Articles

Budget 2007

Details of the 2007 Budget announced by Gordon Brown

Bank Accounts

Before your company bank account was set up you had to use your personal account, is there a safe way to deal with this?

Company Vehicles

Your company could be landed with a tax bill if a driver uses a company van for private purposes, luckily, there’s a few let-out clauses to take advantage of!

Excuses, excuses!

What, exactly, is considered a reasonable excuse for just missing a filing deadline?

Points make Prizes!

When you’re running a competition to help promote the business, you need to be aware of the implications on the tax, be careful of what prizes you give.

Pre-registration VAT

Again, it’s been made clear that the VAT you paid before registration is recoverable, with limits of course. However, the cases still go to tribunal. So what can you do?

Website Costs & Tax

Websites are, in todays world, used widely to advertise a business, sell goods/services and to ‘show off’ your business. They can however be quite costly when it comes to maintenance and even set up costs. This becomes extremely evident when selling goods & services online.

The VATmans Enabling Letter

After the merging of Customs & Excise with Inland Revenue the VATman has started acting like the Taxman, he’s even sending out his own version of the enabling letter.

PAYE Coding

PAYE can prevent a large tax bill, or refund at the year end as it works out the tax you owe as you go along. A code number is sent to your employer which informs him how much tax should be taken off you. This number can also be adjusted to collect the tax due on other income you have which can avoid a year-end tax bill.

Cash on Delivery

Earlier this year the Taxman decided to let us know that ordinary taxpayers could no longer by handing over a cheque or wad of cash at the local tax office. Instead you’ve got to head into a post office or bank with your tax payment slip. What’s wrong with that? Well, funds can take up to 4 days to reach the Taxman’s account, so those who pay at the last minute will find that their going to get charged interest on late payments.

VAT Assessment Appeals

Rumour has it that now the Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise have merged (officially called HMRC) that the VAT tribunal was going to follow the example of the tax Special Commissioners and not pay costs even if the taxpayer won an appeal.

Knowing the score

Do you know the factors to be considered when selling a leasehold pub?

Budget 2005

On March 16th the Chancellor delivered his Budget, so what changes might be relevant to your 2005/06 tax bills?

Holiday Pay

Staff are entitled to at least four weeks paid leave, however should overtime also be included?

Dropped!

If you’ve been dropped from the Taxman’s self-assessment system for 2005 will it mean a cut in your advisers charges?

VAT after Deregistration?

A VAT invoice has shown up after you have been deregistered for VAT, and it needs paying. Is there any way to claim this VAT back?

Pocket Money

Teenagers aren’t cheap, their pocket money been a big burden on your pocket, however there is a way to make the pocket money tax-efficient and also help your child develop its work skills.

Mileage Claims

That Taxman has begun to question employee business mileage claims, in search of underpayments of tax. You can defend yourself from this attack, now and in the futures.

Student Expenses

A provision in the recent Budget means that your company can pay for your offspring’s further education. Is there any truth in it?

Unauthorised Holidays

An employee asked for the day off, however you were short staffed and so had to refuse, he asked again a second time and you refused for the same reason. You thought he now understood, however he went and took the day off anyway, how should you deal with this?

Maternity Pay Increased!

There is now a new way to increase your partners Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) if she’s an employee of your company, how?

Threatened

What should you expect if someone threatens to report you to the taxman?

Tax Free Money

You need to get your hands on some money urgently and your company seems to have plenty, how do you get at this without been charged tax?

Keep the costs low!

During a tax investigation an inspector can and most likely will open his enquiries to include personal bank and building society accounts, so how do you prevent the costs rising too much?

Bad Debt Relief

The VAT man currently seems to be checking your aged creditors list, but why? And how can you prepare?

The P35 Incentive

There is an incentive in place to encourage small employers to voluntary file their 2004/5 employers annual PAYE return (P35) online in May 2005, for doing so you will receive a lovely £250 tax free.

Beating the taxman

The taxman considers eating on the job a taxable benefit, after all you're paying them to do it.

Building Society Penalties

It is advisable to check certificates of tax deductions from your building society, especially if you have been using them for entries on 2003/4 tax returns.

Salary Increase Tax Advantages

What are the advantages to taking an additional salary over dividends?

Cutting the cost of School Fees, it's child's play!

