Taxfile:Barristers and Tax

As a barrister you are treated as self employed by HM Revenue and Customs.

Historically barristers computed their professional profits for tax purposes on a “cash basis.”

Fees were brought into account only when received, and expenses only when paid.

From fiscal year 1999/00, it is required that all professionals including most barristers to compute their profits on a “true and fair view.”

Barristers in their first seven years of practice are still allowed to use the cash basis.

In computing their profits for tax purposes, barristers can deduct certain expenses like:

• Travelling costs from Chambers to court;

• Off street parking;

• Library and periodical subscriptions;

• Postage, printing, photocopying and stationary;

• Professional and accountancy fees;

• Devilling fees

• Chambers’ rent;

• Legal literature;

• Professional Indemnity Insurance premiums;

• Subscriptions (Circuit, Bar Council, Bar Associations)

• Bank charges;

• Use of home as an office;

• Robing room fees;

• Law report subscriptions;

• Staff costs;

• Silk application fees;

• Clothing and cleaning.

According to HMRC, "You should allow a deduction in computing profits for the cost of replacing gowns and wigs and frock coats worn by Queen's Counsel. You should not, however, allow a deduction for expenditure on `normal clothes', for example, black coats and pin- stripe trousers worn by male barristers or black dresses and suits worn by female barristers (this follows the decision in Mallalieu v Drummond"

Taxfile's tax agents will ensure you keep the necessary records of your income and expenditure and you make the right adjustments with regards the to private use of your expenditure.

Also, our tax accountants in South London and Exeter will make sure you obtain the maximum available tax deduction when calculating your taxable profits.

Loss Relief with FHL-Before and After

If a taxpayer makes a loss on furnished holiday lettings, he could take advantage of a special relief called Loss Relief.
The way to get this relief is to offset your furnished holiday lettings losses against any other type of income (employment, self employment etc) and so you can immediate take advantage of the relief.
Taxpayers can claim to set their furnished holiday lettings losses against their other general income for either the tax year in which the loss was made or the year before the year the loss arose.Of course another option is to carry the loss forward and offset it against future letting profits. This option is available not only for holiday lets but also for residential ones.

As from 2010-11 tax year , the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules will be repealed. Among the changes to take place from 2010-11 is the one related to the Loss Relief.

As a result of this change no loss relief will be available to offset against other type of income from 2010/2011. Only option is to carry forward the loss and offset it against same type of income when a profit is made as with any normal residential lettings case.

Another important change worth mentioning is the fact that "HMRC will now treat the FHL rules as including furnished holiday accommodation elsewhere in the EEA."

That being said you can amend your already submitted tax returns to HMRC so you can take advantage of the reliefs previously only available for FHL in the UK.

You can amend your income tax and capital gains tax returns for the year ended on 5th April 2007 until the end of July this month.The same deadline applies to corporation tax returns for accounting periods ending on or after 31 December 2006. If you want to amend your return for 07/08 tax year then you need to do it by 31/01/2010.

If there is still confusion in relation to loss relief with FHL or the rules to be repealed from 2010/2011 you can visit HMRC website or ask Taxfile's tax accountants for more details.

Taxfile: Introduction to IR35

IR35 is an Intermediaries legislation which took effect from April 2000.
According to HMRC, the aim of IR35 is "to eliminate the avoidance of tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) through the use of intermediaries, such as Personal Service Companies or partnerships, in circumstances where an individual worker would otherwise -
•For tax purposes, be regarded as an employee of the client; and
•For NICs purposes, be regarded as employed in employed earner’s employment by the client."

Before the introduction of this tax legislation, workers/contractors who owned their own companies were allowed to receive payments from clients direct to the company and then distribute the profits as dividends, which are not subject to National Insurance payments.

The IR35 does not focus on a certain profession or occupation. It mainly targets people working through service companies like medical staff, teachers , legal and accountancy staff, construction industry workers, IT contractors, engineering contractors, clerical workers, etc.

Through this legislation, HMRC is trying to make sure that taxpayers meet their obligations to pay the correct tax and NI: "we [HMRC] have a duty to ensure things are put right for the past and, where appropriate, for the future. Interest and penalties may be charged on any additional tax/NICs due as a result of any review or enquiry."

So Whether you are caught by IR depends on a number of factors. It is a very complex tax area and legal advice is essential in order to protect your interests.

Commercial letting of furnished holiday accommodation and tax

Commercial letting is defined as 'let on a commercial basis and with a view to the realisation of profits'.
Accommodation is furnished if the tenant is entitled to use of sufficient furniture.

It will generally be necessary to calculate the furnished holiday lettings profit or loss separately from the rest of the rental business.

If a letting is to qualify as furnished holiday letting(FHL)a few conditions should be met:
• the property to be in the UK ;
• property has to be furnished;
• property should be available for holiday letting to the public for at least 140 days a year;
• it should be let commercially for 70 days or more, and
• cannot not be occupied for more than 31 days by the same person in any period of 7 months.
The difference between residential lets and holiday lets is that with residential ones you can claim a certain relief called wear and tear as compared to the holiday ones where you can claim capital allowances.

Capital allowances can include the cost of furnishings and furniture, and equipment such as refrigerators and washing machines.

Another important difference between residential and holiday lettings is that with holiday ones you can offset any loss you make in the year against other type of income.
You may also be able to take advantage of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reliefs, such as 'business asset roll-over relief'.
For example, if you reinvest within three years in another UK holiday letting property or certain other assets costing the same as or more than you got for the property you have sold, you may be able to defer payment of CGT until you dispose of those new assets.
To work out your taxable profit you deduct your allowable expenses from your gross rental income. These include:
•Letting agent fees (where applicable)
•Legal and accountant fees
•Buildings and contents insurance
•Interest on mortgage payments
•Maintenance and repair costs (but not improvements)
•Utility bills
•Council Tax
•Cleaning or gardening
•Other costs related to letting the property, such as phone calls, advertising and stationery.
Landlords with income from furnished holiday accommodation in the UK are
currently treated as if they are trading for certain tax purposes, as long as they
satisfy the above criteria.
Landlords with income from furnished holiday accommodation elsewhere in the
European Economic Area (EEA) cannot currently qualify for this treatment. They
were treated instead in the same way as landlords of other types of overseas
property, under the property income rules.
The Government has decided it should repeal the Furnished Holiday Lettings rules from 2010-11.

Next week we are going to talk about these changes in more detail.

If you are still confused about lettings in relation to tax, Taxfile's tax agents in South London and accountants in Exeter are here to assist you.

Deferred tax scheme for loss-making companies

One of the better tax-related things to come out of the Chancellor's recent budget is the potential help some struggling companies may receive from HMRC. Companies who anticipate making a trading loss in the current tax year may be allowed to take the anticipated loss into account earlier than previously possible, when scheduling payments of Corporation Tax or Income Tax. Such businesses will no longer need to wait until the end of their complete accounting period (which is often some considerable time ahead) before they can take probable losses into account for payment of tax. Qualifying businesses may be able to agree extensions to the time in which they can pay with a couple of provisos: firstly that they really are likely to make a trading loss in the current year and secondly that they are genuinely unable to pay straight away or enter into a reasonable instalment agreement with HMRC.

Since launch, more than 110,000 businesses have already agreed deferred tax payment arrangements, equating to around £2 billion. Typically, repayments are scheduled over 3 to 6 months. The scheme is administered by the BPSS (Business Payment Support Service).

For further information and help with any of your tax affairs, contact Taxfile, accountants based in Tulse Hill, South London (tel: 020 8761 8000) or go to the relevant HMRC web page.

