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:
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.
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Extension to coronavirus Self-Employment Support Scheme from government - SEISS 2nd payment6/21/2020 The Government and the Chancellor have confirmed that self-employed workers whose businesses have been negatively hit by coronavirus (Covid-19) would be able to claim “a second and final grant” in August 2020.
Those eligible can apply for the first grant (which was 80% of average monthly profits up to maximum of £2,500 per month for three months ie £7,500) until 13 July 2020. In the extension, those eligible for the second and final grant (businesses adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020) can make a claim in August 2020 (to be confirmed when it will open). You can make a claim for the second grant even if you didn’t make a claim for the first grant. The second grant will be a taxable grant worth up to 70% of your average monthly trading profits (ie £2250 per month), paid out in a single payment covering a further three months’ worth of net profits, to a maximum of £6,570 in total. Clients are advised if they have not claimed for the first grant to do so by the 13 July 2020. And if they are adversely effected in (June, July and August 2020) then to claim for the second grant also as soon as the scheme is opened by the Chancellor and the Government. By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom 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. Thousands of reminder letters from HMRC have begun to drop on across door steps in the UK. The tax year ended 5/4/17 ie 2016 -2017 self assessment is now due to be completed and the sooner you do it the sooner you can get a refund of income tax or know how much you need to save and pay.
If you already have a personal UTR - unique tax number then the letter may have already arrived or will be on its way. If you do not then you may need to ensure you or your accountant has applied for one to allow for its submission. Who needs to do a tax return? You’ll need to have a personal tax return calculated and submitted if, in the last tax year:
By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice. 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. As of today there are only 7 working days till the 31st January 2017, which is HMRC's online self assessment deadline.
The submission of the personal income tax return and the payment of any tax and NI due for the period 6/4/15 to 5/4/16 is midnight 31/1/17. And anyone who has not yet had their tax return done and paid for should start to worry about the up to £1300 fine plus interest on late paid tax imposed by HMRC for missing the deadline. The self assessment / personal tax return is required from the following types of people: 1. Self Employed (even partially) during the tax year 15/16 ie 6/4/15 to 5/4/16 2. Employed and earning over 100k for the year ended 5/4/16 3. Director or shareholder of a Company and taking dividends in the period as above 4. If you have received rental income in the period 6/4/15 to 5/4/16 5. You received savings and investments income in the period 6/4/15 to 5/4/16 6. You sold something and made a profit on the item, so are required to pay the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) eg selling shares, a property, an antique, Plant and Machinery etc 7. You have received income over £50,000 and you claimed Child Benefit 8. If you have not notified HMRC that you have left self employment and they have not confirmed that you do not need to do a 15/16 return 9. A letter / email / text from HMRC has been received by the tax payer advising them that they need to submit a tax return for the 15/16 year (note: only new registrants may get a reminder as HMRC expects old registrants to already know the deadlines and protocols required). 10. You received income from overseas 11. You lived abroad and had income from the UK 12. You are retired and receive more than one type of pension and annual income payment pushing you over the personal income allowance 13. You have had a P800 from HMRC saying you have not paid enough tax in the year 14. You are minister of religion or and Underwriter 15 Even if a person has died they may still need to submit a tax return to make sure they have paid the correct tax and those that receive an inheritance may need to pay for Inheritance Tax (HMRC will advise further). 16. If you have received a P11d and not paid the correct tax for the benefit in kind eg company car, private medical, gym, travel etc So if you haven't already had your tax return done and still need to send / drop in your income and expenses information, please take heed of this final reminder. Those that have handed in their information we will make sure it is done before the deadline. We can even have your deadline extended in some cases as we are registered authorised agents for HMRC. And if your thinking of using an accountant, note, that not all accountants are the same. We recommend you use an expert in tax so he/she saves you far more in tax than you ever have to pay them for their service. With fines up to £1300 plus interest on the amount of tax due. In some cases penalties are greater than the tax that would have been due. So don't delay as you have no time left and most excuses and appeals are rejected by HMRC after a penalty has been imposed. By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting business throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice. 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. CIS: Sub-contractor Tax in the construction industry The Construction Industry Scheme, CIS, details payments for sub-contractors from contractors. As the name suggests, it is only applicable in the construction industry. When a contractors needs work from a different skills set (like an electrician, plasterer or plumber), the person(s) they ask to complete the work will be a sub-contractor. The rules as to what qualifies as construction are complex and it worth seeking professional advice to ensure you are not over paying tax. If you are a sub-contractor in construction, you need register under CIS and be registered as self-employed. As the contractor gets a sum of money for the work as an entirety, it is the contractor who is responsible for paying the sub-contractor. As it is a service based position, income tax and NI contribution are taken off the wage of the sub-contractor by the contractor and paid to HMRC at a rate of 20% of the total pay. The tax year for any sub-contractor or self-employed persons is 6th April until 5th April the following year. During this time, all gross pay and deductions will be added together to work out a total pay. Then the profit for the sub-contractor will be worked out after deducting cost of materials and then any other business expenses such as training, travel or phone bills from the income. If, at the end of the year, the contractor is below the personal allowance threshold (£9,440 for the year ending 2014, going up to £10,000 for the year ending 2015) they will not have to pay any tax. Therefore any tax paid by contractors to HMRC out of the sub-contractors pay will be refundable. See below example for Mr J Bloggs, a plasterer:
As we can see, the profit for the year is below the personal allowance for the year ending 2014 (£9,440). Therefore, Mr J Bloggs should not have paid any CIS deductions so he is able to reclaim the £2,400 from HMRC at the end of the year. See below example for Mrs J Smith, an electrician, when the profit for the year is above the personal allowance:
In the above example, the profit for the year is above the personal allowance by £5,360. Therefore tax paid should equal 20% of £5,360, which is £1,072. However, we have paid £4,400 from CIS Tax deductions. This means that Mrs J Smith is eligible for a Tax refund of £3,328. The same tax rules apply for sub-contractors and self-employed persons as those in employment meaning when you hit the upper threshold (£41,450 in the year ended 2014 rising to £41,865 for the year ending 2015) you will have to pay 40% tax on that amount. The summary is below, using the 2015 figures:
To try to make the above simpler, we will look at how much tax should be paid by Mrs O McKenzie who had an income (profit) for the year of £55,000:
If all of her income came from sub-contracting, the amount of CIS Tax already paid would be 20% of £55,000 which is £11,000. She is due to pay £11,627 so she would have to pay HMRC an extra £627 to avoid a potential fine in the future for Tax Evasion. This profit figure is very high so most sub-contractors who register under the CIS as self-employed will get a tax refund. It is advisable that if you qualify for this scheme, you do so as it will more often than not result in you getting money back from HMRC at the end of the tax year. There are also National Insurance (NI) contributions that need to be paid. These are more complicated as the amount you pay will vary with the amount of profit you have at the end of the year. There are different classes and different personal allowances depending upon what type status of employment you have and what your level of income is. It is worth seeking a professionals help at this point to ensure you do not make a mistake and pay the wrong amount. If you are still confused, or think that you should get a refund, and want to know what the next step is, get in contact with us here at Tax Affinity. Use any of the contact details on the website and we will gladly assist you on the next stage. By Owen Cain at Tax Affinity Accountants Personal Tax Return Deadline Approaches
Completing a personal tax return can be a stressful, complex task and an unwanted hassle for self assessment taxpayers. At Tax Affinity we provide a simple, price competitive service to alleviate your concerns over personal tax returns. If you currently complete your own tax return then you could certainly benefit from our services to ensure that you don’t overpay on tax. Mistakes on your tax return could cost you a significant amount and it is therefore worth taking advantage of expert advice to make sure you report the correct level of taxable income. We will assess all of your income and expenses information to ensure you minimise your tax liability. If you are already taking advantage of our tax help, please ensure you send us all your income and expenses information (bank statements, invoices and receipts) for the period 6th April 2012- 5th April 2013 as soon as possible. With the busy Christmas and New Year period approaching, it is vital that we receive all this information in the next 3-4 weeks so we can ensure all of our clients’ tax returns are submitted before the deadline. By leaving your tax return right up until the last minute you risk incurring a late filing penalty. Here is a summary of the HMRC penalty charges you may face: Length of Delay - Penalty incurred 1 day late A penalty charge of £100 even if you have no tax liability for the year or have paid the tax you owe 3 months late A penalty charge of £10 per day up to a maximum of 90 days- £900. This is on top of the initial £100 charge. 6 months late £300 or 5% of the tax due (whichever is higher). On top of the penalties listed above 12 months late An additional £300 or 5% of tax due. However, in certain cases the charge may be up to 100% of the tax due or higher. Please avoid any of these penalties by sending us all your information as soon as possible. Feel free to pop into the office or just email us the necessary documents. Rushing a tax return can result in a number of unnecessary errors so please ensure you get on top of the situation in the coming weeks. By Tom Hoadley at Tax Affinity. Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Kingston upon Thames they regularly submit tax returns for their clients peace of mind, providing a great value for money service for people from all walks of life. 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. You should act as soon as possible to avoid tax penalties. As HMRC are becoming increasingly aggressive in enforcing penalties.
The tax return deadline is 31st Jan 2013 and all self employed people can be fined £100 for late submission in the first month then after that a daily charge of £10 on top of all previous fines. Which if can easily become £380 after just 2 months. Or simply £680 if it is 3 months overdue. This rule applies even if there is no tax to pay or the tax they owe has been paid! Uniquely however, this year the taxman has offered taxpayers a small extension of 2 days before imposing penalties. This is because of a strike by its call centre staff which meant HMRC would not be able to handle a similar volume to last year. At Tax Affinity Accountants, we see far too many people each year who loose a huge amount of hard earned money to fines. While we are experts in Tax and can in many cases successfully appeal for discretionary discounts on fines, the fines are not normally completely cancelled by HMRC especially when they have already given a 2 day extension. So we recommend that all local businesses and self employed people make sure to have their tax returns submitted as soon as possible well before the 31st Jan 2013 deadline. At Tax Affinity Accountants we are an authorised HMRC agent and are very experienced in all types of Tax eg Self Assessment, Corporation tax, PAYE, VAT, Personal Tax, Construction Industry Schems (CIS) to name a just a few and would be happy to help local people resolve their tax issues. For more useful information about accounting and tax accounting issues in Kingston upon Thames visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog Tax Affinity Accountants are Companies House Registered and HMRC Authorised Agents |
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