Grandparents fund a high percentage of school fee schemes. However a lot of the time they don't have the capital to set aside the large amounts required, so what are your options?

Working at Home

If you take things home to work on or you make important conference calls at home then you are going to need somewhere you can shut yourself away from the rest of the household. However, why should you have to pay the bill when it is the company business you are working on?

Party On!

Entertain your staff and their partners without paying tax on the costs.

Personal Expenditure and the Taxman

The taxman has asked to see your personal credit card statements as part of an enquiry on the company. His excuse for needing them maybe so he can get an idea of your 'lifestyle'.

Business Premises

You've decided to buy new premises for your business, however your hoping they will also become a good investment return, however as usual Tax may make this difficult...

Business Mileage Claims

Although claiming the VAT back requires hard evidence and is some what a chore it is still worth making a claim.

Your Minimum Salary

The line between tax evasion and tax avoidance becomes thinner as tax laws and tax planning become ever more complicated.

Tax Points

What creates a tax point and is it possible to postpone it?

Fun: Life, by a pub philosopher

23 pub truths!

Employment Law Update

Further changes in the employment law come in on October 1 2004.

The Taxman's Error

If the taxman sends you a late filing penalty notice yet you have sent it within time, then this is what you can do about it.

Tax Investigations

Replying to the Taxmans' letters cost you and your Adviser time and money. Co-operate, be patient and be on your guard.

Changes To The Rules On Dividends For Small Companies

Following the recent Budget 2004 the Government has announced a change on the taxation of Director's / Shareholder's extraction of profits by means of a dividend payment from a company with effect from 1st April 2004.

Guide To Car Expenses For Self-Employed

How to get the most out of your mileage calculations.

Subsidised Loans From Your Company

If you need to take short-term money out of your company, instead of taking a dividend or a salary, a subsidised loan could be the answer.

Disability Accss to Pubs and Bars

Leisure services need to do a lot more to convince disabled people that they will be ready for the 1st October deadline, warned the DRC at the recent annual Pub and Bar Convention.

Inheritance Tax - Measures To Avoid It

Inheritance tax can affect everyone, not only the rich. The estate of a UK taxpayer can pay tax at 40% if the value is above £255,000. We show you how to lessen the blow.

New Employee Rights - Making Dismissal More Difficult

Changes to the Employment Act in October 2004 relating to grievance and disciplinary matters will make the dismissing of staff more difficult....

Driving Down Your Tax

If you are thinking about changing a business into a company just to save on tax, you should beware; problems can arise when you try to incorporate a car already used for the business. There are ways to avoid these problems.

Party Treats

Christmas is on its way and the staff would love to celebrate. That's fine because the Taxman allows a full tax deduction for entertaining staff and their partners, as long as the guest list does not include either customers or suppliers.

Working from Home -Tax Guidleines

If you work from home, you might run the risk of having to pay council tax and business rates on your property.

New Stamp Duty Explained

The Government introduced a new stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on December 1^st 2003, which is based on a percentage of the whole value of a lease rather than one year's average rent.

Saving Tax Through Incorporation: Mobile Phones

Next time a colleague tells you they have incorporated to save tax, ask them if they have a mobile phone.

Electronic Self Assessment Filing

To date, the Internet service for filing self-assessment returns has not exactly been a resounding success. If you have still got a tax return to submit for 2002/03, is it worth doing it online?

Long Lease or Tennancy?

What is the difference between long-term leases and standard tenancy agreements?

Out To Lunch

You want to be able to take your staff out for lunch from time to time. Or maybe an employee wants to entertain clients over a meal. You suspect that the Taxman might cause some indigestion. Is there a way to cure it?

Fun: Alcohol Troubleshooting

How to work out what's going on while you're out drinking.

How To Pay Less Tax

Self-employed licensees could be better off forming limited companies thanks to a highly favourable tax regime for small businesses.

New Employment Act

The Employment Act 2002 will be phased in over the coming year in stages. By April 2003 many aspects of the act will be in place.

New Bad Debt Relief Rules

In April 2002 the Chancellor announced a change to the VAT bad debt relief rules. The date for this change was dependant on the Finance Act 2002 becoming law. This happened on July 24th, so what do you need to do now?

How to Avoid VAT Inspections

What does the VAT man do with all your returns? Simple. He enters all the numbers into his computer in the hope that it will tell him you are due a visit. Is there a legitimate way to beat the black box next time?