London Employers - beat the 19 May deadline!

If you are one of London's 165,000 employers, you only have a matter of days to meet the deadline for filing your Employer Annual Returns — the deadline is 19 May! Miss it and you could end up with a costly penalty for filing late.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) also requires large employers (that's those employing 50 or more people) to file their 2008/2009 Employer Annual Return online. Again, if they don't, they may well end up having to pay an additional penalty.

If you have less than 50 employees you do not have to use the system but there is a good incentive to do so anyway, in the shape of a £75 payment - tax-free!

Further information from HMRC is available although if you would prefer to have some personal help from South London-based accountants Taxfile, then they know the system extremely well and can make sure everthing is done correctly for you, and on time. Be quick though .... the 19 May deadline is ony a few days away at time of writing.

Taxfile can be contacted on 020 8761 8000 and it may help to know that many different languages are spoken.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is a standard rate state benefit payable by the employer from the fifth day of sickness. The first three qualifying days of a period of incapacity for work are called waiting days and there is no SSP payment.

In order to qualify for SSP you must meet the following conditions:

• you have to be sick for at leat four days in a row (including weekends and bank holidays)

• you must earn at least £90 per week or £95 a week from 08/09 tax year. This is to do with National Insurance contributions. (If you have two jobs, you may even be able to get SSP from each of your employers, depending on how many hours hours you work.)

Also you would need to provide your employer with some sort of medical evidence.

The standard rate of SSP is £79.15 a week. The way your employer will work out a daily rate is by dividing the weekly rate by the number of days you would normally work in that week.

It is important to remember that SSP payments is subject to tax and NI just like any other type of earnings.

If your employer does not pay you SSP or pays you less you have to clarify with them the reason.

Company sick pay schemes vary from employer to employer, but most state that you should have been working for at least 3 months before you make your claim for sick pay. After this you would then receive your normal pay during any period that you are off to work due to illness, but this is only up to a specific number of weeks. After that you are probably going to receive only half pay for another further period before taking any sick leave as unpaid.

We hope that you have found this information useful, and if you still have any unanswered questions regarding SSP, please fill free to pop in to our offices in South London, Tulse Hill or Exeter.

Happy New Tax Year!

With the new tax year just around the corner, Taxfile offers you the opportunity to save some money on your accountancy bill just by presenting this voucher when you come to see us in our office in Tulse Hill or Dulwich.
So not only would you save money by getting this discount but also you get to join Taxfile and meet its multilingual team.To give you a better idea of what to expect, you can see bellow our colourful card:

So whether you are a builder and you qualify for a tax rebate , a landlord or a cab driver and you want to know your tax position in order to start saving towards your tax bill, Taxfile is here to take the strain.

Also, as many of you may have noticed a significant drop in your earnings due to the current financial crisis, by coming in early to see one of our experts you might be able to avoid paying your second payment on account for the following tax year, which is due in July.

We are looking forward to seeing you soon.

May the New Tax Year bring you less hassle and more money in your pockets!

Taxfile-Jobseeker's Allowance

Unemployment figures are now showing that just over 2 million people in the UK are out of work, this unfortunately means that when you are out of work you are not earning. Fortunately there is an allowance where if you are unemployed and available for work, you could qualify for something called Jobseeker’s Allowance depending on your circumstances.
To qualify for JSA, you must meet the following requirements:
•Be available for work
•Be able to work
•Be actively looking for work
Also you have to be under the state pension age, live in UK and not be working or working for an average of less than 16 hours per week.
There are two types of Jobseeker’s Allowance: Contribution-based and Income-based.
Income-based JSA (IB) is given to you if you are on low income, even if you have not made any National Insurance contributions in the past.
Contribution-based JSA (C) is dependent on your NIC record and is paid for a maximum period of six months. However if you did not earn enough to pay NICs, you many still be entitled to get JSA(C) if you were given NIC credits. This would have happened, if you were earning more than the lower earnings limit (£90 a week in 08/09 and £95 a week for 09/10), if you were unemployed or unable to work because of illness, and in some other circumstances.
If you are unemployed and either 16 or 17, usually you do not receive JSA unless you are forced to live away from your parents and will suffer severely if you don’t receive JSA or if you or your partner are responsible for a child.

If you are on JSA(C), you will receive £47.95 if you are aged 16-24and £60.50 aged 25 and over per week. For JSA (IB), you will receive a maximum weekly rate depending on your circumstances:
•Single people aged 16-24 - £47.95
•Single people aged 25 and over - £60.50
•Couples and civil partnerships (both aged 18 or over) - £94.95
•Lone parents (aged under 18) - £47.95
•Lone parents (aged 18 and over) - £60.50
Your payments might be reduced if you receive income from part-time employment or you will get less if you have savings over £6,000 and if you have savings over £16,000 you probably will not qualify.
In certain cases, a claimant’s Jobseeker’s allowance may be stopped.
One reason would be that you did not actively seek work or sign the Jobseekers Agreement. If this happens, your benefit will be automatically suspended until the date you complete and sign the agreement. Once this has been signed, you are still not guaranteed back all of your benefit, as a decision maker will decide how much you get back, if any.
Other reasons why your Jobseekers allowance could be stopped is if you miss a restart interview, if you voluntarily leave work or refuse a notified vacancy or if you refuse to attend a compulsory scheme or fail to comply with Direction. Doing any of the above could result in you missing a month’s benefit or having to renew your claim, which could take months.

If you wish to make a claim for Jobseekers Allowance, follow this link and it will take you to Job Centre Plus where you can type in your postcode to find your local Job Centre.
Taxfile’s tax agents hope you found this useful, and if you have any more queries regarding Jobseeker's Allowance why not pop into our offices in South East London and Exeter. Our accountants and tax advisers would be happy to assist.

Taxfile: Scholarship Income

By scholarship we mean an exhibition, bursary or any other similar educational endowment. If the holder of the scholarship is receiving full-time education at a university, college or school then the income from the scholarship is exempt from tax.
The rate of payment including lodging, subsistence and travelling allowances is now £15,480 a year, £1,290 a month or £297.92 a week. This rate has increased from £15,000 (rate used up to 01/09/2005) to £15480 (from 01/09/2007 onwards).
Important to note is that this exemption does not apply to payments of earnings made for any periods spent working for the employer during vacations.
If the rate exceeds £15,480 HMRC will look at the arrangements in detail. This is because the level of payment exceeds what might reasonably be described as a scholarship or training allowance. However, an increase in the rate of payment over the qualifying limit, part way through a course, will not affect the exemption applying to any payments for the earlier part of the course
One of the condition to be met by the employee receiving the scholarship, is that he/she must be enrolled at the educational establishment for at least one academic year and must attend the course for at least twenty weeks in that academic year.
Also, the educational establishments must be recognized universities, technical colleges or similar educational establishments, which are open to members of the public generally and offer more than one course of practical or academic instruction.
Very important to know is that the concepts of “earnings” and “scholarship income” are mutually exclusive.
In conclusion, it is important to remember that there are a few factors to consider when dealing with scholarship income:
•the relationship between the payer and the recipient;
•the nature of the course;
•where the course is being undertaken;
•whether it is full time;
• total amount.
So pop in to see us in our office in South London Monday to Friday and even Saturday now!
Any of our tax agents at Taxfile will be more than happy to help if you have any further queries.

Tax Enquiries: Guilty Until Proven Innocent!

