 Easy Guide to COVID-19 support for businesses - via Tax Affinity Accountants To help make it easy to quickly identify what possible government support your business is eligible during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic in the UK then have a quick look at the helpful chart above. Most businesses are eligible for some sort of support and we recommend they get in touch with us as soon as possible if they need help. If you need help with your applications for government grants, loans and allowances as described above then as authorised HMRC agents and expert tax accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are available to support your business at this critical time. Urgently contact us by clicking here and we will use our expertise to support your business through this difficult time. 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.
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 The UK Government and the Chancellor have set out a package of temporary measures to support public services, people and businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19.
This includes actions to support businesses including:
If you need help with your applications for government grants, loans and allowances as described above then as authorised HMRC agents and expert tax accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are available to support your business at this critical time. Urgently contact us by clicking here and we will use our expertise to support your business through this difficult time. Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers are able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. Eligibility All UK businesses are eligible. How to access the scheme You will need to:
If your business needs short term cash flow support, you may be eligible for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan. Support for businesses through deferring VAT and Income Tax payments Government will support businesses by deferring Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments for 3 months. If you’re self-employed, Income Tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021. VATFor VAT, the deferral will apply from 20 March 2020 until 30 June 2020. Eligibility All UK businesses are eligible. How to access the scheme This is an automatic offer with no applications required. Businesses will not need to make a VAT payment during this period. Taxpayers will be given until the end of the 2020 to 2021 tax year to pay any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period. VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal. Income Tax For Income Tax Self-Assessment, payments due on the 31 July 2020 will be deferred until the 31 January 2021. Eligibility If you are self-employed you are eligible. How to access the scheme This is an automatic offer with no applications required. No penalties or interest for late payment will be charged in the deferral period. HMRC have also scaled up their Time to Pay offer to all firms and individuals who are in temporary financial distress as a result of Covid-19 and have outstanding tax liabilities. Support for businesses who are paying sick pay to employees Goverment will bring forward legislation to allow small-and medium-sized businesses and employers to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19. The eligibility criteria for the scheme will be as follows:
You are eligible for the scheme if:
A rebate scheme is being developed. Further details will be provided in due course once the legalisation has passed. Government websites will contain more details. Support for businesses that pay business ratesBusiness rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses Goverment will introduce a business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England for the 2020 to 2021 tax year. Businesses that received the retail discount in the 2019 to 2020 tax year will be rebilled by their local authority as soon as possible. Eligibility You are eligible for the business rates holiday if:
There is no action for you. This will apply to your next council tax bill in April 2020. However, local authorities may have to reissue your bill automatically to exclude the business rate charge. They will do this as soon as possible. You can estimate the business rate charge you will no longer have to pay this year using the business rates calculator. Further guidance for local authorities is available in the expanded retail discount guidance. Cash grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businessesThe Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme provides businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property. For businesses in these sectors with a rateable value of under £15,000, they will receive a grant of £10,000. For businesses in these sectors with a rateable value of between £15,001 and £51,000, they will receive a grant of £25,000. Eligibility You are eligible for the grant if:
You do not need to do anything. Your local authority will write to you if you are eligible for this grant. Guidance for local authorities on the scheme will be provided shortly. Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, the reliefs and grants should be directed to the relevant local authority. Find your local authority on Google. Support for businesses that pay little or no business ratesThe government will provide additional Small Business Grant Scheme funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBBR), rural rate relief (RRR) and tapered releif. This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to eligible businesses to help meet their ongoing business costs. Eligibility You are eligible if:
Guidance for local authorities on the scheme will be provided shortly. Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, the reliefs and grants should be directed to the relevant local authority. Find your local authority on Google. Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan SchemeA new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, will launch early next week to support primarily small and medium-sized businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts. The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value. Businesses can access the first 12 months of that finance interest free, as government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments. Eligibility You are eligible for the scheme if:
You should talk to your bank or finance provider (not the British Business Bank) as soon as possible and discuss your business plan with them. This will help your finance provider to act quickly once the Scheme has launched. If you have an existing loan with monthly repayments you may want to ask for a repayment holiday to help with cash flow. The scheme will be available from early next week commencing 23 March. Support for larger firms through the COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility Under the new Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility, the Bank of England will buy short term debt from larger companies. This will support your company if it has been affected by a short-term funding squeeze, and allow you to finance your short-term liabilities. It will also support corporate finance markets overall and ease the supply of credit to all firms. Eligibility All UK businesses are eligible. How to access the schemeThe scheme will be available early in week beginning 23 March 2020. The Government will provide information on how to access the scheme soon - keep an eye on their website updates. More information is available from the Bank of England website. Support for businesses paying tax: Time to Pay serviceAll businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time To Pay service. These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities. Eligibility You are eligible if your business:
If you’re worried about a future payment, call HMRC nearer the time. Insurance Businesses that have cover for both pandemics and government-ordered closure should be covered, as the government and insurance industry confirmed on 17 March 2020 that advice to avoid pubs, theatres etc is sufficient to make a claim as long as all other terms and conditions are met. Insurance policies differ significantly, so businesses are encouraged to check the terms and conditions of their specific policy and contact their providers. Most businesses are unlikely to be covered, as standard business interruption insurance policies are dependent on damage to property and will exclude pandemics. If you need help with your applications for government grants, loans and allowances as described above then as authorised HMRC agents and expert tax accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are available to support your business at this critical time. Urgently contact us by clicking here and we will use our expertise to support your business through this difficult time. 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.  Tax Affinity Accountants have several branches in London The spread of (Covid-19) Coronavirus from Mainland China throughout the world is having massive effects upon small and medium sized businesses. A lot of small business owners are so busy with running their busy everyday that they have not had time to try to figure out a plan to safeguard their employees, customers and profit lines.
The British economy is reliant upon finance, tourism and to a lesser extent manufacturing. Data presented earlier this month showed British economic growth slowed to a stand still at the end of 2019. Supply chains from China have dropped off and many travel operators are slowing down or closing services. This means limited supply and increases in costs. And because small to medium sized (SME) businesses often do not have the cash flow and financial resources to absorb sudden increases in costs this can mean a serious problem, not to mention the health and well being of their staff. Unlike the press, we don’t just present the problem but provide an answer - So here is what SME business owners need do to manage the coronavirus problem:
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.  Our branches on the High Street We can help you register for an EORI number to continue to trade in EU
''With no-deal Brexit looking more of a reality than ever before, this chaotic no-deal Brexit would put Medium size traders and our small traders to be the first ones off the cliff'' said Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of small business. As the government accelerates its preparations to leave the EU, it’s also important businesses are prepared for this big transition for the UK. It will be compulsory for a business to sign up for an EORI number and be registered for VAT in order to import and export within Europe. Tax affinity has over 14 years of experience, senior accountants will be able to apply for the EORI number as well as offer your business personalised and tailored advice best suited for your business’s future growth with no-deal Brexit lurking over the UK. Contact us today to see how we can help your business cope with the uncertainity of Brexit. By Ismaeel Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Espom they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting contractors and 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.  With more and more people each year passing assets and money to friends and family, its important to know that passing on items with monetary value in the wrong way can incur higher taxes if not done the most tax efficient way.
The individual circumstances for each person are unique and as such you should always seek expert tax advice from an expert like Tax Affinity Accountants - considered one of the Industry leader's with regards to their tax and accounting knowledge and experience. However we have also listed the basic rules below as a guide:
By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Surbiton , Worcester Park , Kingston upon Thames , Cheam and Epsom 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 and support. 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.  Each year we receive thousands of pounds of HMRC refunds for CIS contractors that had tax deducted at source. And as the tax year 17/18 (ie year ended 5/4/18) comes to an end a claim for a CIS refund can be put it as early as 6/4/18.
