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UK inflation rose by 13.4% in some areas

4/19/2022

Tax Affinity have many high street branches

The government's records for the past 12 months to March 2022 showed that consumer prices have risen as much as 13.4% in some sectors. This is much higher than the 9% reported a few weeks ago. It is therefore prudent to assume when bad news is highlighted by the government or a corporate entity it will most likely be understated.

Now that the ONS has issued more accurate figures its important medium to small sized businesses know the exact figures when it comes to costs to make sure they can budget correctly and choose to either absorb or pass on costs. So the business owner can safely steer the business through a recession or downturn.

A quick list of UK inflation figures is below and it is advised that business owners plan and manage these as soon as possible:

Transport: 13.4%
Furniture, household equipment and maintenance: 10.3%
Clothing and footwear: 9.8%
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels: 7.7%
Restaurants and hotels: 6.9%
Food and non-alcoholic beverages: 5.9%
Recreation and culture: 4.9%
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco: 4.8%
Education: 4.5%
Health: 2.5%
Miscellaneous goods and services: 1.9%
Communication: 0.7%

Tax Affinity Accountants are rated as the number one business advisors for medium to small businesses. So if your a business owner who is effected by the inflation rises and need expert guidance and support then get in touch today and we will be happy to help you plan a strategy to steer your busines to growth and success.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

Spring statement main points for businesses, employed and self employed

3/25/2022

Expert Tax Accountants with high street branches

On the 23rd March 2022 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the UK goverments mini budget. With a long speech and pages and pages of information. We did the hard work and went through the whole report to get to the bare facts and save our clients time and sanity. Listing the important and relevant points below:

From the 6th July 2022 (6/7/22 to 5/4/23) the threshold at which National Insurance payments start will rise to £12,570 from £9,568 (in 21/22 tax year). Importantly it means the NI threshold will not rise from 6th April 2022 but 4 months later, so higher NI will still be payable from 6/4/22 to 5/7/22.
Employers National Insurance threshold will rise from £4000 to £5000 from 6th April 2022 onwards.
Temporary tax cut by 5p per litre, for both petrol and diesel vehicles, starting from 6pm on 23 March 2022 to 22 March 2023 (12 months).
Drop to zero VAT (from 5%) on energy-saving equipment including solar panels, heat pumps and insulation as energy bills surge. This will last for up to 5 years. Does not mention about fitting labour costs which may still have 20% VAT applied.
Promise to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19% from April 2024.
Temporary £1 Million Annual Investment Allowance is extended to 31st March 2023. Which allows businesses to deduct qualifying plant and machinery (not cars) in one against taxable profit go up to a limit of £200k.
Help to Grow: Digital; offering eligible SME's a 50% discount on approved software worth maximum of £5000 per business.

If you or your business is affected by these changes and you want help and support contact us today.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

how to avoid costly mistakes on your self assessment tax return

3/4/2022

Tax Affinity have many high street branches

HMRC relishes the idea that tax payers will make errors in their tax returns and then they will pay higher taxes or be fines for making errors. The number of errors by members of the public doing their own self assessments has been rising steeply in the last few years and HMRC has been raking in fines for errors. So its very important to try to ensure you make none.

Why? - Well simply mistakes on your tax returns could cost you a lot of hard earned money.
Solution? - Avoid HMRC penalties and charges by making sure you don’t commit these mistakes during tax return time by getting an expert like Tax Affinity Accountants (one the most highly recommended accountants in the UK) to do calculate and submit the return for you and sleep easy at night knowing you paid the least tax and everything was correct according to HMRC rules.

