Domestic Reverse Charge for VAT within the Construction Industry Scheme

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IMPORTANT UPDATE!

On 06/09/2019 HMRC announced that the Domestic Reverse Charge will be postponed for 12 months and will come into effect 01/10/2020.   Their official statment;

“To help these businesses and give them more time to prepare, the introduction of the reverse charge has been delayed for a period of 12 months until 1 October 2020. This will also avoid the changes coinciding with Brexit.”

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From 1st October 2019 HMRC will introduce the Domestic Reverse Charge for VAT returns within the construction industry if certain criteria are met.

HMRC states it is aware of the large scale fraud that has occured within the industry, whereby construction businesses charge VAT for their services but then disaappear without paying their VAT bill, taking with them the 5% or 20% as additional profit.  They have also managed to under cut their prices against  many businesess working legitametly with the knwoledge that they will have this additional ‘profit’.  Therefore,  by moving the VAT charge down the supply chain, HMRC intends to make this kind of fraud impossible.

Any company that is VAT registered and works under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) providing the follwoing services may be subject to the Domestic Reverse Charge;

  • constructing, altering, repairing, extending, demolishing or dismantling buildings or structures (whether permanent or not), including offshore installation services
  • constructing, altering, repairing, extending, demolishing of any works forming, or planned to form, part of the land, including (in particular) walls, roadworks, power lines, electronic communications equipment, aircraft runways, railways, inland waterways, docks and harbours
  • pipelines, reservoirs, water mains, wells, sewers, industrial plant and installations for purposes of land drainage, coast protection or defence
  • installing heating, lighting, air-conditioning, ventilation, power supply, drainage, sanitation, water supply or fire protection systems in any building or structure
  • internal cleaning of buildings and structures, so far as carried out in the course of their construction, alteration, repair, extension or restoration
  • painting or decorating the inside or the external surfaces of any building or structure
  • services which form an integral part of, or are part of the preparation or completion of the services described above – including site clearance, earth-moving, excavation, tunnelling and boring, laying of foundations, erection of scaffolding, site restoration, landscaping and the provision of roadways and other access works

Services excluded from the Domestic Reverse Charge include;

  • drilling for, or extracting, oil or natural gas
  • extracting minerals (using underground or surface working) and tunnelling, boring, or construction of underground works, for this purpose
  • manufacturing building or engineering components or equipment, materials, plant or machinery, or delivering any of these to site
  • manufacturing components for heating, lighting, air-conditioning, ventilation, power supply, drainage, sanitation, water supply or fire protection systems, or delivering any of these to site
  • the professional work of architects or surveyors, or of building, engineering, interior or exterior decoration and landscape consultants
  • making, installing and repairing art works such as sculptures, murals and other items that are purely artistic
  • signwriting and erecting, installing and repairing signboards and advertisements
  • installing seating, blinds and shutters
  • installing security systems, including burglar alarms, closed circuit television and public address systems

The final criteria is whether the service being provided is to the the ‘end-user’ or ‘intermediary supplier’.  If it is then the normal way of charging VAT applies, if not, then the Domestic Reverse Charge applies.  Please see the flowchart below to see if the Domestic Reverse Charge applies to you:

What is an ‘End User’?

For reverse charge purposes consumers and final customers are called end users. They are businesses, or groups of businesses, that do not make onward supplies of the building and construction services in question, but they are registered for CIS as mainstream or deemed contractors because they carry out construction operations, or because the value of their purchases of building and construction services exceeds the threshold for CIS.

What is an ‘Intermediary Supplier’?

Intermediary suppliers are VAT and CIS registered businesses that are connected or linked to end users.

To be connected or linked to an end user, intermediary suppliers must either:

  • share a relevant interest in the same land where the construction works are taking place
  • be part of the same corporate group or undertaking as defined in section 1161 of the Companies Act 2006

It will be your responsibility to ask your contactor whether they are the end user or intermediary.

If they are not, then you will not receive the VAT for the supplies being provided.  This will effect your cash flow.  Furthermore, if you are on a flat rate scheme, then the scheme will more than likely no longer be beneficial for you.  If your sales are subject to the domestic reverse charge, then you would be considered as a regular repayment trader and could enrol on a monthly VAT return scheme to ease your cash flow by getting the VAT paid back to you on your expenses.

As the supplier, you will need to issue VAT invoices that clearly indicate the supplies are subject to the domestic reverse charge and that the customer is required to account for the VAT. The VAT due should be clearly stated however should not be included in the amount shown as total amount charged.

