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Limited Liability Partnerships
Limited Liability Partnerships came under closer scrutiny in the Budget 2013. The aim is to target LLPs which use the structure to hide the employment relationship of the partners and those with Corporate partners who divert business profits to the corporate partners in order to avoid tax.
Although the following measures come in to play from 6th April this year, the anti-avoidance measures make it effective from 5th December 2013. This is to prevent partnerships changing their arrangements in order to avoid the new rules.
The two main areas of focus are salaried or fixed profit share partners which is referred to as disguised employment, and profit and loss sharing arrangements within mixed partnerships.
LLP partners with fixed profit share
HMRC believe that many members of an LLP should be taxed as employees, because they don’t see them is true partners.
A new test has been brought in which has three conditions. Where the member tested meets all three conditions then he or she must be treated as an employed salaried member and be brought within the PAYE system with tax and class I NIC applied to any earnings, which had previously been Taxed as profit share.
This also means that if a vehicle is provided for the members use by the partnership this will be taxed as a benefit in kind. As such the member will have to pay tax and NIC and the LLP will have to pay Class 1a NIC on the benefit.
HMRC does actually accept that employment tax rules are imposed on the individual but that in fact the individual has no employment rights. This is because he is not actually an employee for employment law purposes.
The test is as follows. The provision is triggered when all conditions A to C are met:
Condition A: The Member is performing services for the LLP in his capacity as a member of the partnership and it’s reasonable to expect as a result of these arrangements that any amounts paid to him in respect of his services will be wholly or substantially wholly a disguised salary. In other words if his reward package is comparable to that received by an employee, either a fixed salary or a variable bonus based on performance rather than profit share.
Condition B: The Member doesn’t have significant influence over the affairs of the partnership.
Condition C: The Member’s capital contribution to the LLP is less than 25% of the total amount of his disguised salary which would be expected to be paid in the relevant tax year by the LLP in respect of the members performance of services as a member. Normally the relevant time would be the beginning of the new tax year.
These tests must be reviewed each tax year.
Corporate LLP Members
This applies to partnerships who have members which are not subject to UK income tax for example this might be a limited company. The problem here is that HMRC believes these structures are used to avoid tax on a very large scale. Where for example an individual member introduces his Ltd company as a corporate member, and which then receives a profit share that would otherwise have been paid to the individual member. If the Member then has the power to enjoy the fund which had been paid to his company then:
- The individual member will be treated as a salaried member.
- The amount paid to the company will be treated as employment income paid to the individual member.
There are anti-avoidance rules are in place to catch anyone trying to put measures in place to counteract these new rules.
fiona@grant-jonesaccountancy.com
Not all accounting is the same
Management accounting combines accounting, finance and management with the leading edge techniques needed to drive successful businesses.
In addition to strong accounting fundamentals, CIMA teaches strategic business and management skills:
- Analysis – understanding the story behind the numbers and using it to make business decisions
- Strategy – using the insight from analysis to help formulate business strategy to create wealth and shareholder value.
- Risk – applying analytical skills to look at end-to-end business processes to identify and manage risk.
- Planning – using accounting techniques to plan and budget.
- Communication – knowing what information management needs and explaining the numbers to non-financial managers.
You can trust CIMA members
CIMA members and students are required to comply with the CIMA code of ethics and to adopt the fundamental principles to their working lives. CIMA members are at the heart of business as its conscience, adding judgment, independence and objectivity to their professional qualification.
Every year, CIMA audits its members to ensure they uphold these ethics and will take action if members have been less than true to them.
Not all accountants are the same!
Watch this video to see how we are different…
steve@bicknells.net
Why start ups need a CIMA Non Exec
Before you have even started trading, getting advice from an CIMA accountant can be critical here are some key areas where advice can really help:
- Creating the Business Model and Business Plan
- Obtaining Loans, Finance and Investment
- Business Structure, Shares and Shareholder Agreements
- Choosing Accounting and Business Software and Systems
- Creating a Cash Flow Forecast
- Understanding your legal duties
Then when you start trading……
- Tax Compliance – PAYE, NI, VAT, Corporation Tax
- Pensions – Auto Enrolment
- Managing relationships with Banks and Investors
- Budgeting and Forecasting
- Product Pricing and Tendering
Once the business has become established……
- Growth Strategies
- Funding Growth
- Research and Development
- Decisions on whether to buy or rent new equipments and premises
- Managing the Cash Cycle
CIMA Accountants have worked in business, they understand from the inside what running a business is really like and how to make a business successful.