Key things to keep in double check:

Numbers / digits errors. Whether it’s a National Insurance or Unique Tax Reference (UTR) number for income, incorrect numbers on any form could cost you. Be mindful when entering bank account information when opting for refund. The last thing you want is for someone else to receive your refunds. You should double check all numbers entered on your tax returns.
Maths errors. Many taxpayers use pen an paper to work out numbers for submission. Even if you use a software package, it will still not catch errors for incorrect data entry. You should double check your numbers and then double check your calculations each time.
Not declaring all the earned income. You must, must report all earned income on your tax return. When HMRC find out that you did not report everything, you could owe interest and penalties in addition to the tax owed on that income. UK banks these days can report income to HMRC without the account holders knowledge.
Not staying up to date with your tax code. Check the latest changes to your tax code before filing your own tax return. New laws affect many taxpayers and they are constantly changing.
Filing an incorrect status. With many different filing status options available, the most accurate one for a taxpayer’s situation may not be easy to use. Each filing status could have an impact on the tax liability due to HMRC.
Mismatched names. This is a common mistake for newlyweds, typically when the wife takes a new last name and has not notified the NI department. Same issue may pop up for same sex marriages. The opposite applies also for divorcees who need to have a name change notified . If your name does not match the name and NI number and HMRC has on file, the tax return could be rejected or a tax refund could be delayed.
Declaring multiple country taxes. Don’t forget that income earned in another country must be reported. If you reside in one state and work in another, a non-resident tax return must be filed in the country in which you work. Only the money earned in that country needs to be reported. However, if you fail to declare this, you could face interest and penalties, in addition to the taxes owed.
Falling for tax schemes. One of the biggest concerns for the HMRC is tax fraud and identity theft. Taxpayers have lost thousands of pounds because criminals tricked them into believing they owed HMRC. HMRC will never send an unsolicited email or contact you through social media. HMRC does not ask for personal or financial information. If you believe you may be at risk for identity theft, you should contact the HMRC immediately along with your banks etc.
Missing deductions or credits. While penalties and fees mentioned above could cost you, missing a deduction or tax break could cost you by lowering a refund or increasing taxes.
Forgoting to sign and date the forms. It is an all-too-common mistake to forget to sign and date. While this may not cost you money, it will cause a delay in receiving any anticipated tax refund. Especially for those who owe HMRC and wait until the very last minute to file, forgetting to sign and date could cost you a late fee and penalty when HMRC sends it back for signature and the deadline has passed.

A good tax accountant should save you much more in tax than what he/she charges. And having a Tax Affinity accountant calculate your personal and business tax situation will lead to zero mistakes on your return and a lower tax bill first time every time. Fill out our contact us page to find an office near you and we will be happy to help you sleep easier at night.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

few working days left to self assessment deadline on 31st jan 2022

1/12/2022

There are only a few working days are left until (UK) HMRC's self assessment (tax return) deadline. And with many people receiving furlough, SEISS type covid grants and Covid Support from Local Council's which all need to be declared it only add to the complication.

Many tax payers are finding their tax bills are higher this year than last year and are turning to expert tax accountants at Tax Affinity to help them. Doing it yourself or with someone with a basic knowledge of the ever changing tax rules is likely to end up costing you much more than the fees an expert tax accountant would ever cost. It just makes economic sense.

So if you have not had your 2020/21 (6.4.20 to 5.4.21) tax return completed then you urgently get in touch today as the number of working days are fast decreasing and before you know it the time will be gone and you may end up facing a fine by HMRC for missing the deadline.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for small and medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting limited company owners and self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

Last year over 30,000 people filed their tax returns between christmas eve and boxing day

12/19/2021

Tax Affinity Accountants have branches local to you

Did you know last year more than 30,000 people in the UK did their tax return between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day?

As of writing this, there are only 20 working days left until HMRC's self assessment deadline of 31st Jan 2022. Each year millions of people leave their tax return (self assessment) to the last minute and then stress out if they declared the info correctly and if the tax due is correct.

Statistically the number one worry tends to be if their submission may trigger an HMRC investigation into their tax affairs... death and taxes being the fear we suppose.

Plus in the last tax year due to Covid 19 and lockdown's there were many other sources of income e.g. council support grants, SEISS (self employed grants), furlough, bounce back loans, universal credit, tax credits etc. Making tax returns more complicated and resulting with higher taxes due for most tax payers.

If your worried we recommend you get in touch with one of our tax experts. Because we have seen a lot more investigations this year than previous years as HMRC starts it claw back to try to shore up the UK government income and focuses even more on tax avoidance and incorrect information.