With a 6 to 8 week turnaround by HMRC to check and pay out the refund its worth getting your CIS tax return done as early as possible to ensure a quick refund. HMRC will not remind you of a refund balance due, and will cancel the tax payers ability to claim it back after 5 years have lapsed from the end of the tax year it was applicable in. So there is a limited amount of time to claim the CIS refund and if left to long HMRC will not refund it. If you want help with your CIS tax return for year ended 5/4/2018 then please get it touch as soon as you can. With our tax expertise and specilist tax software that connect directly to HMRC we can calculate and submit the best return for you ensuring the highest refund that can be correctly claimed. By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Surbiton , Worcester Park , Kingston upon Thames , Cheam and Epsom 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 and support. 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.  Sometimes some a tax payer will have their tax return amended by HMRC after it was submitted. This is a normal thing and nothing to worry about. As it means that HMRC are checking to make sure the information on the tax return matches with the information they hold from other sources e.g. PAYE, CIS etc.
An example is if your tax return did not mention a former employer in the tax year and HMRC records show there was a former employer and some income and tax paid at that employer may affect the bottom final tax figure. This means there could be a difference in the final amount of tax due or refund due from HMRC to you. Sometimes this is not even your fault as you may have handed the new employer your P45 from the previous employer and the new employer should have start your PAYE using the P45 income and tax figures and carry forward from there, but for a number of reasons the new employer could not do this and therefore the tax code is set on a default standard code meaning you have received 2 lots of tax free allowance in a year. When this happens towards the end of the tax year (April) HMRC cannot send a notice to amend the tax code to the employer in time to adjust the over / under paid tax. So, they wait instead for the information to be included in the tax return to automatically update with the full info for the year. Therefore it's not a problem but a normal procedure by HMRC to ensure a tax payer is correctly aligned with their records held and their tax paid is correct. Unfortunately for a tax payer, sometimes this means handing back some of a tax refund as paid by HMRC previously or having a higher tax bill at the end of the tax year. By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Surbiton , Worcester Park , Kingston upon Thames , Cheam and Epsom 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 and support. 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.  All Personal Tax returns (self assessments) have to sent to HMRC by 31.1.18 and anytime after that will incur an automatic penalty of £100, which can rise up to £1300 the longer it remains outstanding. This is even if you had no tax due, as its a penalty for late submission not late payment of tax. Late payment of tax can incur more fines and interest upon the amount calculated at a daily rate.
Below is a list to help explain the fines process:
Also penalties can be issued for incorrect tax returns:
Therefore it makes sense that everyone should seek the help and support of an experienced and qualified accountant or tax advisor. As a reputable firm of accountants, such as Tax Affinity Accountants, will usually save you far more money in saved taxes through their skill and knowledge than they will ever charge. Leaving you more time and money to concentrate on your business, especially in these difficult economic times. By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Surbiton , Worcester Park , Kingston upon Thames , Cheam and Epsom 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 and support. 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.  At Tax Affinity Accountants, we often get asked what are the differences and benefits of working through a limited company compared to an umbrella company. So we have decided to explain this in a quick easy way.
An umbrella company is like an agency with whom you are employed and therefore they are your employer and not the place where you work. They will issue you with payslips and P60, P11d and a P45 at the end of your employment. They should also pay you for any sick or maternity pay as may be required. Umbrella companies will charge you for using their services and will deduct their fees from your pay. They will also ask to be refunded their employer NIC contributions paid to HMRC on your behalf again deducting this from your pay. The income tax tends to be higher than being straight forward employed on PAYE. You do not need to worry about paperwork and record keeping as the umbrella company does all this like an employer would. A limited company is a separate legal entity to you. That you may well own as a shareholder and run as a director. A limited company can be your employer and pay you wages via PAYE like a normal employer but be contracting out your services to the place you work. And if you are the shareholder it can pay you dividends (share of the profits) periodically or on a regular basis. A limited company pays corporation tax not income tax and the tax rate is much lower than normal PAYE or via an umbrella company. There is a certain amount of paperwork and record keeping which is required and normally you will require the services of a good accountant. It is also very difficult to try to pay yourself sick or maternity pay, which is why most people do not claim these. But the plus side is as your keeping more income then this should more than make up for any loss of benefit or time spent keeping records. Tax wise it is usually much better option to be working though a limited company compared to an umbrella company as a good accountant, like Tax Affinity Accountants, should help you save much more in tax than fees they ever charge. Helping to ensure more of your hard earned income stays in your hands. 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 contractors and 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. |
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