You can also get some useful tips from HMRC http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup/
steve@bicknells.net
Do you wish your accountant had an App?
According to a report by Distimo, an app market data and analytics company, there are now over 700,000 different applications available across both the Apple and Google platforms, and with the total market estimated to be worth around $22 billion we can safely assume that it’s a pretty huge market. It appears to be growing pretty quickly too, with the increasing adoption of tablets over traditional PCs, more and more users are getting their applications from app stores rather than traditional retailers.
http://www.androidauthority.com/apple-app-store-vs-google-play-distimo-141851/
SME’s everywhere are seeing the advantages……
But as with websites you need to give your clients a reason to keep coming back and using the App.
There are some pretty good Apps out there to help you with your record keeping and we blogged about them https://cimaaccountant.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/expenses-theres-an-app-for-that/
So does your accountant have an App?
Less than 2% of Accountants have one!!!!!
In a recent AccountingWEB survey on average survey respondents said more than 80% of their customers use a smartphones or a tablet and almost
all expect this number to increase over the next 12 months.
What does your accountants App do? is it just tax tables and contact details?
Should they have an App which contains services, directions, calculators, dates which you can download to your diary….
Are Apps a waste of time?
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
‘Bean counter’ view of accountants is holding back entrepreneurs
Some entrepreneurs and small businesses may be holding themselves back by refusing to share information with their accountants who they sometimes regard as little more than “bean counters”, according to a new study.
There is a tendency for UK businesses, to make decisions without adequate financial information or analysis, there is often poor cash flow management and time and opportunities are being wasted because some owner-managers don’t want anyone else to know their business, it concludes.
The report, funded by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and compiled by Dr Michael Lucas of the Open University along with Professor Malcolm Prowle and Glynn Lowth, from Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University urges accountants to improve their image by refuting bean counter accusations and promoting themselves in business partnering roles.
“Given the importance of financial issues and the increasing need for enterprises to operate economically, efficiently, effectively, efficaciously and ethically, management accounting has potentially a crucial role to play in improving the quality of planning, control and decision-making,” says the CIMA report called Management Accounting Practices of UK SME’s.
The authors also call for further research into the way small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reach critical decisions and into the psychological profile of executives, particularly owner managers.
Dr Lucas said: “While most business owners are good at using accounting services for monitoring cash flow and costs they do not always appreciate that management accountants can add a great deal to decision making in the management of the business. Accountants were sometimes regarded as little more than bean counters, rather than potentially having a business partnering role where they can advise and improve efficiency
“Some entrepreneurs, in particular, are reluctant to employ management accountants, expressing a desire to maintain control and have exclusive access to information they consider sensitive.This could lead to higher costs in terms of management time which is turn can put constraints in time spend in growing the business.”
The report says its exploratory findings give important insights which should inform the development of further large-scale survey research into whether accounting tools were used and, if not, why not.
These tools include: Product costing; budgets for planning and control; standard costing variance analysis; cost-volume-profit analysis; responsibility centres; capital expenditure appraisal techniques; working capital measures; and strategic management accounting.
Dr Lucas is Senior Lecturer in Accounting at the Open University Business School, Professor Prowle is professor of business performance at Nottingham Business School and Mr Lowth, who is a former President of CIMA, is a visiting fellow at the Nottingham business school.
Deadline to register for self assessment tax return is 5th October
You may never have worried about filling in a tax return before now. Unfortunately you could be in for a shock and a penalty if you fail to register a new source of income for the tax year ending April 2013. You have until October 5th to register any change in circumstances with HMRC. This is particularly likely to affect those employees with earnings over £50,000 still claiming child benefit.
So who needs to complete a tax return?