If the domestic reverse charge applies, invoices should clearly indicate the reverse charge applies using the correct terminology. HMRC suggests businesses use any of the following:

  • Reverse charge: VAT Act 1994 Section 55A applies
  • Reverse charge: S55A VATA 94 applies
  • Reverse charge: Customer to pay the VAT to HMRC

It should be clear on the invoice that the reverse charge mechanism has been applied.

You invoice should still show all the usual information required for a VAT invoice.

The legislation stipulates that if there is a reverse charge element in a supply then the whole supply will be subject to reverse charge if the parties agree. It will also cover the provision of construction services that includes materials.

There is no minimum threshold from which the reverse charge would apply.

Please contact us on 020 8761 8000 or email ali.asilzadeh@taxfile.co.uk if you would like to discuss how the domestic reverse charge will effect your business.

The Early Bird Gang

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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

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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

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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’.

CIS Tax Rebates

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The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) is where a construction contractor deducts, at source, a portion of the money due to their subcontractor. Whatever amount is deducted is then passed directly to HMRC which is then counted towards the tax and National Insurance of a subcontractor. This effectively pays the tax element in advance.

How much is deducted will depend on whether or not a subcontractor is registered under the CIS system. Unregistered subcontractors usually get a 30% deduction, while the registered ones get a deduction at the standard rate of 20%. This is one of the reasons that, by the end of the financial year, the amount deducted at source often ends up being overpaid.

But a bigger reason is the fact that the deductions did not factor in the personal allowance that every taxpayer in the UK is entitled to. The personal allowance for the tax year 2018-2019 was £11,850. Because of this overpayment, many subcontractors in the construction industry are due a tax refund.

You can also claim extensively for any work related expenses such as; accountant fees, travel, telephone, tools, clothing, etc.

It is a complex process and to ensure you get the maximum tax rebate let Taxfile help you.  

View our CIS Tax Refund Newsletter HERE

Making Tax Digital for VAT

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From 1st of April 2019 HMRC’s VAT Notice 700/22 will come into effect; Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Value Added Tax (VAT).  The MTD initiative is believed to benefit HMRC on two levels.

It will help to ensure the correct VAT is being paid to HMRC, & seeing that VAT accounts for the highest unpaid tax in the UK (35%), the government has estimated that it will generate £610M in 2020-21 from eliminating erroneous returns.

The MTD initiative will also save HMRC money as it will no longer have the cost associated with maintaining the VAT portal where submissions are currently made, estimating a saving of £10M a year of taxpayers’ money.

HMRC’s long-term vision is to have one of the most digitally advanced tax administration systems in the world & they hope that by 2020 they will have MTD applied to all of UK’s taxation processes.

For this vision to be fulfilled it is believed that they will then strive to have all taxation data recorded in the Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T) format.  Once this is achieved, HMRC will be able to undertake tax & VAT investigations frequently & randomly with very little cost, as it will free up resources from having to obtain & enter the data for analysis.

Being VAT registered means that your annual income equals or exceeds the current threshold value of £85,000.00.  Currently, any business or individual registered for VAT, whether on a Flat Rate Scheme or on the Standard Rate, will from April 2019 need to prepare for the changes outlined by Notice 700/22.

When will it be applicable to me?

The 1st quarter of your VAT return that starts on, or after 1st April 2019.

Am I exempt from MTD?

Groups or individuals exempt from MTD include;

  • those with religious beliefs that prevent them from using technology
  • those going into insolvency
  • those that it is reasonably impractical to do so (eg. geolocation, physical &/or mental disabilities – that prevent the use of technology)

What are my responsibilities?

You will need to ensure that all your transactions (expenses & sales) are individually recorded digitally with a MTD-compliant software.  You still need physical &/or electronic copies of these records stored for at least 6 years.  The MTD-compliant software is then used to calculate & submit your VAT returns.

What should my ‘digital’ data look like?

From April 2019 all digital record keeping will include;

  • Business Name
  • Business Address
  • VAT Registration Number
  • VAT Account Schemes
  • Information about Supplies & Sales

All Supplies & Sales invoices should include;

  • a Tax Point Date
  • Sequential (alpha-)numerical labelling format
  • Itemisation of services/goods
  • NET amount clearly shown
  • VAT rate & VAT amount clearly stated

Currently, the date, NET & VAT amount all need to be digitally stored for each-and-every-one of your transactions.  It is also recommended that a digital upload of your bank feed is included to back the entries for both expenses & sales.  VAT will then be calculated using these digital entries & submitted to HMRC via the compliant software used to record them.

