Do I need to do a tax return?
If any of the following apply then, YES, you need to do a tax return:
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You’re self-employed
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You’re a company director, minister, Lloyd’s name or member
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Your annual income is £100,000 or more
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You have income from savings, investment or property (unless collected via PAYE)
- £10,000 or more from taxed savings and investments
- £2,500 or more from untaxed savings and investments
- £10,000 or more from property (before deducting allowable expenses)
- £2,500 or more from property (after deducting allowable expenses)
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You need to claim expenses or reliefs
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You or your partner receive Child Benefit and your income is over £50,000
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You’re 65 and receive a reduced age-related allowance
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You get income from overseas
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You have income from trusts, settlements and estates
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You have Capital Gains Tax to pay
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You’ve lived or worked abroad or aren’t domiciled in the UK
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You’re a trustee
For full details of who needs to do a tax return follow this link http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/need-tax-return.htm
For details of how to register go to http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/register.htm
I know that sometimes people simply don’t realise that they need to do a return, for example a newly appointed Director or someone receiving Dividends. HMRC often don’t know if you should be doing a return (if they think you should be they will contact you), so it is up to you to make sure you file a return and disclose your income to HMRC if any of the above apply.
If you think you have an excuse, think again!
http://stevejbicknell.com/2012/10/15/reasons-excuses-for-filing-your-self-assessment-return-late/
As you will see your chances of HMRC accepting your excuse are slim.
Employment Expenses – Use Form P87
As an employee you can claim tax relief for expenses incurred in doing your job (if not fully reimbursed by your employer), for example business mileage, cycling on business, hotels, meals, business phone calls, in fact anything as long as its business related
If your claim is less than £2500 you can make your claim using Form P87 without the need to do self assessment.
http://stevejbicknell.com/2011/12/20/how-to-claim-tax-relief-for-employment-expenses/
So having workout you need to do a return. and having registered online, and filed your first return with HMRC, what if you later find you have make a mistake, what can you do?
If you make a mistake on your tax return you’ve normally got 12 months from 31 January after the end of the tax year to correct it. This is called an ‘amendment’. For example, for the 2011-12 return you have until 31 January 2014 to make an amendment.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/correct-repay.htm
What if you don’t file in time?
The penalties for late Self Assessment returns are:
- an initial £100 fixed penalty, which applies even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time;
- after three months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900;
- after six months, a further penalty of 5 per cent of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater; and
- after 12 months, another 5 per cent or £300 charge, whichever is greater.
There are also additional penalties for paying late of 5 per cent of the tax unpaid at: 30 days; six months; and 12 months.
What if you don’t have all the answers, can you put in provisional figures?
There are occasions on which some information cannot be finalised within the formal self assessment time limits despite the taxpayer’s best efforts to do so. In such cases the taxpayer should include a ‘best estimate’ of the information in the tax return and, if appropriate, a corresponding provisional figure of the tax due. The provisional figures should be clearly identified as such in the tax return. A tax return containing a provisional figure should only be submitted once it is clear that a more accurate figure will not be available before the filing date.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/salfmanual/salf206.htm
steve@bicknells.net
How long to keep your records
As a general rule, you should keep your records for a minimum of six years. However,
if you are:
• an employer, you need to keep Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records for 3 years
(in addition to your current year)
• a contractor in the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), you need to keep your CIS
records for 3 years (in addition to your current year)
• keeping records to complete a personal (non business) tax return, you only need to
keep them for 22 months from the end of the tax year to which they relate.
If you need to keep records for other reasons, for example the Companies’ Act
requires limited companies to keep specific records and you also use those records
for tax purposes, you need to be aware that there may be different time limits for
retaining them. Be careful not to destroy any records you also use for tax purposes
too soon.
niall@odfinancialservice.co.uk
Life after submitting a tax return
You’ve completed your tax returns, you think you can now breathe a sigh of relief, but can you?
HMRC can inspect any taxpayer’s records under Schedule 36 by FA08, FA09 and FA10. They can check the tax records for:-
Pay as You Earn (PAYE)
Value Added Tax (VAT)
Income Tax (IT)
Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
Corporation Tax (CT)
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT)
Inheritance Tax (IHT)
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT)
Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT)
Aggregates Levy (AGL)
Climate Change Levy (CCL)
Landfill Tax (LFT) and
Bank Payroll Tax (BPT)
The technical term for the inspection is a Compliance Check. They will check that the tax payer has:-
- Complied with their obligations
- Paid the correct amount of tax and at the right time
- Claimed the correct reliefs and allowances
The inspection
This can be completed by anything from a short telephone call to confirm a single fact, to a detailed investigation of a person’s entire financial affairs over a period of years.
