The Early Bird Gang

HMRC expects people to do tax returns for various reasons;

  • Those that have an income outside of a PAYE scheme (i.e. self-employed)
  • High earners on PAYE schemes, earning above £100K
  • Company Directors & Shareholders
  • Landlords who have rental incomes

The tax returns calculated generally run between the dates 06/04/xx through to 05/04/xy, the calculation, submission, and payment deadline  of taxes owed to HMRC (or you), would need to be submitted at the latest 31/01/xz, before penalties & interest are imposed.

Each year, the Government announces a tax free allowance, which is the amount you can earn before your income starts to get taxed.  The tax free allowance for 2018/19 is £11,850.00.  However, this allowance decreases by £1 for every £2 earned above £100k, meaning by the time your reach £125K, the allowance is £0.

The amount of tax paid on income is also specified by the government & is subject to change with announcements made generally in the Budget statements.  For 2018-19 the rates are as follows;

Tax Rate (Band) Taxable Income Tax Rate
Personal allowance Up to £11,850 0%
Basic rate £11,851 to £46,350 20%
Higher rate £46,351 to £150,000 40%
Additional rate Over £150,000 45%

*For 2019-20 the new rates & tax free allowance can be found HERE.

Since 6th April 2019, you would have been able to calculate & submit your 2018/19 tax return to HMRC, so since then the Tax Agents at Taxfile have been busy filing away for the early birds.   We have been open on Saturdays too, to keep up with the influx of tax returns & CIS returns.

However, the last Saturday that we will be open will be 29th June.  If you would like to join our ‘gang’ of Early Bird & can only come in on Saturdays, you only have a few weekends left.

Please note, on Saturdays, all our agents see clients by appointment only, and can not generally deal with walk-in clients.  So please book in advance by either calling 020 8761 8000 or booking online HERE.

So get our professional help at Taxfile & we’ll make filling in and filing your tax return a breeze.

See our Newsletter HERE

HMRC’s Anti-Money Laundering Fees Increase

In December 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an organisation founded on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering, stated;

‘…the UK had a well developed & robust regime to effectively combat money laundering & terrorist financing.  However, it needed to strengthen its supervision, & increase the resources of its financial intelligence unit.’

The FATF conducted an assessment of the UK’s anti-money laundering & counter terrorist financing (AML/CFT), and as a result of this assessment HMRC has decided to inject money into the unit to increase supervision for those organisations that are not supervised by a professional accounting or tax body for AML purposes.

Such businesses are required to register for supervision with HMRC, which promises to provide in return more staff available with face-to-face and desk-based intervention with registered and un-registered businesses.  They will also aim to provide more educational products and activities, including webinars & online learning programs.  They hope the education will help businesses to approach all AML activities correctly from the outset.

The new fees for anti-money laundering supervision, which came into effect on 1st May 2019, has disgruntled many tax & accounting businesses.

  • the annual registration fee increased from £130 to £300 per premises for businesses with a turnover of £5,000 or above
  • the annual registration fee increased to £180 for businesses with a turnover below £5,000
  • the charge for fit and proper (F&P) testing increased to £150 from £100.
  • the approval check fee will remain at £40

On 15th April 2019, the Treasury issued a consultation of the introduction of EU’s Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD) into UK’s national law.  The consultation closes on 19th June 2019 & the impact of this will highlight where accountants may have to further tighten their AML compliance.  The 5MLD will expand the definition of a tax adviser in terms of money laundering compliance, as well as highlight diligience around electronic money & individual identification, based on FATF recommendation to understand the ownership & control structure of customers.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) delayed due to Brexit

HMRC delays the rollout of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for businesses & individuals beyond 2021:

Even though MTD for VAT has been rolled out, the wider extension of the MTD scheme for individuals & businesses has been delayed till at least 2021.

The Chancellor’s 2019 Spring Statement mentioned;

“The focus will be on supporting businesses to transition and the government will therefore not be mandating MTD for any new taxes or businesses in 2020.”

MTD for income & corporation tax was scheduled to come into effect from 2020, but as the UK prepares itself for Brexit, HMRC has redirected its focus on the implications of UK’s exit from the EU.

HMRC has said that its digital delivery team and business analysis team are being redeployed to focus on ensuring that a customs solution will be in place should it be required when the UK leaves the EU.

With the current perplexity surrounding Brexit, HMRC has stressed that ‘this does not indicate any expected outcome but is due to the level of work required to deliver any outcome’.