An enquiry is defined as seeking information, asking, questioning. Self Assessment is a process now/check later regime. According to HMRC,enquiries encompass all work carried out to check returns after processing - from a single enquiry about one entry in a return to a detailed examination of all the taxpayer’s affairs.
Under Self Assessment, taxpayers have clearly defined obligations while HMRC has defined powers in order to make sure that all taxpayers meet such obligations.
There are two types of tax enquiries:
•full enquiries (covering every single aspect of the return) and
•aspect enquiries(dealing with only one or more aspects of the return).
According to HMRC, a full enquiry is one which seeks to address all the significant risks of error in the return, including the risk of the return being fundamentally incorrect whereas aspect enquiries are those which fall short of a full, in-depth examination of the whole return but instead concentrate on one or more aspects of it.
Aspect enquiries, although more limited in scope than full enquiries, should not be seen as any less thorough or investigative.
If no enquiry is made within the allowed period (one year from the day the tax return is received by HMRC, for specific examples follow this link), the return becomes final unless the tax office makes a discovery assessment as a result of the return being incorrect or there was fraudulent or negligent conduct in making the return.
A very small proportion of returns will be taken up for enquiry on an entirely random basis. Most of the enquiries may start because either the return was sent in late, or some figures in the tax return did not match their records or just HMRC received a tip off.
All taxpayers should be aware that there is a chance of their returns being subject to enquiry.
Where a tax return has been selected for full enquiry, the enquiry officer aims to identify and examine all the significant risks of error in the return, including the risk that it is fundamentally incorrect. Also, where the business records do not prove to be as accurate as they should be, the officer in charge will need to look at the private side.
In order to make sure that there is no undisclosed source of income or additional cash coming from somewhere which was not taxed, the enquiry officer uses three main techniques:
•Cash Flow Tests involved with an analysis of drawings;
•means tests which determines the amount of money that is available to a taxpayer for living expenses.
•capital statements dealing with a detailed accumulation of information about capital worth, income of all sorts and expenditure.
Individuals with complex tax affairs investigated by HMRC should seek early help from a professional advisor to guide them through every step of the enquiry from responding to the officer, arranging a meeting to negotiating a settlement.
Taxfile's tax agents in South London and Exeter will guide you through this process and try to save you tax, interest and penalties.
Taxfile is happy to announce that we have recently renewed our free-of-charge enquiry protection cover. The insurance will cover the whole costs involved in dealing with your tax investigation so you can give you piece of mind and save you hundreds of pounds at the same time.
So pop in to see us and make the best of it!

2008 Pre-Budget Report

In his 2008 Pre-Budget Report speech on 24 November, the Chancellor has set out his actions for supporting people through the difficult times of the current global financial crisis. Among the most important changes to do with tax, VAT and benefits, we can mention the following:
•Personal tax allowance increases to £6475, and the basic rate tax limit to £37,400 from April 2009. This means that basic rate taxpayers will pay £145 less tax a year in 2009-10;
•Basic Personal allowance for individuals with income over £100,000 to be reduced to half its value from April 2010;
•Personal allowances will be scrapped for those earning in excess of £140,000 a year from April 2010.
•A new, higher rate of Income Tax of 45% will be introduced for incomes above £150,000;
•Employee, employer and self-employed rates of National Insurance Contributions will increase by 0.5 per cent from April 2011 but those earning less than £20,000 will be exempted.
•The child benefit increases was brought forward to 5th January 2009 instead of April. This is worth an additional £22 on average to families. The commitment to increase the child element of the Child Tax Credit by £25 above indexation in April 2010 will also be brought forward to April 2009.Children will receive a one-off £70 payment for Christmas.
•All pensioners will be paid £60 in the New Year, the equivalent of bringing forward the April increase in the Basic State Pension for a single pensioner to January.In April 2009 the level of a full State Pension will rise in line with prices from £90.70 to £95.25 a week.
•Pensioners on modest incomes will get an increase in pension credit from £124 to £130 and for couples from £189 to £198 from January 2009;
•The standard rate of VAT will be reduced by 2.5% from 17.5% to 15% on 1 December 2008. This new rate will apply until 31 December 2009, when it will revert to 17.5%.This reduction will be offset by increased duties on alcohol, tobacco and petrol.
•The planned increase in the Small Company Rate from 21% to 22% from 1 April 2009 will take effect from 1st April 2010.
•SMEs will be allowed to spread business tax payments over a period to help to ease cashflow and credit constraints.
•Business losses of up to £50,000 could now be offset against profits made in the past three years rather than just one;
Taxfile's tax agents recommend the following link for more details regarding the Pre-budget Report.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

If you are expecting a baby, you might be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)to help you take time before and after the baby is born. This is a weekly payment from your employer.
Payments of SMP count as earnings so your employer will deduct tax and National Insurance contribution in the normal way.
In order to be eligible for Statutory Maternity Allowance you must meet certain conditions.
Firstly, you must have worked for the same employer continuously for at least 26 weeks up to and into the 15th week before the week the baby is due.
Secondly, you must give your employer sufficient notice of taking your SMP (28 days)and give him/her a form called MAT B1 Maternity Certificate from signed by a doctor or midwife after the 20th week of your pregnancy.
Finally,your earnings as an employee must be at least an average of £90 a week (before tax).
Statutory Maternity Leave is for 52 weeks. You may be entitled to receive Statutory Maternity Pay for up to 39 weeks of the leave.
For the first six weeks, your employer must pay you at the rate of 90% of your average weekly earnings.
For the next 33 weeks , your employer must pay you at either the standard rate of £117.18 or 90% of your average gross weekly earnings (if this 90% rate is less than the standard rate).
If your employer concludes that you do not qualify the he/she must give you a form SMP1.
Most women employees have the right to take up to one year’s (52 weeks’that is 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave) maternity leave. This does not depend on how long you have worked for your employer. The only employees who don't have this right are:
•share fisherwomen;
•women who are normally employed abroad (unless they have a work connection with the UK);
•self-employed women;
•policewomen and women serving in the armed forces.
Taxfile's tax agents in South London and Exeter are here to help you if you have any questions regarding your entitlement to SMP.

Childminders and tax

Registered childminders are people that work in their own homes to provide care and learning opportunities for other people's children.
Childminders need to declare their income from their self-employment by filling in a self-assessment tax return every year.
Many childminders are members of the National Childminding Association (NCMA).The NCMA had an agreement with with HMRC in terms of allowable expenses that a childminder can have. They agreed that receipts for items of expenditure will not be required for items costing less than £10.
Also they agreed with the HMRC that full-time childminders (40 or more hours a week)can deduct as expenses a third of their heating and lighting costs and 10% of water rates and Council tax. Food and drink provided for children are acceptable and receipts are not required provided that the figures are reasonable.
Probably not everyone is aware of 10% Wear and Tear relief available to childminders. 10% Wear and Tear of total childminding income may be deducted as an expense to cover the wear and tear of furniture and household items. Once a childminder claims this relief, he/she cannot claim for replacing such household items.
Other expenses allowable in calculating the taxable profit are the cost of toys, books, safety equipment, travel fares, NCMA subscription, Public Liability Insurance, stationary, the cost of phone calls for childminding purposes, cleaning, accountancy fee, children gifts,training costs, resources (like paint, arts/craft)and Ofsted Registration fee(Office for Standards in Education).

For more details regarding childminders and their relationship with tax, you can seek guidance from Taxfile's tax agents in South London (Tulse Hill) and Exeter.

Taxfile tells you about Pension Credits

Pension Credit is a tax-free payment for people aged 60 or over living in Great Britain, giving them extra money each week.
In order to get Pension Credit you do not need to have paid National Insurance Contributions(NIC's).
Pension Credit is made up two elements:

• Guarantee Credit element which might be paid to people over 60 and adds up to their weekly income guaranteeing a certain minimum level.