HMRC may undertake checks by either asking for information or documents or by arranging a meeting or visit.
They may:
- Require taxpayers by notice in writing to provide information and produce documents (a “taxpayer notice”)
- Require third parties by notice in writing (for example a supplier or bank) to provide information and produce documents (a “third party notice”)
The caveat being that these requirements are reasonable for the purpose of checking a tax position. The generic term for these types of notice is information notice.
The recipient has the protection of a right of appeal to, or prior approval by, an independent tribunal. There is no right of appeal however where the notice only refers to information or documents that form part of a taxpayer’s statutory records, or any person’s records that relate to:
- The supply of goods and services
- The acquisition of goods from another member state, or
- The importation of goods from outside the European Union (EU) by a business
If the taxpayer is not forthcoming with the information, HMRC may invoke their statutory powers to obtain them.
They may also request assistance with aspects of a tax check from other government departments.
This could include a situation where there is reason to believe that a taxpayer:
- did not notify chargeability to tax
- did not register for VAT if required, or
- is operating in the informal economy
Restrictions on Information Powers
The taxman is not all-powerful; some safeguards have been installed, set out in the law and with guidance so that in carrying out compliance checks
- HMRC’s powers are used reasonably and proportionately
- Taxpayers are clear about when a compliance check begins and ends
- Officers have no right to enter any parts of premises that are used solely as a dwelling, whether to carry out an inspection or to examine documents produced under an information notice. They can, however, enter if invited
- FA09 adds to Sch 36 FA08 a power to inspect all property for the purpose of valuation (for direct taxes purposes). This requires either the taxpayer’s agreement or Tribunal approval
- Unannounced visits will only be made where agreement has been given by an authorised officer
Other safeguards include the fact that officers can’t require certain things to be provided:
- Information relating to the conduct of appeals against HMRC decisions
- Legally privileged information
- Auditors or tax advisers advice to a client about their tax affairs
- Information about a person’s medical or spiritual welfare
- Journalistic material
Time constraints
- Information over six years old can only be included in a notice issued by or with the approval of an authorised officer
- HMRC cannot give a notice in respect of the tax position of a dead person more than four years after the person’s death
The Power to Visit Business Premises and Check Assets and Records
Inspection powers allow an officer of HMRC to enter business premises and inspect the premises, business assets and statutory records.
If an information notice has been issued earlier, the documents required in that notice could be inspected at the same time.
FA09 incorporates into Schedule 36 inspection powers in respect of the:
- business premises of Involved third parties
- valuation of premises for Income Tax or Corporation Tax
These inspections:
- must only be undertaken where it is reasonably required to establish the tax position and
- will normally be by prior arrangement, the date and time being convenient to the taxpayer
The Power to Visit Business Premises and Check Assets and Records
Inspection powers also allow any officer to enter any premises when they believe the premises are to be used in connection with taxable supplies of goods or taxable acquisition of goods from Member States, and such goods or documents relating to such goods are on the premises.
There is no right of appeal against an inspection but the occupier can refuse entry and prevent the inspection from being completed.
The occupier can be penalised for such obstruction, where the inspection has been approved by a Tribunal.
There may be occasions when a pre-arranged visit will be inappropriate, for example where there is a strong risk that the taxpayer would move the business or remove stock or other assets. In such cases, an unannounced visit may be undertaken subject to prior agreement by an authorised officer.
If a formal statutory approach is needed, and it has not been possible to agree the time of inspection and give written confirmation, the inspection must be approved by a Tribunal and 7 days written notice of the time of the inspection given. The application for approval must be made by, or with the approval of, an authorised officer.
When a Penalty can be charged where a person:
- Fails to comply with an information notice
- Conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of documents required by an information notice
- Conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of documents that they have been notified are, or are likely to be, required by an information notice
- Deliberately obstructs an inspection that has been approved by the Tribunal.
- In complying with an information notice provides inaccurate information or produces a document that contains an inaccuracy,
- Fails to comply with a notice requiring contact details of a tax/duty debtor to HMRC.
These rights are covered in sections 38 FA 08 and 09
Types of Penalties
There are four types and amounts of penalty:
- An initial penalty of £300
- A daily penalty of up to £60 for every day that the failure or obstruction continues after the date the initial penalty is assessed
- A tax-related penalty
- A penalty not exceeding £3000 for providing inaccurate information or documents in response to an information notice
A tax-related penalty is in addition to the initial penalty and any daily penalties. The amount of the penalty is decided by the Upper Tribunal having regard to the amount of tax which either has not, or is unlikely to be, paid by that person.
