income tax Archives | Page 9 of 11

Big Changes Coming to the Tax System

November 21, 2016/in 2016, 2018, Accountants, Accounts, Bookkeeping, Buy to let, Cash basis, Digital tax accounts, HMRC, Income & Expenditure, Landlords, Limited company, London, Pay as you go, Records, Self-assessment, Self-employed, Sole traders, Tax advice, Tax returns, Taxfile/by Mark

Starting on 1 April 2018, a brand new tax system, one that will affect most business owners in the UK, will begin to roll out. Whether you’re a landlord, are working for yourself as a sole trader or have a limited company, the changes will affect you.

So what’s happening?

Instead of a once-a-year tax return, HMRC will require quarterly profit and loss information. So, that’s four times a year. For Taxfile clients, that means we’ll need to know all your income and expenses during every quarter so that we can make the necessary financial data available, on your behalf, to HMRC. As well as your bank statements, we’ll need to see receipts for the expenses, whether they’re provided physically or via a suitable electronic medium (there are plenty of apps and software packages for this purpose). Once we have everything for the quarter in question, we will be able to make sure that you’re claiming for all the allowable expenses that you are eligible for and aren’t claiming for things that you shouldn’t, so that your figures are absolutely correct.

If you don’t file in time there could be an HMRC penalty, so letting Taxfile handle your quarterly reporting will help to keep you on track seamlessly when the new changes come into force. We’ll be able to confirm our own pricing nearer the time but it’s likely to be circa just £75 per quarter, excluding VAT.

A ‘cash basis’ system

The new tax system will be known as a ‘Cash Basis’ system and will also allow tax to be paid to HMRC on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis. Essentially, it means that businesses need only calculate their profits based on receipts and payments, which is far more straight forward than the more complex system that currently exists. When integrated into the Government’s new ‘digital tax accounts’, the system will really help to simplify tax, make budgeting and cash-flow easier through near real-time reporting and eventually remove the need for the traditional tax return at the end of the year — that’ll eventually be the case for virtually everyone. As an added bonus it’ll also mean that business owners keep more on top of their bookkeeping and thereby avoid a last minute scramble to update records. Taxpayers will also be able to see a complete financial picture of their tax affairs in the one place — their digital account — and all their liabilities and entitlements will be clear to see and manage more effectively than ever.

Taxfile

Nearer the time the changes come into place, Taxfile will be there to help its customers adapt to the new system and between us we’ll make sure that it’s easy and hassle-free. We’ll be able to Read more

Taxfile’s Autumn Newsletter 2016

October 13, 2016/in 2014, 2015, 2016, Accountancy, Accountants, Accounts, Advice, Auto Enrolment, CIS, Construction Industry Scheme, Contractor, Filing deadlines, FreeAgent, HMRC, Late return, London, penalties, penalty, Refund, Save money, Self-assessment, South London, Subcontractor, Tax accountant, Tax accountants, Tax advice, Tax advisers, Tax agents, Tax refunds, Tax return, Tax returns, Taxfile, Tulse Hill/by Mark

Hot off the press is our brand new Autumn newsletter for 2016. If you haven’t yet seen it, take a look because it’s jam-packed full of useful information that’ll help you keep your tax affairs and accounts in order, save you money and keep you up to speed on tax matters. Here’s a quick flavour of what’s included (or click the thumbnail image to view or download the newsletter):

Act fast to save money on your 2015-16 tax return – see the newsletter’s first article.
Sub-contractors working in the construction industry are invited to claim their CIS tax refunds through Taxfile, so they have their refund in time for Christmas!
Help if you’re late with any previous years’ tax returns and tax payments — and how you already owe HMRC at least £1300 if you haven’t filed your 2014/15 tax return or paid tax for that year.
Try the UK’s Number 1 cloud-based accounts package FREE, for a month. No credit card required – cancel at any time – full details are included in the newsletter. [UPDATE: Please note that this offer has now expired].
Help if your tax affairs are in a mess — are you late filing returns or paying tax? Are you worried about HMRC penalties? Are you a foreign worker, working in the UK, and need to get your tax records up to date following the Brexit decision? We’re here to help!
Taxfile are Finalists in the ‘Independent Firm of the Year, Greater London’ category of the British Accountancy Awards 2016.
Free tax enquiry Fee Protection Insurance for Taxfile customers who file their tax returns by the statutory deadline through Taxfile.
How online banking may save you time and money.
Introduce a new client to Taxfile and save 10% on our fees!
Saturday opening at Taxfile (Tulse Hill office) throughout November and December.
Help with all your tax and accounting needs – check out our list of all the things we can help you with — now including auto enrolment!
And a ‘thank you’ to all Taxfile customers … Read more

