Have you ever thought about your pension? It might seem far away, but it's super important to start thinking about it now! One of the key things that helps build your future pension is your National Insurance (NI) contributions. In today's post, we explain an important deadline that you won't want to miss out on if you have gaps in your NI contributions and would like to potentially boost your state pension.

The post Don’t Miss Out! Your Future Pension Needs YOU! – Check Your NI Contributions by April 5th, 2025 appeared first on Taxfile.

From April 2025, the secondary threshold for employer National Insurance ('NI') will be lowered. This means that employers will need to start paying employer NI contributions on their employees' earnings sooner. In today's post we explain how this will affect employers, how much the employer NICs will increase, changes to the Employment Allowance, and more.

The post Lowering the Secondary Threshold for Employer NI – What You Need to Know appeared first on Taxfile.

by Ali at Taxfile.

The UK Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, delivered his Spring Budget on March 6, 2024, amidst a backdrop of subdued economic growth and limited fiscal headroom. The budget aimed to strike a delicate balance between supporting economic activity, controlling public spending, and preparing for future challenges.

If you have missed the announcements, the Key Highlights for the majority of our clients are as follows.

The post Spring Budget 2024: A Balancing Act for the UK Economy appeared first on Taxfile.

HMRC issues tax returns each year to those who meet the criteria; you may be self-employed or a higher earner from employment income. The tax return software available online will calculate your tax liability if you fancy giving it a try yourself. However, most people use accountants and tax advisors who might, in their wisdom, be able to save you money and in some circumstances give you guidance and good advice. Indeed, Taxfile can help in all these areas and we explore this in today’s article.

The post Tax Return Accountants appeared first on Taxfile.

The post How do I pay myself as a Director? appeared first on Taxfile.

Our informative May e-Newsletter is now ready to view online. It includes exciting news of our new branch opening in Battersea along with important tax and accountancy-related news that might affect you. Here is a quick summary of the newsletter's contents:

• The first article announces the opening of our new Battersea Branch in London SW8. New and existing customers are welcome to pop in and say hello and to get expert help with your tax affairs and accountancy requirements. Learn more about the opening of the Battersea branch, and the core services on offer, here or click the big button below to read the newsletter.
• If you work on one of the many Battersea construction sites in or around SW8, we can help you reclaim overpaid tax and much more ... see the newsletter for more details - click the big button below.
• If you're a sub-contractor working in the construction industry scheme ('CIS'), you're almost certainly due a tax refund (learn why here). Taxfile are experts at getting tax rebates from HMRC, so come and see us and we'll get you the maximum refund possible. Read the newsletter (click the big button below) to learn how we make your tax refund application fast and hassle-free.
• We can help limited company contractors too! We're tax and accountancy experts so we can help you register as a limited company or register for CIS if you're not already set up, we'll help you with the monthly tasks demanded of you by HMRC including accounts preparation, confirmation statements, corporation tax handling, CIS set-off rebate, National Insurance (NI), VAT, bookkeeping, payroll and much more. We'll save you time and will make operating the Construction Industry Scheme a breeze. Click the pink newsletter button below for more details.
• If you introduce a family member, friend or colleague to Taxfile, you will get a discount off your next tax return if they sign up as a new paying customer with us. Click the button for details.
• Taxfile recently printed some brightly coloured postcards to promote our new Battersea office and our tax-related services. Simply get in contact if you'd like some of these postcards to hand out to colleagues. If you write your full name on the back and use it to refer a colleague, it might even save you money! Click the button for more details.
• Our team are multi-lingual and always happy to help. If English is not your first language, let us know and we'll try to match you to the most appropriate staff member.
• If you, your friends, family or colleagues have not dealt with your old tax returns, HMRC will be adding £10 per day to the penalty from 1st May. That's on top of the £100 fine that will have applied immediately after missing the original 31 January deadline. Let Taxfile get your tax records, tax returns and overdue tax all in order so you don't have to pay any more in fines than you have already. Learn more here or contact your nearest branch for a consultation.
• All Taxfile clients get free 'Tax Enquiry Fee Protection Insurance' when they file their tax return through Taxfile by the statutory deadline. So - if you're investigated by HMRC - our fees to sort it out are covered. Click the button for more details.