A person is not liable to a penalty if they have a reasonable excuse for:
- Failing to comply with an information notice, or
- Providing inaccurate details or documents, or
- Deliberately obstructing a tribunal approved inspection
If they correct their failure as soon as the excuse ends, the excuse will then be treated as continuing until the correction is made.
Normally, daily penalties will not be assessed after the failure has been remedied.
Record Keeping
Schedule 37 of FA08 amended existing record keeping legislation in respect of PAYE, VAT, IT, CGT and CT, whilst Schedule 50 to FA2009 extends this approach to IPT, SDLT, AGL, CCL, and LFT with BPT being included from 8 April 2010. Following consultation it was accepted that SDRT and PRT did not require separate statutory provisions, whilst IHT will be addressed through guidance.
These provisions are aimed at alignment and clarification.
This approach is designed to be flexible across a range of business and non-business taxpayers.
There are penalties for failure to keep adequate records.
The basic requirements in relation to record keeping have not changed but rules have been aligned on how long records are kept.
niall@odfinancialservice.co.uk
15 ways to improve profitability
Profit is vital to every business, what is the point of being in business if you don’t make a profit?
So here are my tips on how to improve your profitability:
- Weed out loss making products, clients and departments – concentrate on high margin products and services
- Reduce Employment Costs – use Freelancers instead of Permanent Employees where appropriate
- Use Virtual Communication Technology – meetings can be held over the internet with Skype or other systems, it will cut traveling time and costs
- Use Social Media and Networking – marketing can be costly and the results can be hard to measure, use your contacts to generate leads and sales and always ask for referrals
- Increase Productivity – eliminate wasteful and unnecessary processes, I was told it used to take 17 people in the NHS to change a light bulb on a hospital ward (requisitions, approvals, payments, changing the bulb…) the solution to cut wasted processes was to keep a stock of bulbs on the ward
- Negotiate with suppliers – always look at ways to reduce cost including using alternative suppliers
- Understand your clients requirements – the client knows what he wants and what represents value, if you deliver value you will get more business
- Seek add on sales – what other products or services might be useful to your existing clients
- Keep an eye on your competitors – competitor analysis will enable you to understand differences in price, distribution, market and demand
- Find New Markets – use market research to expand into new areas
- Decrease Overheads – analyse all of your overheads including Rent, Rates, Utilities – could you sub-let part or your premises or reduce waste
- Reduce Stock Levels – can you turnover your stock more quickly or buy to order
- Improve your Cash Cycle – reduce slow payment by debtors, invoice promptly and settle disputes quickly
- Invest in Technology – automate processes with ERP systems
- Use Key Performance Indicators – KPI’s help you achieve your goals
steve@bicknells.net
Done your 2014 business plan yet?
A business plan proper contains lots of non-financial information, but all roads lead to the bottom line. A simple way of creating a budget from your other business assumptions is to do it in ….. wait for it ….. Excel.
With a row for each income/expense heading and columns for time periods (usually months) you can quickly put together a budget profit and loss for the next financial year. For some expenses particularly overheads you can refer to the current cost base, and depending on the nature of your business this can work for revenues too. If you have departments or divisions in your business you can have a budget sheet for each of them and total to get the big picture. Likewise for different product or service lines.
Once you’ve done this you’ll end up with something looking like this:
You can then do other things, such as looking at profitability, exploring the impact of sales or costs going up or down, work out your break even point, and create a cashflow budget.
Drop me an email if you’d like a copy of the spreadsheet template, and look out for other business planning posts in this series.
Chris Dixon, Eightoaks
chris.dixon@eightoaks.ltd.uk
Time for a new payroll process?
A recent experience of a client being selected for a National Minimum Wage review by HMRC led me to recommend some changes to their payroll process.
Like many businesses this one paid its staff by the day and adjusted for absences such as unpaid sick. Some of the staff were at or just above the minimum wage for their age, so increasing the risk of an error pushing them below the minimum. HMRC conducted a check which spanned several months, with much to-ing and fro-ing over detail and found some errors which had resulted in a few staff being underpaid small amounts.
Having gone through the results with the client I suggested some changes to the payroll process:
- Stop basing pay on a daily rate, pay by the hour instead.
- Implement a simple timesheet process, where hours per day are recorded and the employee signs it at the end of the pay period as a correct record of hours worked.
- Where staff are on piece work, ensure the equivalent hourly rate is calculated to check it is above the minimum wage.
- Check each month for staff birthdays or other changes in circumstances that might change their minimum wage level.
So if you pay by the day, it is worth checking you can easily produce records of the actual hours worked. My client has only a few employees, so can manage with a paper record, if you have enough staff to warrant a computerised time recording system, this may be worth considering.