AMAZING OFFER! Save Time, Money & Space with a FREE Sage Bookkeeping & Accounts Package!*

January 14, 2016/in Accountancy, Accountants, Auto Enrolment, Bookkeeping, Cash flow, expenses, Filing deadlines, Income & Expenditure, Income tax, London, National Insurance, NI, NIC's, Online returns, PAYE, Payroll, Real Time Information, RTI, Sage, Save money, Self-assessment, Software packages, South London, Special Offers, Tax, Tax advice, Tax advisers, Tax calculation, Tax returns, Taxfile, VAT/by Mark

[UPDATE: Please note that this offer has now expired]. Taxfile’s customers can benefit from an incredible offer on a range of Sage accounting packages at the moment. We’re offering a FREE or, in effect, heavily subsidised* Sage accounting package to all active Taxfile customers, whether existing or new. There are various different packages available so we’re sure we’ll have one which will suit every customer perfectly. The list of benefits is almost endless — here are just a few:

Firstly we’ll GIVE* Taxfile customers the package — you don’t have to pay Sage at all;
Say hello to quick and easy bookkeeping and record-keeping;
Quick and easy cash flow management tools;
Cloud-based record keeping means you can access accounts records from anywhere with an internet connection;
Automatic bank statement integration makes bank reconciliation a breeze, helping when receipts go missing and even recognising – and accounting for – regular transactions;
A mobile app module allows you to simply snap a photo of your receipt and it uploads to your Sage account (say goodbye to physical receipt storage!);
Less paperwork!
Automatic tax computations performed by the software;
Report and analysis options;
VAT handling;
Automatic VAT return options (or let us handle it for you as you prefer);
Shows you the taxes and National Insurance due so you can easily pay them on time;
Fast and easier tax returns;
Help from Taxfile at any point and from Sage’s own helpful videos;
Helps you stay in line with UK laws, taxes and regulations;
No experience needed;
Perfect for the self-employed, start-ups and small businesses;
Taxfile will even be happy to set you up;
Integrated invoicing and quotation options available (even from your mobile phone!);
A quick and easy payroll bolt-on is also available for limited companies, with payslips, RTI, Auto Enrolment integration etc.;
Auto enrolment communications included if you have a company pension scheme;
Option to automatically integrate online e-commerce records into your Sage account;
Fast and easier company accounts preparation;
… and much more!

But there is more major benefit – collaboration with us, your accountant!

The Sage packages we supply are not only free, or in effect heavily subsidised depending on the package involved, but also allow us, your accountant and tax adviser, to collaborate with you within your Sage package with your permission. So where you cannot do something yourself, we can log in using our own integrated Sage administration system to get involved on your behalf, for example to set things up for you, run reports, activate VAT returns, tax returns, end of year accounts, payroll and so on. It’s amazing really! So you do as much or as little as you want to … and we cover everything else!

You save money!

Using the easy but powerful Sage bookkeeping and accounting packages supplied by Taxfile
means that you’ll save money. It’s as simple as that. Customers using such packages makes our job easier, reducing our chargeable hours working on your accounts, so quite simply saves you money!

You also save time!

Our Sage packages will save you SO much time you’ll never look back! Once you’ve tried our Sage packages for a while you’ll Read more

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

December 14, 2015/in 2015, 2016, Accountancy, HMRC, Income tax, Pay as you go, Pay-as-you-earn, Tax, Tax advice/by Mark

A 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 therefore 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

Beat The January Rush and Save!

