Use of Home as Office

/in , , , , , , , /by

If you are self-employed, there is a type of relief called use of home as office that can be offset against your tax liability.
If you run your business partially from home you can could set a proportion of your home running costs against income tax.What sounds like a very easy task for any tax accountant has proven to be quite difficult as the HM Revenue & Customs can easily argue the figures as there are no clear rules that can be applied.
Among the expenses allowed in this category we can mention the following: Council Tax, Mortgage interest, Rent, Repairs and maintenance, Cleaning, Heat, light and power, Telephone, Broadband, Metered water charges.
The factors to be taken into account when apportioning an expense include according to HMRC:
•the area used for business purposes,
•the usage in connection with electricity,gas or water and
•the time used for business purposes compared to other use.
By following this link you can see some examples provided by HMRC related to ways of approaching the use of home as office.
This is what the courts have approved in terms of apportioning expenditure for home as office:
“… it is possible to apportion the use and cost of a room on a time basis, and to allow the expense of the room during the hours in which it is used exclusively for business purposes, in the same way as it is possible to calculate the business expenses of a car which is sometimes used for business purposes exclusively and sometimes used for pleasure.” (Templeman J in Caillebotte v Quinn [1975] )
Very important is to retain good records to evidence whatever claim you make for using your home as office in case the taxman argues your figures. For more help in understanding tax reliefs for self-employed, Taxfile in South London and Exeter is here to help.

Data Protection Act and HMRC

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

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 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

/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

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 & compensation payments

/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

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

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

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.

Non-residency Tax Issues

/in , , , , , , , /by

The United Kingdom (UK) charges tax on income arising in the UK, whether or not the person to whom it belongs is resident in the UK. United Kingdom also charges tax arising outside the UK which belongs to people resident in the UK.
If a person is resident in the UK he or she is taxed also on the gains made on the disposal of assets anywhere in the world.
To be regarded as resident in the UK you must normally be present in the country at some time in the tax year. You will always be resident if you are here for 183 days or more in the tax year. If you are here for less than 183 days, you may still be treated as resident for the year under other tests . For instance if you visit the UK regularly and after four tax years your visits during those years average 91 days or more a tax year. You are treated as resident from the fifth year.
If you are resident in the UK year after year, you are treated as ordinarily resident here. You may be resident but not ordinarily resident in the UK for a tax year if, for example, you normally live outside the UK but are in this country for 183 days or more in the year.
You will not be liable to tax on your British income if you live in a country that has a double taxation agreement with the United Kingdom.
Double taxation agreements are designed to protect against the risk of double taxation where the same income is taxable in two states. So, under such agreements, income is only taxed in the country where you live.
You are either resident or not resident in the UK for the whole of a tax year. However, by concession, the tax year is split in certain circumstances when you come to, or leave, the UK part way through a tax year. In order to find out whether or not you are entitled to split-year treatment you would need to answer a few questions.
Taxfile’s tax experts in South London and Exeter would be able to help you establish your status in UK for tax purposes making sure you pay the right amount of tax.

Student Loan Deduction

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Student Loans are considered to be a financial support package for students in higher education in the UK with the Government’s help. They are available to help students meet their expenses while they are studying.
HM Revenue & Customs is responsible for collecting repayments of Student Loans in cases where the borrower is within the UK tax system and is no longer in higher education.
The loans are still administered by the Student Loans Company.
In most cases the employer collects Student Loan repayments by making deductions from the borrower’s pay .
The employer has the following responsibilities:
• making deductions of Student Loan repayments from thee the employee’s wages
•keeping records of the deductions made
•paying the deductions over to HM Revenue & Customs
•providing HM Revenue & Customs with details of the deductions at the year end
•giving the employee details of the deductions on their payslips
•identifying on form P45, when the employee leaves your employment, that they are liable to make Student Loan repayments.
There is an Annual Threshold, currently £15,000, below which Student Loan repayments are not due. Employers making Student Loan deductions apply a proportion of the threshold appropriate to the pay period in calculating the amount of Student Loan repayment to deduct.
The rate of deduction when calculating the amount of Student Loan deduction is 9%.
Deductions are made on a non-cumulative basis. In order to deduct the right amount from the employee’s pay than the employer has to look up the Student Loan Deduction Tables on the HM Revenue & Customs website.
If you need to know more about the way Student Loans deductions work out, Taxfile’s tax agents in South London can help you get a better understanding of it.

Types of CIS cards in the Construction Industry Scheme

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Subcontractor? Claim your CIS tax refund!

There are five types of registration cards and certificates used in the Construction Industry Scheme:

CIS 4(P) is the permanent registration card issued to most subcontractors. It entitles the holder to be paid with a deduction on account of tax and National Insurance contributions. It does not have an expiry date but it shows the photograph and signature of the authorised holder, along with their National Insurance number.

CIS 4(T) is the temporary registration card issued to subcontractors who do not hold or do not know their National Insurance number. It enables the holder to be paid with a deduction on account of tax and National Insurance contributions while they obtain a valid National Insurance number.

CIS 6 is the subcontractor certificate issued to individuals, partners in firms and directors of most companies that meet the required turnover, business and compliance requirements. The certificate shows the photograph and signature of the holder and entitles them to be paid gross.

CIS 5 is the subcontractor certificate issued to companies that can’t be issued with a CIS 6. There is no photograph on the certificate but it bears the company secretary’s signature. It entitles the subcontracting company to be paid gross.

CIS 5 (Partner) is the subcontractor certificate issued to one partner in business partnerships that can’t be issued with a CIS 6. There is no photograph on the certificate but it bears the signature of the partner nominated to hold the certificate by the firm. It entitles the partnership to be paid gross.

Sometimes a subcontractor’s payment status will change from payment under deduction to gross payment. If this happens, the Tax Office will tell the subcontractor and any contractors who have verified or used the subcontractor in the current or previous two tax years. The revised payment status should then be applied to all subsequent payments to the subcontractor as soon as it is practical for the contractor to do so.

Subcontractors who meet certain qualifying conditions get the tax certificates and those who do not get the registration cards.

Only a minority of subcontractors will qualify for a Tax Certificate which then entitles them to gross payments. To qualify you must pass three tests; the turnover test, the business test and the compliance test.

  1. The turnover test
    To meet the turnover test as an individual you must show that for a continuous three year period you have had a net turnover of £30,000 a year or more.
  2. The business test
    You need to be in a business that provides labour to carry out construction work, conduct your business primarily through a bank account and also keep proper business records.
  3. The compliance test
    Tax affairs must be kept up-to date during the three years before application. You need to show you have paid all tax, including any PAYE and subcontractor deductions and submitted all tax returns on time.

If you qualify, you should receive your certificate within 30 days of application; if not you will automatically be sent a registration card. If you do get a subcontractor’s tax certificate it will be one of three types; either a CIS6, which is the most common type, a CIS5 which is issued to some companies because of their size, or a CIS5 (Partner) which is again issued to firms which have complex operations or geographical spread. Only the CIS6 shows the authorised user’s photograph and signature.

If you need further information about types of registration cards and CIS tax certificates, Taxfile’s tax accountants in South London, Battersea, Devon, Yorkshire or Carlisle can help you with your registration.

Call 0208 761 8000 or learn more about our tax and accountancy services for CIS contractors and subcontractors in the construction industry here.

Subcontractor? Claim your CIS tax refund!

Dealing with someone’s tax after they die

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

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 can give you the best solutions when having to sort out a deceased person tax affairs.

Taxman’s new power

/in , , , , , /by

Is the 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 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!