• Savings Credit element, which is an extra amount for people aged 65 or over who have some savings for their retirement. The savings Credit will add up to their Guarantee Credit.

If you live your husband,wife or civil partner than you will need to add up your income in order to have Pension Credit calculated.
You are likely to be entitled to Pension Credit if your weekly income is less than £124.05 if you are single and £189.35 if you have a partner.

You may still be able to get Pension Credit if your weekly income is more than these amounts if, for example, you or your partner:
• have a severe disability
• look after a person who is severely disabled
• have certain housing costs – for example, mortgage interest payments

Also, if you or your partner are 65 or over you may be rewarded for saving for your retirement, up to:
• £19.71 if you are single
• £26.13 a week if you have a partner

You can get Pension Credit even if you live with your grown-up family, you own your own home or you get financial support from friends, family or charity.
You can apply for Pension Credit by freephone by calling the Pension Credit application line 0800 99 1234 or follow the link for the application form .
You can only apply if you are 60 or over or if you are turning 60 in four months time.

If you need further help, Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter would be more than happy to guide you through your application.

Revenue Determinations

Under Self Assessment, taxpayers are required to file their tax return by a certain filing date. If they fail to do so they face the risk of having the HMRC determine their tax liability by raising a so called Revenue Determination.
The Revenue Determination is meant to encourage the taxpayer to send in his/her return to the HMRC by estimating the taxpayer's tax liability.
Once a Revenue Determination charge has been added to the taxpayer's Self-Assessment record a notice known as 'Determination of tax due' will be issued to the taxpayer and his/her agent.

A Revenue Determination will automatically involve any payments on account for the following tax year. Also, where Revenue Determination and any overdue payment on account remains unpaid, interest and surcharge will be added to the taxpayer's record.

There is no right of appeal against a Revenue Determination but the submission of the completed tax return will take the place of the Determination and the determined amount of tax will be automatically amended to the return amount. Any related interest, surcharge and payments on account will also be automatically amended.

A Revenue Determination must always be raised for an amount equal to or greater than the previous or last year's liability, and include where necessary an appropriate percentage addition to the previous year figure.
Very important to know is that Determinations can only be raised within 5 years from the filing date.
Taxpayers can displace the determination with their own self assessment at any time up to the fifth anniversary of the filing date for the year of assessment in question (or one year after the determination was issued, if later). After five years things become a little bit more difficult as a certain concept may need to be applied, that of equitable liability.
In order to avoid having to deal with a Revenue Determinations, self-assessment taxpayers need to make sure that they are familiar with the filing deadlines and seek help from tax companies like Taxfile when sending their tax return , especially now with a new 31st October paper return deadline in place.

Non-taxable payments and benefits

Under general tax law, expenses payments and benefits made to certain directors and employees are taxable earnings (better known as remuneration).
As it is the case with most rules, there are exceptions where benefits or payments to an employee are not normally taxed:
• Annual parties or similar functions provided that the cost incurred by the employer for every employee is less than £150.
• Living accommodation related to the work.
• Equipment provided for disabled employees like a wheelchair or hearing aid and their private use
• The provision of goodwill entertainment for an employee.
• Late night taxis where an employee is provided with a taxi paid for by his employer for a journey from work to home.
• Work-related training expenses
• Long service and suggestion scheme awards provided that the cost to the employer does not exceed £50 per year of service for the employee.
• Meals and food vouchers where the vouchers are non-transferable, they are used
for meals only and the value of vouchers issued to employees does not exceed 15p for each working day.
• Mobile phones unless the calls paid by the employer can be converted into money by the employee.
• Parking spaces
• Removals expenses and benefits which exempts from tax the first £8,000 of removal expenses.
• Re-training expenses and courses for an employee who is about to leave or has left within the
previous year.
• Pensions on retirement or death
• Sports facilities generally available to the employer’s employees and members of their families
and households but not to the public.
• Medical treatment abroad
For more information on each of the non-taxable payments and benefits mentioned above just follow the HMRC link.
Alternatively, you can contact Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter for any query that you might have.

Data Protection Act and HMRC

As a tax agent you might have found it quite difficult trying to deal with subcontractors' tax returns (those working in the Construction Industry Scheme) for the year ending on the 5th April 2008. The main reason behind this situation is the struggle of gathering all the relevant data in order to submit an accurate, complete and compliant tax return to HM Revenue & Customs.
In the past years we used to be able to ask the tax office for a so called ''captured voucher list'' for our subcontractor clients quite easily. We cannot say this is happening this year, now when the construction scheme has changed and we need their help even more. According to the HMRC, excessive demands were placed before on their resources when requests were made for payment details for scores of subcontractors at a time.
Their refusal of giving away information is normally stated in a letter and we can quote:
''Under Section 12(B) 1 Taxes Management Act 1970 your client must keep all records they need to enable to make a correct and complete tax return.They may receive a penalty of up to £3000 for each failure to keep or to preserve adequate records they need for future reference.[...] If they have lost any of their deduction statements given to them by the contractor(s) or they think they were not given a deduction statement(s), your client must in the first instance go back to the contractor concerned and ask for either a duplicate, or the missing deduction statement.''
That said, unless we can provide evidence that contact has been made to the contractor(s) concerned the HMRC will not be able to release any information. The evidence in question can be either a letter from the contractor(s) confirming why that they are unable to provide the documentation or a letter with the name of the contractor(s) and the dates the client worked for him/them.
As we needed to know more about this subject, we asked one of our legal associates to do some research on this matter. Under Data Protection Law 1998 s.63(1) it is required by all Government departments to reveal information held by them on our clients. However s.29 of the Act states that the right to disclosure of personal data and to have copies of it does not apply to to data collected for the assessment or collection of any taxes:
''Personal data processed for any of the following purposes[...](c) the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or of any imposition of a similar nature are exempt from the first data protection principle.'' It looks as if there is a clear statutory right for hmrc to refuse to reveal the information requested.
However, there is nothing in the Taxes Management Act 1970 requiring the client to go back to the contractor for a duplicate copy of the missing document(s) in the first place. As there is no policy stating that that the client or agent should first contact the contractor, it appears as if the policy has no status in law.
Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter would like to know your opinion on this matter. Have you found it difficult this year to deal with your subcontractors' tax return? Have you gathered all your data from the contractors or you managed to get some help from HMRC? Write your comments, your opinion matters to us.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT)-2008 Budget

The 2007 Pre-Budget report issued in October 2007 announced major changes to the way in which Capital Gains Tax will be calculated for disposals after 5th April 2008.
Among the most important changes related to CGT we can mention:

•removal of the link to income tax rates and bands, meaning that various rules providing for the interaction of income tax and CGT rules are no longer required.

•introduction of a single rate of CGT of 18%, replacing the current rules that charge CGT at income tax rates as though the gains were additional income. The flat 18% rate applies irrespective of the type of asset disposed of and the period for which it has been held by the taxpayer.There is one important exception for certain types of business gains that may attract the new Entrepreneurs' relief. This relief is based on taxing the first £1 million of the gains at 10 %, but even this is achieved by reducing the amount of the relivable gain (by 4/9ths), so that the resultant chargeable gain can still be taxed at 18%!
•abolition of taper relief which normally has the effect of reducing the effective rate at which CGT is paid. It operates by reducing the amount of a gain which is charged to CGT, the amount of the reduction being determined by whether the disposed asset on whose disposal the gain was a "business" or a "non-business" asset, and the length of time that the asset had been owned before the disposal. and

•abolition of indexation allowance for non-corporate tax payers (currently frozen at April 1998) that normally compensates for the effect of inflation by reference to increases in the retail prices index;

•The abolition of the kink test for CGT purposes which means that in future the ''gains accruing on all disposals of assets owned at 31 March 1982 will be based on their market value at that date, so effectively "rebasing" all allowable expenditure to 31 March 1982''(HMRC).

