Taxfile are Finalists in the British Accountancy Awards 2016

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Taxfile is a Finalist in the British Accountancy Awards 2016

Finalist in the British Accountancy Awards - Independent Firm of the Year, Greater London 2016 Taxfile are delighted to confirm that they’ve been nominated as Finalists in the sixth annual British Accountancy Awards taking place in November 2016. With a real chance of winning the Independent Firm of the Year, Greater London category, all the staff at Taxfile should take this as a pat on the back for their expertise and diligence looking after the tax affairs of clients in the Greater London region. “It’s a great honour!” said Guy Bridger, Taxfile’s Managing Director, who wanted to draw attention to the particularly hard work of Julie, Faiz, Ewelina and Ali on the Taxfile team. The awards ceremony takes place at The Brewery, London EC1, on 29 November.

Taxfile can add this to their already impressive list of previous accolades which include being a Finalist in the Award for Innovation and winner of the Best Small Business award. Our congratulations to all staff and best wishes to all accountancy companies taking part — it should be a night to remember!

Taxfile are accountants and tax advisors with London offices in both Tulse Hill and Dulwich in SE21. We can help with anything from simple bookkeeping, payroll, tax returns, tax refunds, VAT, National Insurance and Corporation Tax to full accounts work for limited companies, help with auto enrolment duties as well as sorting out complex tax problems. Read more

Guy Bridger outside the Tax Office

“Pay As You Go” Self-Assessment is on it’s way!

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Pay-as-you-go Self AssessmentA few years ago Guy Bridger, from Taxfile, was helping to advise The Office of Tax Simplification and the then Director Michael Jack. Guy proposed that, while the bulk of the working population have their taxes calculated by their employer and thereforGuy Meets Rt. Hon Michael Jacke pay taxes in ‘real time’ with clarity, ease and convenience, the same was unfortunately not true for the UK’s small business owners and the self-employed. For those, it is too often the case that taxes are paid as much as 18 months in arrears because of limitations in the existing tax system. This time lag often means that the tax due to be paid has been spent already, simply because that old system had too large a reporting and payment window. So Guy suggested that ‘real time’ reporting and payments of tax would be significantly more convenient and beneficial to the small business owner and self-employed individual. It would enable them to keep on top of taxes and, as an added bonus, their accounts records too.

The Government has now recognised this good advice. In a new system nicknamed ‘Pay As You Go Self-Assessment’, the Chancellor has announced that small businesses, landlords and self-employed workers making more than £10k in profit each year will be able to account for tax in virtually “real time”. This will be made possible via Read more

Taxfile newsletter (Autumn 2015)

Save money & hassle with our latest PDF newsletter!

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Taxfile newsletter (Autumn 2015)Check out our latest A4 newsletter — which is jam-packed with ways to save money when dealing with your tax affairs and is more comprehensive than our recent e-newsletter. Savings include our 5% Early Bird discount for help with your tax return or accounts before Christmas, our offer to reduce your Taxfile bill by a further 12½% if you introduce a friend who then becomes a Taxfile client, a shout out to all sub-contractors in the construction industry who, if they act fast, can have their CIS tax refunds in time for Christmas, plus Key Dates in the tax calendar, a warning to Landlords — and a whole lot more.

Download the newsletter here (Acrobat PDF format – right-click to save the PDF to your hard drive then open it in Acrobat Reader or alternatively left-click the link to view the newsletter directly in most browsers).

Tax Credit Cuts Blocked by the House of Lords

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House of Lords vs The Chancellor

In an almost unprecedented move, the House of Lords has backed a motion asking the government to revise its proposed tax credit cuts. This is the first time in 100 years that the lords have voted down a financial package and this is an embarrassing blow to George Osborne. The Chancellor has been asked to delay his proposed tax cuts until he comes up with a way of compensating low paid workers over the course of the first three years.

At present 9 in every 10 households receive tax credits but under the Chancellor’s new proposals this would reduce to 5 out of every 10 from April 2016. This means 3 million working families would lose, on average, about £1000 if the proposed changes go through next April.