November 11, 2015/in 2015, Accountancy, Accountants, CIS, Construction Industry Scheme, Refund, Save money, Self-assessment, Self-employed, South London, Subcontractor, Tax advice, Tax advisers, Tax refunds, Tax returns, Tulse Hill/by Mark

TaxFile are offering a 5% reduction for clients who can submit their accounts to us before December 21st this year. This helps both of us — you receive a 5% reduction in your bill and it eases the rush in the New Year, our busiest time.

For example you could use this opportunity to reduce our charges for help with your self-assessment tax return submission if you’re self-employed, or for help with your CIS tax refund application if you’re a sub-contractor working in the construction industry, or if you’re one of our many clients who simply require tax advice and accountancy-related assistance from time to time.

Don’t delay – this discount is only available for a few weeks so call us on 020 8761 8000 or call into our Tulse Hill branch in SE21 for a chat and we’ll be delighted to help. You can also email us by clicking here or alternatively you can make an appointment with one of our tax agents here.

Want to save money before Christmas?

November 5, 2015/in Accountancy, CIS, Discount, Save money, Self-assessment, Tax refunds, Tax returns, Taxfile, Tulse Hill/by Mark

Check out Taxfile’s latest e-newsletter to find out our latest tax news and easy ways you can save money — but only if you act fast.

Taxfile’s friendly staff are always available to help on all matters regarding tax and if you come in before 21st December we’ll give you a discount – check out the e-newsletter for full details and other ways to save even more. Up to date bulletins can also be found here on our tax blog.

If you’d like to save money on your self-assessment or tax refund, including CIS refunds for sub-contractors, call into Taxfile’s Tulse Hill Branch in SE21, or telephone 020 8761 8000. You can also contact Taxfile online here or book a free introductory appointment with a tax advisor here.

If you’d like to be included in our future e-newsletter mail-outs, please click here. We only send a few each year and you can unsubscribe at any time with a simple mouse-click. Your details will, of course, not be passed on to anyone else — they are only used to send out our own newsletters and tax news.

Summer Budget 2015 – Key Tax Takeaways

July 17, 2015/in 2015, Annual Investment Allowance, Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, National Minimum Wage, Non-domiciled residents, South London, Tax advice, Tax advisers/by Mark

The Summer Budget was announced last week and in this blog post we’ll take a look at only those changes which will affect ordinary taxpayers and SMEs.

In his opening remarks, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, promised:

A Budget … to keep moving us from a low wage, high tax, high welfare economy; to the higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare country.

So, taking each of those goals in turn …

Higher Minimum Wages

With regard to the higher wages promise, Osborne announced that there would be a new National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour from April 2016 for those aged over 25 and over, rising to more than £9 per hour by the year 2020.

Lower Tax

With regard to the lower tax promise, the Personal Allowance (the amount people can earn before paying any tax) will increase – as anticipated – from £10,600 in the financial year 2015-16 to £11,000 in 2016-17. A longer term plan is to increase this still further to £12,500 by 2020. The ultimate ambition is pass a law to make sure that those working 30 hours a week and earning the National Minimum Wage will pay no tax whatsoever, although clearly this will need further clarification in due course.

Dividend tax will also be reformed. Here the existing dividend tax credit (this reduces tax paid on dividends from shares) will be replaced by a new £5,000 tax-free allowance on income from shares from April 2016 and this will be available to all taxpayers. To offset the cost of this to the Exchequer, those with more significant dividend income will see an increase in the tax rate they pay.

Inheritance tax will also be subject to changes from 2017-18. The idea is to allow individuals to each have a ‘family home allowance’ which they can pass on to their children or grandchildren, tax-free, when they die. This allowance will be added to the existing Inheritance Tax threshold currently set at £325k and will potentially allow property up to the value of £1m to be passed down from 2020-21 (see table below). For those with estates valued over £2m the allowance will be gradually withdrawn.

This is how the effective Inheritance Tax thresholds will look in 2020-21: Read more

Case Study: a high rate taxpayer in a complex tax situation

June 30, 2015/in Case Studies/by Mark

The Client

A new client, Mr ‘K’, is a higher rate taxpayer who previously used to file his own tax returns.