• great simplification of the computation of chargeable gains due to the abolition of indexation allowance and taper relief.
As a large number of entrepreneurs and business owners aim to dispose of their businesses/companies for substantially more than £1 million, they are the biggest losers of the CGT reforms since their CGT rates will generally be much higher than 10%. (Before the 6th April 2008 CGT rate was often below 10% due to the benefit of indexation relief.)
Taxfile's tax accountants in Exeter and South London can help you make the most of every opportunity to minimize your tax liability, making sure you are paying the right amount of tax and all this for at very reasonable rates.

Lump sums,redundancy and compensation payments

When dealing with lump sums, redundancy and compensation payments great care needs to be exercised. The reason behind this is that this type of income will not necessarily be taxed as normal employment income.
Up to the first £30,000 of any compensation payment can be paid to you without deduction of tax if it is made in connection with the termination of your employment. This also applies to statutory redundancy payments. This tax exemption applies whether the payment is made as a result of an unfair dismissal claim or for breach of contract.
In order to qualify for compensation for loss of office relief, strict criteria must be met.
For instance, if your contract of employment gave you a right to compensation on ceasing to be employed or payment in lieu of notice (i.e. the employer pays in lieu of notice instead of the employee working the notice period), then the lump sum you receive will be taxable under PAYE scheme, regardless of the amount.
Also, even if the contract says nothing about pay in lieu of notice but there is an expectation of payment because it has been routinely paid to others, that constitutes an implied contractual term and the payment will still be liable to tax and NICs.
HMRC often challenges this aspect, trying to prove that the payments were contractual in nature therefore they need to be fully taxed.
Very important to remember is that the limit of £30,000 relief relates to each employment but employments with employers under common control only count once. If a payment was received in the previous fiscal year for the same employment but the relief was not used, than the balance can be claimed against any relevant payments in a subsequent year.
Some employees with redundancy payments that exceed £30,000 choose to pay some or all of the excess into their approved occupational pension scheme. As long as the payment is within the scheme's rules, it has no liability for tax or NICs.
As different rules apply to different lump sum payments connected with an employment it is very important to seek advice from professionals like Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter. They will make sure that your circumstances have been carefully considered before submitting your tax return to HMRC.

Darling's Increase in Personal Allowance

The Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced an increase in the personal tax allowance of £600 and an adjustment to the higher rate threshold (the total of the personal allowance and basic rate limit).

According to the tax office we do not need to make any adjustments to our tax code numbers at the moment.The emergency code for new employees without a code number remains 543L.
This change is supposed to give 22 million people on low and middle incomes a gain of £120.
Alistair Darling explains this in saying that ''[the need of the increase in the personal allowance] represented the fairest and most effective way to help those who had lost out due to the abolition of the 10p starting rate announced by Gordon Brown last year in his final Budget as Chancellor''

From September, all basic rate taxpayers would get a one-off increase of £60, followed by a monthly increase of £10 for the rest of the year.

By giving £600 extra to the personal tax allowance, the government also reduces the threshold at which an individual starts to pay tax at the higher rate by £600. People used to pay basic rate tax on earnings up to £36,000 above their personal allowance but higher rate tax will now apply at £34,800 and as a result 150,000 people will become higher rate tax payers.
Still confused about all these changes in the tax system? Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter are here to help for any tax issues you might have. Visit their website or call them on 020 8761 8000 and find all the answers to your questions.

April's tax reforms

One of the most significant changes in the tax year 08/09 is the adjustment to income tax bands. The 10% band is being scrapped and the 22% band is being replaced by a 20% band. The income above £41,435 is taxed at 40 %.
There will also be changes to the amount of national insurance contributions we pay.
The upper earnings limit, up to which you pay the standard rate of 11%, is being increased from £670 a week to £770 . Any earnings above the limit are then taxed at 1%. This change will affect those with weekly earnings between £670 and £770, that previously used to pay 1% on these earnings and now they have to pay 11 %.

In terms of Capital Gains Tax(CGT), the top rate of 40% is being replaced by a flat rate of 18%. But this good news is balanced by the abolition of two tax reliefs: indexation relief and taper relief which would normally reduce the investor's gain and so minimize his or her tax.

Changes also affect non-domiciled residents. At the moment, non-UK residents who are working in this country pay tax here on their earnings in this country but not on any of their non-UK income. From today, non-domiciled residents who have lived in the UK for more than seven years will be taxed on their worldwide earnings, rather than just those in this country, or have to pay an annual charge of £30,000.

Ed Green, financial planning manager for Chartwell Private Client, warns: "On the face of it, this looks like good news as the basic rate of income tax is going down. But the reality is that the changes to your pocket will hardly make a difference. However, one area that should be of concern is for people with a personal pension. At present, tax-relief means that, for a basic-rate taxpayer, a contribution of 78p into a pension fund is made up to £1 – this will soon be only 97-and-a-half pence. The changes will also affect higher-rate taxpayers. Now is therefore a good time to put in a lump sum.[...]Another group that will be hit by the income tax changes are those on low incomes, currently paying only 10 per cent on pay above their £5,225 basic allowance. This benefits those on an income of up to £7,455.[...] Pensioners could also be particularly hard hit by the change as they will be forced to pay the higher 20 per cent rate of tax on pension income above the initial tax-free allowance, currently £7,550 for individuals aged 65 to 74 or £7,690 for those aged 75 or more. Previously they paid a tax rate of just 10 per cent for the following £2,230 of income above this allowance, but this will now only apply to savings income.(...) "(The Independent, Saturday, 8 March 2008 )

Tell us at Taxfile in what way you are being affected by these changes and whether it has a positive or a negative impact on you as a the taxpayer.

What are the tax credits?

Tax credits are payments the Government makes to you if you live in the UK and are in a paid work, responsible for children or both.
There are two types of tax credits: Working Tax Credit (WTC) and Child Tax Credits (CTC).
The CTC has the following parts:
• a family part
• a baby part
• a child part
• a disability part.
The WTC has in turn the following parts:
• basic part
• a couple part
• a lone parent's part
• a 30 hours a week part
• a disability part
• over 50 years old part.

If you are a student and do not have paid work you may still be able to claim if you look after a child.
If you are 16 or over and have a dependant child or are working and disabled you can still claim tax credits.
If you are 25 years old or over and you work at least 30 hours a week you can claim even if you have no children.
People who have children can claim WTC as well as CTC as long as they work at least 16 hours a week.
Rates and Thresholds for 2008-09 tax credits:

Working Tax Credit ( per year)
•Basic part:£1800
•Couple and lone parent part :£1770
•30 hour part: £735
•Disabled worker part:£2405
•Severe disability element: £1020
•50+ Return to work payment (16-29 hours) : £1235
•50+ Return to work payment (30+ hours) : £1840
There is a childcare element with the WTC.The maximum eligible cost for one child in 2008-09 tax year is £175 per week and for two to more children is £300 per week.