View our latest MTDfVAT Newsletter HERE

Late with your tax return and tax payment?

Missed the tax return deadline? What now?

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Missed the tax return deadline? What now?If you missed the deadline to submit your self-assessment tax return, the first thing to know is that you are now into the penalty stage. HMRC applies an automatic £100 penalty to those who are even 1 day late (the deadline was 11.59pm on 31st January) and further penalties are added if you take even longer to comply. It’s worse, of course, if you also haven’t paid any tax owed as you’ll then owe interest too, so our advice is to pay as much as you can before 28th February, so you’ll reduce any element of interest. However, if there is a genuine reason why you were late with your return, and it fits certain criteria, you have the option to appeal …

Circumstances that are taken into account by HMRC when considering appeals include:

  • if a close relative or partner died shortly before the tax return or payment deadline;
  • if you had to stay in hospital unexpectedly;
  • if you had a life-threatening or serious illness;
  • if your computer or software failed at the time you were preparing your online return;
  • if HMRC’s online services were disrupted;
  • if you were prevented from filing your return or paying your tax because of a fire, flood or theft;
  • if there were unexpected postal delays;
  • and occasionally other reasons which, if genuine, HMRC may deem to be relevant.

Excuses that aren’t usually accepted by HMRC include: Read more

Final day to submit your Self-Assessment tax return

Today is the Tax Return Deadline!

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0 days to the Self-Assessment tax return deadline!

[As at 31 January]: TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY to file your Self Assessment tax return with HMRC. Miss the deadline (11.59pm on 31st January 2019) and you’ll straight away be in for a £100 fine from HRMC, so don’t delay — contact Taxfile AFTER 9AM to book an appointment with one of our helpful tax advisors and accountancy experts.

We’ll make filling in and filing your tax return a breeze and what’s more, we’re currently open 6 DAYS A WEEK from now until the end of January (Saturday mornings by appointment only). Don’t leave it to the last minute, though, as there is always a bottleneck for those who do — so come in as early as you can this week.

It doesn’t matter if you have zero tax to pay – you still need to submit your tax return on time! You also need to have paid HMRC any tax due for the 2017-18 financial year by the same 31 January deadline.

So get our professional help with filing of your tax return — you can book an appointment online, drop by the Tulse Hill shop or the Battersea office to book one, send us an email message via our contact form or, better still, simply call us on 0208 761 8000 and we’ll book you in and help sort out your tax return accurately and on time. Don’t delay — time is quickly slipping by and if you leave it too late you’ll be caught in the last minute bottleneck!

We’ll require your records, figures and receipts for the financial year 6 April 2016 to 5 April 2018.

* Please note: in extremely busy times such as January, a deposit may be required before commencement of appointments.

Christmas & New Year Opening Times at Taxfile

Christmas & New Year Opening Times at Taxfile

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Christmas & New Year Opening Times at Taxfile

Please take a look at the calendar above and note our opening times over Christmas and New Year. As you can see, we’re closed on several days over the festive period. This is particularly important for those who need to come to see us for help with time-sensitive accounting and tax-related services in the run-up to January 31st.

Need Help Filing Your Tax Return?
Make an Appointment NOW!

In particular, we urge anyone who needs to file a 2017/18 Self-Assessment tax return to come and see us well before Christmas. By doing so, you’ll avoid the last minute stampede — way too many people leave it until January, which is the busiest time in the tax and accounting calendar. While the HMRC deadline for tax returns is the end of January, you run the risk of being caught up in the bottleneck if you leave things later than December. Taxfile files tax returns for thousands of customers during November, December and January, so we’re incredibly busy at this time of year — particularly January, which is frenetic! So, those leaving it until the last minute not only run the risk of being charged more to cover the long hours and overtime that we need to work during January, but they also risk receiving a fine from HMRC if they miss the deadline completely because they left things so late.

So the message is: please book an appointment with us now, ideally for a date before Christmas.

For Self-Assessment tax returns, records for the period 6th April 2017 to 5th April 2018 are required. For business accounts, we will also need to do accounts based upon the business’s individual year end.

Open for Saturday Appointments

We are happy to see people on Saturdays at this busy time of year (with the exception of the festive closures of course – see the calendar above). Saturday morning appointments should be more convenient for those who work on weekdays. As you can see on the calendar, we’re open from 10am to 1pm for most Saturdays in December and January but only for those with a pre-agreed appointment.

To book an appointment, please call 0208 761 8000 or book an appointment online here. Many thanks.