Chris Dixon, Eightoaks
chris.dixon@eightoaks.ltd.uk
Can I prepare Abbreviated Accounts?
There are 3 sizes of companies to consider when preparing your accounts; small, medium or large. There are thresholds for turnover, balance sheet total (meaning the total of the fixed and current assets) and the average number of employees, which determine whether your company is small or medium-sized. Any companies that do not meet the criteria for small or medium are large companies and will have to prepare and submit full accounts.
A small company can prepare and submit accounts according to special provisions in the Companies Act 2006 and the relevant regulations. This means that they can choose to disclose less information than medium-sized and large companies.
The Thresholds are:
| Test | Small Company | Small Group | Medium Company | Audit Exempt |
| Sales must be below | £6.5 million | £6.5m net or £7.8m gross | £25.9 million | £6.5 million |
| Balance Sheet Total | £3.26 million | £3.26m net or £3.9m gross | £12.9 million | £3.26 million |
| Average no. of employees | 50 | 50 | 250 | 50 |
A small company must meet at least two of the conditions above.
Generally, small company accounts prepared for members include:
- a profit and loss account
- a full balance sheet, signed by a director on behalf of the board and the printed name of that director
- notes to the accounts
- group accounts (if a small parent company chooses to prepare them)
And they should be accompanied by:
- a directors’ report that shows the signature of a secretary or director and their printed name
- an auditors report that includes the printed name of the registered auditor (unless the company qualifies for exemption from audit and takes advantage of that exemption)
For financial years ending on or after 1 October 2012 a small company only needs to qualify as small to be exempt from Audit.
Even if a small company meets these criteria, it must still have its accounts audited if a member or members holding at least 10% of the nominal value of issued share capital or holding 10% of any class of shares demands it; or – in the case of a company limited by guarantee – 10% of its members in number.
A medium company must meet at least two of the conditions above for medium companies.
Medium-sized accounts must include:
- a profit and loss account
- a balance sheet, showing the printed name and signature of a director
- notes to the accounts
- group accounts (if appropriate)
And should be accompanied by:
- a directors’ report including a business review showing the printed name of the approving secretary or director
- an auditor’s report that includes the name of the registered auditor unless the company is exempt from audit
Medium-sized companies may omit certain information from the business review in their directors’ report (that is, analysis using key performance indicators so far as they relate to non-financial information). Also a medium-sized company which is part of an ineligible group can still take advantage of the exemption from disclosing non-financial key performance indicators in the business review.
Medium-sized companies preparing Companies Act accounts may omit disclosure with respect to compliance with accounting standards and related party transactions from the accounts they send to their members.
Abbreviated accounts of a medium-sized company must include:
- the abbreviated profit and loss account (this must be full if preparing IAS accounts)
- the full balance sheet showing the printed name and signature of a director
- a special auditor’s report showing the printed name of the registered auditor
- the directors’ report showing the printed name of the approving secretary or director
- notes to the accounts
What is a dormant company?
A company is dormant if it has had no ‘significant accounting transactions’ during the accounting period. A significant accounting transaction is one which the company should enter in its accounting records.
When determining whether a company is dormant you can disregard the following transactions:
- payment for shares taken by subscribers to the memorandum of association
- fees paid to the Registrar of Companies for a change of company name, the re-registration of a company and filing annual returns
- payment of a civil penalty for late filing of accounts
How long do I normally have to file my accounts?
The time normally allowed for delivering accounts to Companies House is:
- 9 months from the accounting reference date for a private company
- 6 months from the accounting reference date for a public company
You can submit the following accounts online:
- dormant company accounts
- small full audit exempt accounts
- small audit exempt abbreviated accounts
Failure to deliver accounts on time is a criminal offence.
Further information available from Companies House
steve@bicknells.net
What can you include in a PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA P626)?
PAYE Settlement Agreements (PSA’s) are requested by Employers and subject to agreement with HMRC. Under this agreement the employer will be responsible for accounting for any tax and national insurance liabilities arising. Any items covered by a PSA will not need to be shown on forms P35 and P11D at the end of the tax year.
Applications for PSA’s should be made before 6th July 2013 if you want to use them for the tax year ended 5th April 2013, once approved by HMRC payment of the Tax and NI is due by the 19th October (payments by cheque) or 22nd October (payments online).