Child Tax Credit ( per year)
•Child Tax Credit Family part: £545
•Family element, baby addition: £545
•Child element : £2085
•Disabled child element : £2540
•Severely disabled child element :£1020

If you need to know more about tax credits, Taxfile's tax accountants can help you decide whether you are eligible or not to claim tax credits.

Dealing with someone's tax after they die

When somebody dies it is important to sort out their tax and National Insurance contributions as soon as possible. The 'personal representative' or the executor has to sort out the deceased person's tax affairs, as well as the rest of the estate.There may be either tax to pay or a rebate from the Tax Office.
If the deceased paid tax through Pay As You Earn (PAYE), their Tax Office will send the executor a form called R27 'Potential repayment to the estate' to complete.
If the deceased person was self-employed paying tax through self-assessment, the administrator can choose to fill in form R27 in full - or only in part and then complete a Self Assessment tax return immediately or at the end of the tax year.
The deceased person will get their full tax-free personal allowance for the year of their death. They will also get a full year's entitlement to any blind person's or married couple's allowance that was due to them for the full year.
If they did not receive enough income to use the whole of the blind person's or married couple's allowances, the personal representative can arrange for the unused allowances to be transferred to a surviving spouse or civil partner.
The personal representative may have to pay Capital Gains Tax(CGT) if profit is made from selling the property or possessions of the deceased. The executor is treated as acquiring the house at its market value at the time of death so CGT can only be payable if a profit is made after disposal and if it exceeds the 'annual exempt amount' (AEA).
You might find it very useful to ask a tax accountant for advice. Taxfile in South London and Exeter can give you the best solutions when having to sort out a deceased person tax affairs.

Taxman's new power

Is taxman going too far? This is the question we have to ask ourselves today. The taxman has been given the authority to bug people's phones and read their emails and letters.

In order to reassure taxpayers, the Inland Revenue declared that these new powers will not be used in routine tax investigations. As noticed by Sunday Times ''one area where the new regulations could have an impact is against those who failed to come forward during HMRC’s partial amnesty for offshore account holders. [...]HMRC offered a limited window of opportunity for taxpayers to disclose savings held in offshore accounts on which they had not paid tax.
About 45,000 people with bank accounts in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Isle of Man coughed up £400m by the November 26 deadline, but this may be only a fraction of the total held offshore. ''(Ali Hussain, Sunday Times, February 17, 2008)
Although the tax office has assured people that the powers will only be used in the most serious of cases, some experts have expressed concerns.

Mike Warburton of tax partners Grant Thornton said: “Once the new powers are available it will be very difficult to stop the taxman using them.''(Ali Hussain, Sunday Times, February 17,2008)

To surprise you even more, senior tax officials are being rewarded for failure as they are given record bonuses totalling more than £23 million this year despite the department continuing to lose £1 billion to fraud and error. This also came just three months after the department admitted it had lost computer discs containing the tax credit details of 25 million people.

In its defence, HMRC said that these payments were based on last year performances and those for the current financial year had not been set.

Taxile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter would like to know your opinion in these matters, so write your personal comments on our blog. Are you for or against the way the tax office handles their tax investigations? Do you think of it as an intrusion in people's life or is it in our best interest on the long run? Share today your thoughts with us,your opinion matters!

Capital Allowances

As a business you can claim tax allowances, called capital allowances, on certain purchases or investments. This means you can deduct a proportion of these costs from your taxable profits and reduce your tax bill.
Capital allowances are available on plant and machinery, buildings - including converting space above commercial premises to flats for renting - and research and development.

Capital allowance on plant and machinery
You can claim capital allowances on:
• the cost of vans and cars
• machines
• scaffolding, ladders, tools, equipment
• computers and similar items you use in your business
• expenditure on plant and machinery
If you're buying equipment, 25 % is the standard allowance for businesses each year. This will reduce to 20% from April 2008.
You can claim additional allowances in the first tax year after the expenditure was made. This is called first -year allowance. First-year allowances are a tax allowance you can claim on certain purchases or investments in the year you buy them.
Small businesses can claim first-year allowances of 50% for qualifying investments. Medium-sized businesses can claim 40%, and in certain circumstances both small and medium-sized businesses can claim allowances of 100 % (referred to by HMRC as Enhanced Capital Allowances for Energy-Saving Investments), in the year they make the purchase. However, for most plant and machinery, 25 % is the usual capital allowance. There are also allowances for investment in research and development.

Capital allowance on buildings
You can claim capital allowances on the cost of:
• constructing industrial or agricultural buildings, commercial buildings in enterprise zones, and certain types of hotel
• buying or constructing a building to use for a qualifying trade such as manufacturing or processing
• renovating or converting space above shops and other commercial premises to provide flats for rent - for example, money spent on building dividing walls or fitting a new kitchen
• converting or renovating unused business premises in a disadvantaged area on or after 11 April 2007
You cannot claim capital allowances on the cost of:
• houses, showrooms, offices and shops
• the land itself, such as buying the freehold of a property or acquiring a lease
• extensions, unless it provides access to qualifying flats
• developing adjacent land
• furnishing qualifying flats
The allowance for buying industrial and agricultural buildings is 4 %, in both the first and subsequent years. You can usually claim 100% of the cost of converting underused or vacant space above commercial property into flats or converting or renovating unused business premises in a disadvantaged area.
If you need to know more about capital allowances you can contact Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter and they will make sure you make the best of your capital allowances in order to minimize your tax liability.

Overpayment of tax through PAYE

PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is the system used by employers and pension providers to deduct tax from your wages or pension. If you think you've paid too much Tax through PAYE you can contact Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and they will clarify that for you.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) gives you a tax code that shows your employer or pension provider how much tax to deduct from your wages or pension before you get paid. You'll find your tax code on your P45 or your wages/pension payslip.

It is possible you might have overpaid tax in the following circumstances:
• you started a new job and had an emergency tax code for a while
• you were only employed for part of the year
• your employer was using a wrong tax code
• you're a student who only worked at holiday times
• you had more than one job at the same time
• you stopped working and didn't get any taxable earnings or benefits for the rest of the year
• your circumstances changed - for example you retired, were made redundant or became self-employed
• you have taken a pension in the form of a lump sum rather than a small monthly amount (this is known as 'trivial commutation'), the rate of tax you pay on the lump sum could be higher than the basic rate of tax you pay over the year and could cause an overpayment.

Any overpaid tax from previous years will we calculated by the tax office and they will send you a refund in the post or through bank transfer.

What you need to bear in mind is that you can only reclaim overpaid taxes for up to a maximum of six years previous to the current tax year.

Penalties Reform - The Next Stage

Hello self-employed taxpayers,

I hope you enjoyed your holidays. I'm sure it might be quite difficult for those of you who haven't submitted your tax return yet with the the deadline coming soon.
Now, you might wonder what this Next Stage is all about!
Well, as part of ''The Review of Powers, Deterrents and Safeguards HMRC has been developing ideas and consulting on how to modernise and align civil financial penalties.[...]The first substantial measure,[...] was a single new penalty regime for incorrect returns for income tax, corporation tax, Pay As You Earn(PAYE), national insurance contributions(NICs) and value added tax(VAT)(the main taxes)''(HMRC and the Taxpayer, Modernising Powers, Deterrents and Safeguards, Penalties Reform:The Next Stage.Consultation Document 10 January 2008).
In other words, the Tax Office wants to make sure that people do pay the right amount of tax and at the right time. The payment of taxes together with the repayments and reliefs cannot be voluntary or arbitrary. They must be governed at all times by a framework of rules
and obligations. According to HMRC, these penalties should influence behaviour, should be effective and fair.
Penalties have been considered in the following categories:
•incorrect returns
•failure to notify a new taxable activity
•late filing and late payment
•record keeping and information powers failure
•other regulatory failures.