So if you have not had your 2020/21 (6.4.20 to 5.4.21) tax return (self assessment) completed then you urgently need to get in touch today as the number of working days are fast decreasing and before you know it the time will be gone and you may end up facing badly caclulated tax return paying more tax than you need to or worse a fine by HMRC for missing the deadline.

Contact us today by clicking this link or calling us on the number above. And share this page with your friends and family.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for small and medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting limited company owners and self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

Autumn budget 2021 key points for business

11/5/2021

We love a list that gets right to the point. So here is our key points for businesses in the UK from the Chancellor's autumn budget 2021:

1) Dividends: rise of 1.25% tax after nil band from 7.5% to 8.75% and higher rate band up from 32.5% to 33.75% from April 2022

2) Capital gains tax (CGT): with immediate deadline to report & pay after selling a UK residential property has increased from 30days to 60days after completion date. Giving landlords more time

3) Corporation tax: will rise from 19 % to 25 % from April 23. Businesses with profits less than £50k will get a small profit rate which is still 19%. For profits above £50,000 there is a tapered rate with bands & %’s going up to the 25% rate.

4) National insurance: Increase 1.25% national insurance contribution for all (employees, employers & self-employed) from April 2022.

5) National living wage: increase from £8.91 to £9.50 p/hr.

6) R&D tax relief: to be expanded to cover cloud computing & data costs now also as well.

7) Business rates : Rates revaluation cycle changed from 5 years to 3 years from 2023. New Improvement Relief, for businesses to improve/extend property, meaning they won’t pay additional business rates in 12 months after improvements. Plus a 50% business rates discount from April 2022 (to max £110k) for 1 year for retail, hospitality & leisure.

8) Annual investment allowance (AIA): £1m Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) extended to March 2023.

If your business is effected by these changes and you want help and support contact us today

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

30th sept deadline for last seiss grant and update on options your bank may not be telling you about bounce back loans

9/29/2021

Tax Affinity Accountants have many branches

The 5th SEISS grant

As the UK returns to normal after the Covid 19 pandemic, all government support for sole traders, self employed and small and medium sized business is winding down. Meanwhile HMRC is increasing efforts to maximise tax revenues. In some cases going back several years to find any unpaid taxes and add on interest and fines to the amounts. It use to be the anything under £50 HMRC wouldnt bother to chase but now every pound matters.

The deadline for the 5th SEISS (self employed / self assessment) grant is 30th Sept 2021 only a few days away.

The 5th SEISS grant is different from the previous ones as there are two levels available and the claimant needs to declare how trade as been negatively effected (reduced activity / capacity / demand) between 1st May 2021 to 30th Sept 2021. And requires that the 19/20 and 20/21 self assessments (personal tax returns) be completed.

There is also a relevant basis period applicable and a financial impact declaration (FID). This has caused a lot of members of the public confusion and worry on how to claim for this correctly and not make an incorrect that can be picked up by HMRC and asked to be paid back.

So we at Tax Affinity Accountants are here to help and support everyone who needs help with this regard. We can help complete the paperwork and documentation required to claim the 5th grant without the hassle and time spent trying to work out and worrying if you have declared everything correctly. Contact us via our online form here.

Bounce Back Loans

We have also noticed that a lot of banks are not telling customers clearly about their options (ensured by the goverment) when it comes time to start making repayments for the bounce back loan. In short you have 3 options before having to make repayments in full when your business and you may not be able to afford to.

Changing from a 6 year repayment plan to a 10 year repayment plan. This will drop the monthly amount to pay and with the small interest fee doesn't add much on top of the total amount due considering the extra 4 years time given.
You can have at least a 6 month repayment holiday and hold off the payments in full.
You can make interest only repayments for at least 6 months. In otherwords the repayments will be very low and only the interest payable for 6 months and no capital or repayment amount for the original loan.

So be careful to ensure you and your business can afford to pay the BBL back before paying back your bank. And if you plan wisely and your bank allows you could use all of the options in turn.

