’s the right accounting software for you? This guide details the factors to consider when choosing accounting software, and explains how to ensure that it is tailored to your requirements:

What does accounting software do?

Accounting software packages are computer-based programmes designed to simplify the bookkeeping … Continue Reading

Before the General Election NI was referred to as a ‘tax on jobs’, and essentially it is a tax, as once you have sufficient NI contributions to qualify for state benefits any extra payments will not entitle you to further benefits.

If you have paid in excess of the maximum NI contributions required for the tax year you can reclaim the excess amount. The PAYE system will normally ensure that you will not pay more than the annual maximum on your regular employment. However, if you have two or more concurrent employments in the tax year, or you are employed … Continue Reading