There will be no penalty where taxpayers make a mistake or misinterpret the law despite taking reasonable care in completing their returns.
To make sure your tax return is submitted correctly and in time visit Taxfile's tax accountants in South London or Exeter and they will do it on your behalf.

Tax at Christmas time!

A very Merry Christmas to one and all from Taxfile' s Tax Accountants.

Our gift to you all this year is a brand new, free of charge insurance cover.
This cover will provide you with protection against any possible Tax enquiry: In the unlikely event of a random investigation by the revenue, Taxfile have insured its customers against the associated costs incurred in defending such cases thus saving its clients hundreds of pounds. So avoid the stress and have piece of mind this Christmas and call into Taxfile this December.
By way of an extra incentive to think Tax returns before the end of December! Taxfile have also put together some great Christmas prizes.
Bring your details into us before the 31 December and you'll have a free entry into our Christmas draw.

Prizes available are:

• 1st Prize: A weekend for two at one of the Meridian Hotels
• 2nd Prize: Half a case of champagne
• 3rd Prize: A Marks and Spencer voucher worth £25.00

So let Taxfile take the pressure off, come in and see us before the 31st of December and ensure you have your return filed before the January 31st deadline.

Furthermore Taxfile have now established links with companies offering financial, legal and mortgage advice, further details on these services are outlined in our newsletter which will be arriving on your door step very shortly.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

PAYE forms: P45,P46, P60, P11D

PAYE (PAY As You Earn) is the HM Revenue and Customs system for collecting income tax from the pay of employees.

As an employer, you need to deduct income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) from your employees' pay and send it to the HMRC.

As an employee, you should receive a P45 or a P60 from your employer that show you the tax you pay on your wages. If you receive benefits or expenses your employer has to send a form P11D to the tax office.

P45 form

You receive a P45 from your employer when you stop working for them. It shows:
•your tax code, tax reference number and Tax Office
•your NI number
•when you were last paid
•your earnings in the tax year from all your jobs
•how much tax was deducted from your earnings

You are entitled by law to get a P45 when you stop working for your employer.

P60 form

P60 is a summary of your pay and the tax and the tax deducted during the year.

Your employer should give you a P60 at the end of every tax year (tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April the next year)

It is very important to keep your P60 safe as you might need it to prove your income if you apply for a loan or to claim back any overpaid tax.

P11D form

Your employer doesn't have to give you a copy of P11D but he must tell you the details included on the form. This form shows the expenses payments, benefits and facilities provided by the employer.

For more information, you can visit Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter . Their multilingual staff ( English, Polish, Romanian, French, Hungarian, Dutch and Chinese) are ready to help you with any type of tax affair.

Introduction to Stamp Duty & Stamp Duty Land Tax

Stamp Duty is a type of tax you pay when you buy land or shares. You pay a Stamp Duty Land Tax when you buy property and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax when you buy shares.
You pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on such properties like houses, flats , other buildings and land.There is a threshold of 125,000 which is tax free. If the land or property is up to 250,000 than you pay a rate of 1% Stamp Duty Land Tax. From 250,001 to 500,000 there is a 2% tax rate and a rate of 4% for am amount exceeding 500,001.
If you want to buy a property which is designated by the government as a disadvantaged property than you do not have to pay any Duty Land Tax for an amount of 150,000 or less.
You pay Stamp Reserve tax when you buy shares. There is a tax rate of 0.5% of the value of the shares.
Stamp duty is payable when the shares are transferred to you using a stock transfer form and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT)when the shares re transferred to you electronically,also known as paperless transactions, without using a stock transfer form.
When you buy shares from a stockbroker the transaction is usually completed electronically through the electronic settlement and registration system known as CREST. CREST automatically deducts the Stamp Duty Reserve Tax and sends it to the HMRC.If you do not pay for shares using CREST than you have to pay the stamp duty tax to Inland Revenue yourself.
You do not have to pay UK Duty Stamp or SDRT if you buy foreign shares. There will probably be foreign taxes involved that you need to carefully consider.
When buying either properties or shares, carefully tax planning must be considered.Taxfile's tax accountants in South London and Exeter always make sure you never pay more than your minimum tax liability.

Casual labour / subcontracting

It is not widely known that you must establish someone's status when you pay them any money for helping you with their labour.The trick or tip is to get them to supply their unique tax reference number. They should invoice you for their services . If they don't offer an invoice, it's best to issue a self billing invoice for them to sign at the time you hand over the money.
Lots of people will offer their services to you if you have work which needs doing. In some industries it's well regulated such as within the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).
Most labour suppliers will be registered as self employed or a partnership and frequently these days as a limited company.
Each of them will have its own unique tax reference number(UTR).
They are not obliged to put this on their invoice to you.
You must request it if you fall into the classification termed by the government as a contractor or subcontractor.
There is a useful helpline for Construction Industry Scheme if you are not sure about your position and always try to get professional tax advice from companies like Taxfile in South London and Exeter where their tax accountants make sure to sort out all your tax affairs.
If for example you are doing up a buy to let then you do not necessarily have to register just for this one activity, just make sure you follow the invoicing guidelines as above.
It may seem a lot to ask of the person doing the work for you but these days you just can't be sure of how the government will react if they discover you have paid someone without adequate proof that they are registered to pay tax on their own profits.
For more information on the new CIS you can refer back to our blog dated 25th August entitled ''What is the Construction Industry Scheme?''

Taxfile knows everything about taxi drivers' tax!

There are a few things that need to be considered when it comes to taxi drivers' tax. Among them we can mention the following:

•Mileage Allowances
Taxi drivers can claim as an alternative to vehicle running costs mileage allowances of 40p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter. You may not claim mileage allowance and vehicle running costs. Should you choose to claim the mileage allowance then keep good records of mileage covered, purpose of journey.

•Taxi Capital Allowances
If you bought a vehicle in 2005-06 and used it as a taxi you can claim a first year tax allowance of 40% of the cost of the taxi, restricted to £3,000 for vehicles costing over £12,000. On vehicles purchased in previous tax years you can claim 25% writing down allowance on the balance not yet claimed. If you have bought and sold a vehicle used as a taxi during the financial year the tax allowance is restricted to any loss made on resale and any profit made over the written down value is taxable as a balancing charge. First year allowance in the current tax year 2006-07 is 50%.

• Taxis bought on Hire Purchase
Claim capital allowances on the original cost of the vehicle, interest and other charges count as business expenses and go in the self assessment tax return.

•Taxi Running Costs
When completing the self assessment tax return taxi drivers should enter fuel costs as cost of sales not motoring expenses. Do not claim fuel expenses when you are on holiday, the revenue will check should they inquire into your self assessment tax return.Taxi running costs also include repairs, servicing and parts including tyres, road tax, taxi insurance and AA/RAC membership. Include radio hire and taxi office costs in general administrative expenses.

• Household expenses
If you run your taxi business from home you can claim a proportion of household expenses as business expenses. Household expenses are likely to be disallowed unless they are either specific to the business or a specific area of your home is devoted entirely to your business.

• Spouse Costs
You can claim expenses for partners who work for your taxi business and payments up to £94 would not attract income tax or national insurance however any payments claimed must be real payments for real work done. The Revenue naturally adopt a strict view on expenses claimed for partner work as it is an area some people might use to reduce the tax liability.