Our company vision is to improve the financial life of every person in the world we are here to help anyone who needs help in these or any other matters. Feel free to Contact Us via our online form.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

5th self employed covid grant

8/15/2021

The 5th and final (so far advised) grant from the government for self employed people impacted by Covid 19 (coronavirus) is now open and available to claim.

The 5th grant is different from the previous four as there are two levels available and the claimant needs to declare how trade as been negatively effected (reduced activity / capacity / demand) between 1st May 2021 to 30th Sept 2021. And requires that the 19/20 and 20/21 self assessments (personal tax returns) be filed.

There is also a relevant basis period applicable and a financial impact declaration (FID). This has caused a lot of members of the public confusion and worry on how to claim for this correctly and not make an incorrect that can be picked up by HMRC and asked to be paid back.

So we at Tax Affinity Accountants are here to help and support everyone who needs help with this regard. We can help complete the paperwork and documentation required to claim the 5th grant without the hassle and time spent trying to work out and worrying if you have declared everything correctly. Contact us via our online form here.

And because our company vision is to improve the financial life of every person in the world we are here to help anyone who needs help in this matter. So feel free to Contact Us via our online form.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

4th self employed grant not being claimed by public like before

6/2/2021

Tax Affinity with branches across South London serving the whole UK

We have noticed that a lot of tax payers are missing out on claiming the 4th Self Employed grant and wanted to let everyone know not to miss out.

The Self Employed (SEISS) 4th and 5th grants were announced in March 2021 and are supposed to run to the end of Sept 2021.

The 4th grant (April to June) is the same criteria as the previous ones (up to max £7500 of 80% of profits).

While the 5th grant (July to Sept) will be banded with those who have seen a greater than 30% reduction in income eligible for 80% and those who have seen income fall less than 30% receiving a grant of only 30% (up to max £2,850).

The cut off date for eligibility was 2nd March 2021 so the 19/20 tax return had to be submitted by then. And both will take into account 2019/20 tax returns figures filed. You still need to qualify with over 50% of your income coming from self employment rather than other sources.

Many tax payers are hesitent because they are applying for mortages and remortgages where the lenders are unfairly saying to them they look unfavourably at the grants coming in. And this leads to tax payers being unfairly restricted on eligible grants or many other personal reasons such as divorce or employment.

And because our company vision is to improve the financial life of every person in the world we are here to help anyone who needs help in this matter. So feel free to Contact Us via our online form.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

uk economy rises gdp slightly up in quarter 4 of 2020

5/14/2021

Tax Affinity Accountants have high street branches within easy access

UK GDP rises slightly in Quarter 4 of 2020 showing positive signs of economic growth according to the ONS UK (Office of National Statistics). This is despite a huge drop in GDP since the start of the covid 19 pandemic, cornavirus lockdowns and Brexit.

The ONS reported a rise of 0.97% from 498,000,000 Quarter 3 to 504,000,000 in Quarter 4 after massive 20% drop from 529,000,000 to 426,000,000 in Quarter 1 to Quarter 2 in 2020.

Why is GDP important and why does mainstream media not report it? - Well the short answer is they are journalists not economists so they dont understand it as well as what a certain celebrity is wearing to the oscars etc. And the its easier to focus on nonsense that sells than statistics and fact that fly over the head of most readers. But business owners and directors and CEO's need to know what is happening to be able to plan and steer their businesses successfully through the current turbulent times.

Importantly, quarter 1 2021 figures (ie January to March 2021) are yet to compiled these undoubtedly show a truer picture of the economy in its most recent state especially after Brexit on the 1st of January with their backlogs at the ports and problems with shipping in and out of Europe.

British politicians were quick to report the 0.97% increase (without stating the figures, obviously) and say that their goverment support policies were helping but this hardly cover the 20% drop previosuly and what Quarter 1 GDP 2021 will show. Certainly there was pent up sales demand due to the lockdown and as soon as the lockdown was eased, UK shoppers returned in their droves to high street stores, pubs and gyms. But with the looming end of government furlough support in September 2021 the number of unemployed is likely to jump up again denting GDP towards the middle to end of 2021.

Nonetheless all things considered this is positive sign that the UK may have bypassed a recession and having a complete wash out for 2021 like for 2020.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

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