The tax due is grossed-up at the employee’s marginal rate. For example, £5,000 of benefits provided to higher rate taxpayers (40 per cent) would be grossed-up as follows:
Benefits of £5,000 x 40 per cent = £2,000 tax
Grossed-up tax = £2,000 x 100/100-40 = £3,333.33
Benefits plus grossed-up tax = £8,333.33 x 13.8 per cent Class 1B = £1,149.99
Total due to be paid £3,333.33 tax plus £1,149.99 Class 1B = £4,483.32
Minor Benefits
- incentive awards
- reimbursement of late night taxi fares outside s248 ITEPA 2003
- personal incidental expenses in excess of the statutory daily limit
- present for an employee in hospital
- staff entertainment, for example a ticket for Wimbledon
- use of a pool car where the conditions for tax exemption are not satisfied
- subscriptions to gyms, sports clubs etc
- telephone bills
- gift vouchers and small gifts
Irregular Expenses
HMRC (PSA 1070) examples (not exhaustive) of what may constitute an irregular item.
- relocation expenses where the amounts concerned exceed the £8000 tax exempt threshold (Section 287 ITEPA 2003)
- occasional attendance at an overseas conference where not all the expenses qualify for relief
- expenses of a spouse occasionally accompanying an employee abroad
- occasional use of a company holiday flat
- one off gifts which are not minor.
Impracticable Items
HMRC (PSA 1080) examples (not exhaustive) of what may constitute an impracticable item
- free chiropody care
- hairdressing services
- Christmas parties and similar entertainment provided by the employer which do not already qualify for relief
- cost of shared taxis home which do not satisfy s248 ITEPA 2003
- shared cars.
Gov.uk has guidance on How to get a PSA
steve@bicknells.net
10 reasons why UK Micro Businesses are taking off
New analysis from Direct Line for Business (DL4B), based on data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), reveals that just over half of all UK small firms are run from the home of the business owner.
The findings show that there are currently 2.5 million home-based business owners in the UK, representing just over half (52%) of the total number of UK SMEs. These home-based business owners now account for 8% of the UK’s total workforce.
The largest concentration of all is in Herefordshire – where 27% of the county’s 92,000 total workforce is a home-based business owner. Pembrokeshire is second with 23% and Eastbourne is third with 20%.
Men are more than twice as likely as women to run their own business from home, with 1.7 million male home business owners across the country, compared to around 818,000 female home business owners.
http://www.itdonut.co.uk/news/it/most-small-firms-are-now-home-based-businesses
Small businesses are a vital part of the UK economy.
Marketing Donut reported this week that a study of UK small businesses has shown a rise in the number of people setting up micro businesses and hiring people for part-time work.
The study by Freelancer.co.uk assessed 300,000 businesses over the past 12 months and it concludes that an entrepreneurial boom is taking place in the UK, with significant numbers of people starting up new ventures across the country.
According to the study, Brighton and Newcastle have seen the highest growth in the number of new micro businesses being launched (up by 24%), followed closely by Manchester and Southampton with 23% growth. London has seen 21% growth, Edinburgh and Liverpool 20%, Birmingham 19% and Sheffield 8%.
The research also shows that there have been positive knock-on effects for freelance workers in business support sectors, such as website design. It found there has been a 19% increase in the number of micro businesses commissioning new ecommerce websites.
In addition, orders for shopping carts to be installed on new small business websites are up 18%, email marketing is up 20%, graphic design is up 12% and logo design is up 6%.
So why are micro businesses taking off:
- You can start off working at home
- Your start up costs are low
- You can do it part time when it suits you
- With wages frozen and costs rising it can provide a useful additional income
- Its easy to be price competitive with low overheads
- The Internet makes it easy to sell your goods and services
- Your social capital can be used to generate sales ie use your contacts and connections
- There could tax advantages – employees generally pay more tax than sole traders
- Some clients prefer the personal touch
- It could be start of something big
steve@bicknells.net
10 things your Finance Director should be doing….
SME’s often mis-understand the purpose of a Finance Director and the value they can bring to a business.
The job of a finance director is not just about producing regular accounts: they can help your company with strategy and development. If you want a small, stable business, then you can settle for a risk-averse book-keeper. But a good FD is key if you are growing your business because FDs develop future financial forecasts and push business growth. [Smarta]
So what should your Finance Director be doing for your business…..
- The FD should be able to look into to future to see what the future financial needs of the business will be
- He/She should negotiate funding facilities to ensure the business can manage its cash flow needs
- The FD should be able to foresee the future tax consequences and risks of decisions
- He/She should help the business to achieve the best possible credit scores
- Identify ways to reduce costs and improve profitability
- Understand the business owners objective and focus the business on achieving those objectives
- Ensure financial and regulatory compliance
- Ensure accurate and timely reporting of management information
- Evaluate growth opportunities
- Apply corporate governance
steve@bicknells.net
Business Accountant 