You need to complete a self assessment tax return if any of the following apply:
- You are self-employed
- You are a company director, unless it is a non-profit organisation and you don’t receive payments or benefits
- You are a Minister of Religion of any faith
- You are a Lloyds Name/Member
- You have annual income over £100,000
- You are an employee/pensioner but have other taxable income
- You are over £10,000 taxed income from savings/investments.
- You have over £2,500 of untaxed savings/investments.
- You have over £10,000 of property income before expenses or £2,500 property income after expenses
- You earn over £50,000 and are still claiming child benefit.
A phone call to the HMRC self assessment helpline on 0300 200 3310 will enable you to beat the deadline and register for a tax return for your income source. But allow yourself plenty of time for the call. My phone call this morning to register for a tax return took 25 minutes to be connected to an HM Revenue & Customs Officer.
Helen Alexander ACMA
helen@millbrookfm.co.uk
4 Things a charity needs to know about annual reporting
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Charities survive on their reputation.
Whether your charity is funded from voluntary donations, grant funding or commercial activities it is important that all funders can look up key information to check your organisation is working effectively. The annual reporting is time-consuming and potentially costly, but it is possible to restructure a charity to save on administrative costs.
1 – Charities must report to their regulator
Charities in England & Wales with an annual income of over £10,000 must report to the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Charities in Scotland must report to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland has recently been set up for the regulation of charities in Northern Ireland.
2 – Cross border charities must report multiple times
Under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the 2005 Act), bodies which represent themselves as charities in Scotland are required to register with OSCR. This requirement includes bodies which are established and/or registered as charities in other legal jurisdictions, such as England and Wales.
3 – Not all charities require an audit
Historically, the term ‘audit’ has been used loosely to describe any independent scrutiny of accounts. However, under the Charity Regulations if the term ‘audit’ is used in a charity’s constitution or governing document the charity must have its accounts audited by a registered auditor.
Charity Trustees may consider that the benefits of having an audit are outweighed by the costs. Trustees may wish to review their constitution and either:
- retain the term audit in their constitution or
- amend the constitution to require an independent examination of the accounts
Any change to the constitution must be carried out in accordance with the terms of the constitution and following professional advice. Notification of any change must also be sent to the charity’s regulator.
If an audit is not required by your members or governing document, an independent examination can be much more cost-effective than a full external audit and can be carried out by wider range of accountants and financial professionals including a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
4 – Your current legal form may not be the best for you
Many charities have been set up with archaic governing documents and may be a Trust or Limited Company or other type of body, which is no longer suited to them. Trustees of Trusts and Unincorporated Associations are personally liable for the actions of a charity and expose themselves to a greater risk that Trustees of a Limited Company. Trustees of a Limited Company are required to report to Companies House as well as their charity regulator, increasing the administrative cost of the organisation.
A new legal form has been developed to allow charities to incorporate and report to just one body. Any Charitable Incorporated Organisation in England & Wales or Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation in Scotland is recognised as a corporate body which is a legal entity having, on the whole, the same status as a natural person.
This means it has many of the same rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities and liabilities that an individual would have under the law. As a legal entity, the CIO / SCIO may enter into the same type of transactions as a natural person, such as entering into contracts, employing staff, incurring debts, owning property, suing and being sued. As the transactions of the CIO / SCIO are undertaken by it directly, rather than by its charity trustees on its behalf, the charity trustees are in general protected from incurring personal liability in the same way company directors of a Limited Company.
In England and Wales you can:
- apply to register a completely new organisation as a CIO
- set up a CIO to replace an existing unincorporated association or trust
(You can’t currently convert a charitable company to a CIO)
In Scotland you can:
- apply to register a completely new organisation as a SCIO
- convert existing charitable companies, charitable industrial and provident societies and charities of any other legal form to a SCIO
For more information on an accountancy firm who can provide the statutory reporting, and also support you in the running of your charity please contact a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants using the link to The Team above.
Useful links
| Charity Commission: | http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/ |
| OSCR: | http://www.oscr.org.uk/ |
| Charity Commission NI: | http://www.charitycommissionni.org.uk/ |
Business Accountant 