•Other Expenses
The best method of ensuring the taxi drivers tax bill is as low as possible in the future is undoubtedly to meticulously maintain good records of all taxi receipts and expenses and mileage covered which offers the opportunity for taxi drivers to compare vehicle running costs against mileage allowances and choose the most tax efficient option. General if the taxi cab capital allowances are high vehicle running costs will be the best option and if taxi cab capital allowances are low then mileage allowances may well legally increase the costs you can claim and save you money.

Taxfile in South London and Exeter taxi and cab drivers choose the best accounting option in order to reduce their tax liability.
Taxfile can also provide you with a record-keeper to fill in with all your takings and your expenses for the year. For more information, you can visit us on http://www.taxfile.co.uk/.

Types of tax-free investment

There are a number of ways investors can reduce their tax liability. Here are the most popular:

• Cash Mini Isas
These are basically ordinary saving accounts but the interest you accumulate is free from tax.
Anyone over 16 can put up to £3000 per tax year into a cash mini Isa. The good news is that from April 2008 you would be able to place up to £3600 each year in a mini cash Isa.


• Share Isas
These are accounts in which you can hold stock market-type investments such as shares. The money grows free of capital gains and income tax. Higher rate taxpayers also avoid paying extra tax on dividends payments from shares, and they don't have to declare their Isas on their tax returns.

There are two types of shares Isas - maxis and minis. For the 2007/08 year you may invest £7,000 in a maxi equity Isa. If you have a cash mini Isa you may also invest £4,000 in a mini equity Isa.

For 2008/09, the overall limit increases to £7,200. So if you have used the new maximum cash mini Isa allowance of £3,600, the maximum you may place in a stocks and shares Isa is £3,600, bringing your total Isa investment to £7,200.

• Venture capital trusts
VCTs have traditionally offered one of the best tax breaks available, although they have recently lost their shine as tax breaks were cut and extra restrictions imposed.
VCTs are high risk - they are effectively companies quoted on the stock exchange which invest mainly in unquoted companies or 'start-ups'.
At the time of writing, investors were entitled to 30% income tax relief. It means that every £10,000 you invest will only cost you £7,000 because of the tax break. There is no income tax to pay on any dividends, nor capital gains tax to pay on the increase in your stake in the trust.
To check these figures are up to date and for current rules about tax breaks offered to investors in VCTs visit the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/guidance/vct.htm.

• Offshore investing
Investing offshore provides opportunities for tax suspension, reduction and avoidance.
The attraction is 'gross roll-up'. This means assets can grow without being taxed and could therefore outperform investments at home. However, gains or income are liable to tax in Britain when they are brought back to the UK. You will also need to pay tax of another country if you take the money there.
The trick is to take into account how long you are going to be away if you are emigrating, your residency for tax purposes, your will, property and more liquid assets such as savings.
Always seek professional advice from a tax company like Taxfile with offices in South London and Exeter when it comes to ways of minimizing your tax liability.

Welcome to the Inheritance Tax Blog

Inheritance Tax (IHT) is a tax on the value of a person's estate on death and on certain gifts made by an individual during their lifetime.

There is a certain threshold when it comes to inheritance tax. This is defined as the amount above which inheritance tax becomes payable. If the estate, including any assets held in trust and gifts made within seven years of death, is less than the threshold, no inheritance tax will be due on it. Starting from April 2007 the threshold, also known as the nil-rate band is £300 000. For transfers on death, the value of an estate above the mentioned band is taxed at a rate of 40%. For lifetime transfers the tax rate is 20%.

There are a few things to consider when dealing with IHT:

• Gifts between husband and wife are generally exempt for IHT. It may be desirable to use the spouse exemption to transfer assets to ensure that both spouses can make full use of lifetime exemptions, the nil rate band and the potentially exempt transfers (PETs). With a PET the gift will be exempt from IHT if the donor survives for seven years.
• Gifts to individuals not exceeding £250 in total per tax year per recipient are exempt. The exemption cannot be used to cover part of a larger gift.
• £3,000 per annum may be given by an individual without an IHT charge. An annual exemption may be carried forward to the next year but not thereafter.
• Gifts in consideration of marriage are exempt up to £5,000 if made by a parent with lower limits for other donors.
• Gifts to registered charities are exempt provided that the gift becomes the property of the charity or is held for charitable purposes.
• Trusts can provide an effective means of transferring assets out of an estate whilst still allowing the donor to retain some control over the assets. Provided that the donor does not obtain any benefit or enjoyment from the trust, the property is removed from the estate.

A good planning is essential when dealing with Inheritance Tax. Any plan must take into account your personal circumstances and aspirations. Taxfile in South London and Devon can help you find the best solution to minimize your tax liability.

National Insurance Contributions(NIC's)

National Insurance was introduced in 1948 to build up your entitlement to certain social security benefits including the state benefit.
The type and level of NiC's depends on how much you earn and whether you are employed or self-employed.
You stop paying National Insurance when you reach pension age, 65 for men and 60 for women.

If you are employed, the following rates apply:
• if you earn above £100 a week (earning threshold) and up to 670 per week you pay 11% of this amount as class 1 NIC's
• you pay 1% of earnings above £670 per week.
If you are self-employed you pay two types of National Insurance:
• Class 2, at a flat rate of £2.20 a week.
• Class 4, as 8% of your taxable profits between £5225 and £34840 and 1% on any taxable profit over that amount.

There are certain benefits that depend on National Insurance Contributions:

•contribution based Jobseeker's Allowance ( Class 1 NIC's only)
•Incapacity Benefit( if you can't work for long periods due to illness or injury)
•State Pension
•Additional state pension( Class1 NIC's only)
•Widowed Parent's Allowance
•Bereavement Allowance
•Bereavement Payment.

If you think you need more information about your National Insurance Contribution Taxfile in South London and Exeter can help you.

Tax Enquiry Nightmare Gets Worse

If you are unlucky enough to be the subject of a tax enquiry by the tax man, it could now be an even worse nightmare for you than ever before. HMRC has recently introduced a new bonus scheme for the tax inspectors who conduct the enquiries, which means they have a vested interest in coming down hard on ordinary folk and negotiating far less. The more tax they find you need to pay - in their opinion - the more they will earn.

The average extra tax they are demanding in recent enquiries now averages a worrying £7,778 for each self-assessment enquiry it undertakes - that's a steep jump of £3,251 extra on last year's average. The new statistics also show that the amount of extra tax generated just from the band of those earning more than £200k per year has risen to £197 million which is a 150% increase on the preceding year. Clearly those bonuses are having the desired affect on the individual tax inspectors who appear to be squeezing every last penny from each of the enquiries they are undertaking.

It's times like these when services of tax advisers like TaxFile really come into their own. Because they know the rules (and any allowable expenses) as well as the tax inspectors do, they level the playing field for ordinary hard-working people and can argue the case on your behalf. For a low fixed fee the whole headache can be taken over by an accounting professional who is on your side. Taxfile have offices in South London and in Exeter, Devon. Telephone 0208 761 8000 for further information.

Don't forget 31 July deadline to renew Tax Credit info

31 July is the date by which HMRC needs to receive your Tax Credit record update. You should have received your Renewal Pack by the end of June latest (if you haven't, call 0845 300 3900). HMRC needs the renewal to check for any changes to your circumstances. Remember to read the instructions very carefully and send off before the deadline otherwise you may run the risk of Tax Credit payments being interrupted, or worse, being asked to return some of the money paid since 6 April 2007 plus any amounts overpaid for the previous year.

If you were awarded more than one tax credit award during the 2006-7 period, you need the equivalent number of Renewal Packs.

More details on how to renew your tax credit information at the HMRC website.