The Problem

Mr K got into a complicated financial situation in 2013/14 due to having received redundancy pay, severance pay waiver, investment income, PAYE income and pension income. He needed professional guidance and advice regarding his tax liability.

The Solution

Taxfile looked into all the records and correspondence regarding the redundancy and severance pay so as to make sure of the right tax treatment for each. We also calculated the various tax rates for each type of income and advised that the remaining tax liability should be collected through the tax code system.

The Result

The client was reassured that the tax calculation was done professionally and accurately and was able to pay the right amount of tax in the most appropriate way.

Client Feedback

The client was impressed with how quick and efficient Taxfile’s service was and, as a result, is continuing to use our service now and into the future. Read more

STILL haven’t filed your tax return? You owe £410 in fines & counting!

May 26, 2015/in HMRC, Late return, Tax advice, Tax advisers, Tax returns/by Mark

If you STILL haven’t filed your tax return despite the end of May being almost upon us, you’ll owe £410 in HMRC penalties by the end of this week. Continue to throw money down the drain at the rate of £10 extra per day thereafter if you still don’t submit your return.

As we explained in our last post, missing the original January 31 deadline meant an automatic HMRC penalty of £100 (on top of tax owed, of course) at that time.
But, with the additional penalty of £10 per extra day extra having been piling up since 1st May, it means you’ll need to add £310 to the original £100 penalty by the end of this week. Carry on like this for yet another month and by the end of June you’ll owe a whopping £710. It doesn’t end there — by the end of July it’ll be worse still as there is an additional £300 penalty levied by HMRC. Yes, that’s on top of the daily £10 fine and the original £100 penalty, meaning that the total penalty will then be £1300 as a bare minimum (it can be worse still if HMRC deem your case to be particularly serious). All this simply because your tax return is late.

All these penalties are in addition to the actual tax you owe!

Don’t forget … even if you owe no tax, you still need to submit your tax return so aren’t immune to the penalties. Take another look at the full post for more detail or, better still, contact us here at Taxfile urgently if you’d like our professional help in filing your tax return on your behalf — and minimising the penalties you’ll need to pay to HMRC. Call 0208 761 8000, click here to contact us or book an appointment with one of our tax advisors here and we’d be delighted to help. We are based in Tulse Hill, South London.

Still Haven’t Filed Your Tax Return? Expect a Nasty Bill from HMRC!

April 22, 2015/in 2014, Accountancy, Accountants, Advice, HM Revenue and Customs, HMRC, Income tax, Key dates, Late return, London, Nil return, Online returns, penalties, penalty, Self-assessment, South London, Tax, Tax advice, Tax advisers, Tax affairs, Tax bill, Tax return, Tulse Hill/by Mark

If you still haven’t filed your tax return for the financial year up to 5 April 2014 you can expect the penalties from HMRC to begin racking up daily — and potentially very significantly — starting from Friday 1 May.

If you missed the 31 January Tax Return deadline …

If you missed the 31 January 2015 deadline for tax returns, you already owe HMRC £100 in fines on top of any tax you owe. If you don’t owe any tax whatsoever, HMRC still require a tax return from you, plus that £100 in penalties.

If you still haven’t filed your return by 1 May …

From 1 May 2015 you can also expect a £10 daily penalty to kick in, on top of the £100 fine above, up to a maximum addition for the period of £900 (90 days) extra. But it gets even worse…

If you STILL haven’t filed your return by 30 July …

After the 90 day period beginning on May 1st, if you STILL haven’t filed your tax return you’ll receive a further £300 penalty (or 5% of the tax due; whichever is highest) plus a possible additional fine equivalent to 100% (or more) of the tax due, depending on how serious the case is.

Each of these individual penalties is in addition to the preceding ones.

So, to conclude, if by 30 July 2015 you STILL haven’t filed your latest tax return you will be in for a minimum penalty of an incredible £1300.00 and that’s in addition to the tax you owe. Also, Read more

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