Working Tax Credit & Child Tax Credit

There are 2 types of credit; Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Under the Chancellor’s new proposals Read more

George Osborne

Highlights from the Chancellor’s Budget, 18 March 2015

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Along with some encouraging news about the UK economy, some interesting new measures were announced in the Chancellor’s Budget yesterday and below we highlight those which we feel will directly impact the majority of UK taxpayers:

  • As widely forecast, the tax-free allowance will increase. The amount people can earn before paying tax will rise to £10,800 from 2016-17 and then to £11,000 from 2017-18. At the same points in time, higher earners will also receive a two stage increase to the threshold at which they start to pay a 40% rate of tax, with the threshold increasing to £43,300 by 2017-18.
  • The Chancellor also announced a brand new Personal Savings Allowance whereby the first £1,000 of interest (£500 for higher rate taxpayers) will be tax tree. This new allowance will kick in from April 2016 and will take 95% of taxpayers out of savings tax completely. (Fact Sheet available here).
  • Another new scheme announced was the introduction of a new ‘Help to Buy ISA’ aimed at prospective first time buyers. This fairly generous scheme means that the Government will chip in up to £50 extra per month (up to a ceiling of £3,000) when an eligible saver saves up to £200 per month towards their first home. (Fact Sheet available here).
  • In another ISA reform, savers will now be able to withdraw money from a new Flexible ISA and deposit it back later in the same financial year without losing any of their usual ISA tax benefits. £15,240 will be able to be put into this re-styled savings vehicle. Read more
Tax return help & accounting advice for taxi drivers, cabbies, cab firms, couriers, limos and private hire firms. We're accountants in Tulse Hill, South London, SE21.

Missed the Tax Return Deadline?

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[Updated 3 February 2020]: If you missed the deadline for submission of your tax return to HMRC (that was 12 midnight on Saturday 31 January) here’s what you can expect in terms of a fine:

Table of penalties showing fines if you are late submitting your self-assessment tax return

In case you didn’t realise, you still had to submit a tax return even if you did not owe any tax and the longer you leave it, the more it will cost you — as you can see in the table above. Alternatively, use this excellent estimation tool to work out your exact penalty at any given point in time. Not sure if you even need to submit a Self Assessment tax return? No problem; there’s a tool for that too (here).

Statistically speaking, women seem to send in their returns on time more often than men; 18 to 20 year olds of either sex are the very worst with around 11% of them sending in their returns late in recent years, while those over 65 seem to be statistically the most reliable of all, with only around 1½% of them having filed tax returns late. We’ll have to wait and see how it panned out this year when the figures are in.

Taxfile are here for you if you need to get your tax return sorted out whether you’re on time or not – but the earlier the better if you’re to minimise any penalty from HMRC. We are professional accountants and tax advisors, are based in South London, and will help to get your tax affairs in order with minimal fuss. We will ensure that all your figures are correct so that you pay only the right amount of tax – no more, and no less. For professional tax help contact us or book an appointment on-line.

C.I.S. Subbies: claim your refund for Christmas!

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CIS Construction workers get a tax refund in time for Christmas![UPDATED]: Calling all subbies! Claim your refund in time for Christmas AND get a 5% discount on Taxfile prices if you submit your records to us before 21st December!

If you’re a sub-contractor working in the UK construction industry, the first thing you should do is register for CIS (the Construction Industry Scheme). This gives you your own unique tax reference and you effectively become self-employed from a tax standpoint. Taxfile can help set you up on the CIS system (we charge just £36 + VAT for this at time of writing).

Once enrolled, any earnings will automatically be taxed, at source, at 20%. However, with the personal allowance being set at around £10,600 per annum in most cases, this means that many subbies will have overpaid tax and will be due a refund at the end of the tax year. Taxfile are experts at recovering this type of tax for construction workers. We can analyse income, offset any applicable expenditure and allowances, work out the correct National Insurance and income tax, then submit an accurate tax return. 9 out of 10 subbies using Taxfile receive a tax refund within 3 to 4 weeks, many of those receiving in excess of £1000. Taxfile do more than 500 of these annually and Read more