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Feel free to

The post May Newsletter – New Battersea Branch, Easy CIS Tax Refunds, Avoid £10 Daily Fines & More appeared first on Taxfile.

HMRC have been busy, behind the scenes, shaking things up with regard to the personal data they hold on UK taxpayers. They've been pulling in - rather successfully - personal data from various different government departments and bringing all that data into one central place for both them and us to see, whenever the need arises. This is all part of their longer-term plan for Making Tax Digital or 'MTD' as it's known in the tax and accounting world. So, with that in mind, this is the first in a series of posts that introduces MTD and a crucial part of that; Personal Tax Accounts (PTAs). In this series of articles we'll discuss what MTD will mean for most of us, we'll look at the kinds of data that will be stored, see how it'll affect us and, lastly, see if there is anything that we'll need to do.

Personal Tax Accounts (PTAs)

One of the core elements of MTD is the Personal Tax Account (PTA). In years to come, each UK individual is likely to become very used to logging into their Personal Tax Account on the HMRC website. In fact, these already exist and most, if not all, UK taxpayers can already access them if they want to. When accessed, it's quite interesting to see the huge amount of data already accessible via your own PTA if you care to take a look. You may be surprised just how much data they contain for you.

For those not yet ready to take the plunge, we've taken a look for you, as you'll see. And, so far, we are quite impressed.

First, though, perhaps you'd like to sign up to view your PTA account for the first time. If you do this you can perhaps follow along with our notes and see how similar records in your PTA are to those in our demonstration account. For example, we found the National Insurance Record and resulting State Pension Forecast of particular interest, but that's just indicative of many different areas available in the new PTAs. Before starting, though, take a look at our quick word about security* because it's important to keep your personal details safe and out of harm's way.

Anyway, if and when you'd like to take a look at your own PTA, head off to this page which will give you various options depending on whether you already have a Government Gateway account (to clarify, you will need a Government Gateway account before you can gain access to your PTA). If you've used HMRC online services before, you'll already have a Government Gateway account. If not, follow the instructions on that page in order to set one up for the first time. To do that, you'll need your National Insurance (NI) number and proof of identity which can include your bank account details, a P60, your 3 most recent payslips or your passport number and expiry date. It takes about 15 minutes to set up if you have these to hand.

So, assuming you now have your Government Gateway account access credentials sorted out, you can sign into your Personal Tax Account (PTA) here using your User ID and password.

When first logging in as a new user, the HMRC system may prompt you to set up an additional level of login security. For example, setting up access codes by SMS (you'll then be sent a code to enter into the screen when logging in, to prove you are who you say you are. You'll be sent a new access code to your mobile phone every time you sign in. It's rather like 2FA (2 Factor Authentication) for those who are familiar with that).

You may additionally be asked some security questions, again to protect your data from hackers. In my test I was asked for my full name, date of birth, passport number and similar information (quite a bit actually). This type of heavy duty disclosure is another reason to make sure you have read our security* pointers before disclosing anything sensitive online.

Welcome to your Personal Tax Account (PTA)

Once logged in you'll be met with a screen similar to the image shown right, with your name at the top:

As you can see, it contains several sections. From your Personal Tax Account, you can:

• Check your PAYE tax code, see an estimate of the Income Tax you'll pay and more;
• Check your Self Assessment details (or enrol) and view personal tax returns submitted in the past;
• View your National Insurance record;
• Check and amend your Tax Credits record;
• Tell HMRC about any changes that might affect any Child Benefit you receive (e.g. tell HMRC if your child is staying in education or training if they were aged 16 on or before 31 August);
• View and potentially update details about any Marriage Allowance if applicable to you (if you're married or in a civil partnership and earn less than £11,500 you may be eligible);
• View an entire history of your National Insurance (NI) contributions;
• Check when you can claim your State Pension;
• See a forecast of how much you may receive for your State Pension when the time comes.

You can also:

The post Making Tax Digital (‘MTD’), Part 1 — Your Personal Tax Account appeared first on Taxfile.

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