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A Brit's Guide to Value Added Tax (VAT) Returns

A Brit’s Guide to Value Added Tax Returns

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A Brit's Guide to Value Added Tax (VAT) Returns

VAT — the three little letters that strike fear into the hearts of many a Brit. But fear not, fellow taxpayer! Today, we’re taking a break from the spreadsheets and diving into the delightfully quirky world of UK VAT returns.

VAT, the Shapeshifter

Ever feel like VAT is playing a game of tax-code whack-a-mole? One minute, it’s 20% on your fancy new bicycle helmet. The next, it’s vanished like a magician’s rabbit on a packet of crisps (because, let’s face it, crisps are a VAT mystery all on their own).

The Great Cake Debate

Who knew a simple sponge cake could cause such a stir? Apparently, a sprinkle of chocolate transforms it into a full-VAT situation. Don’t worry, Victoria sponges are safe (for now).

VATman vs. the Smoothie Smugglers

Remember the smoothie wars of ’07? Innocent Drinks tried to claim their creations were “liquefied fruit salad” to avoid VAT. HMRC, ever the defender of fiscal justice, said, “Not so fast, those are clearly beverages!”  A tale that proves even the fruitiest tax battles can be entertaining.

Filing Follies

We’ve all been there. You’ve spent hours on your return, feeling smug and self-assured. Then, with a click of the submit button, dread washes over you. Did you forget something? Did you use the wrong form for your pet rock collection (because, yes, VAT rules apply there too)? Deep breaths, everyone. VAT return blunders are a thing.

The Refund Rumble

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of a VAT refund. It’s like finding a forgotten banknote in your winter coat – a financial windfall delivered straight from HMRC! Just remember, with great refunds comes great responsibility (to spend it wisely, of course).

 

VAT returns might not be a walk in the park, but with a little humour and a helpful accountant, they can be a gentle breeze on a summer’s morning.

At Taxfile we take the ‘tax’-ing aspect out of VAT returns leaving you with the ‘value added’, focusing on what is important for you and your business.

We can run your VAT from start to finish; all you need to do is keep a digital footprint of your financial data.

Late with your tax return and tax payment? What happens now?

Missed the Tax Return Deadline? What Happens Now?

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Missed the Tax Return Deadline? What Happens Now?

[February 2024]: 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 as soon as possible, so you’ll reduce any element of interest. However, if you “took reasonable care to meet” a deadline and there is a genuine reason why you were late, you have the option to appeal if your circumstances fit eligible criteria. Let’s take a look …

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;
  • if you have a disability of mental illness that affected the delay;
  • if you misunderstood your legal obligation, or were unaware of it;
  • if someone you’d appointed for the task (e.g. accountant or tax adviser) failed in their obligation on your behalf;
  • and occasionally other reasons which, if genuine, HMRC may deem to be relevant (for example, some Covid-related circumstances).

Excuses that aren’t usually accepted by HMRC include:

  • you didn’t receive a reminder from HMRC;
  • you found HMRC’s online system too difficult to use;
  • your cheque bounced or payment failed due to you having insufficient funds;
  • you made an error on your return.

Appealing Against an HMRC Penalty

You do have the right to appeal against HMRC’s decision to issue you a penalty, for example due to a tax return — or the actual tax — being paid late. Taxfile can help advise you about that (see below).

Taxfile are Here to Help

So, if your tax return is late, you owe HMRC tax or are owed a refund by them, come and see us as soon as possible at Taxfile — we’re accountants and tax advisors in Tulse Hill, South London. We’ll help to sort it all out for you with the minimum of fuss, at a competitive price. Come in as early in the month as you can and we’ll help you to sort things out — for the best possible outcome. We know the rules and liaise with HMRC every single day on behalf of our clients, so if we can help convince HMRC to reduce or completely remove any penalty you may be facing, we will do so, so long as your circumstances fit the relevant HMRC criteria. You can only appeal within 30 days of the date of any penalty notice you receive, so the earlier the better – give us a call on 0208 761 8000 or fill in the short form here and we’ll take it from there. Alternatively, book an appointment with one of our expert tax advisors to chat things over, without obligation. Payment plans called ‘Time to Pay’ arrangements may also be available for eligible people who cannot to afford to pay their tax in one lump sum — Taxfile would be happy to tell you more.

020 8761 8000 Book Appointment Get Started Here
Final day to submit your Self-Assessment tax return

Today is the Tax Return Deadline!

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TODAY is the Self-Assessment tax return deadline!

[As at 31 January 2024]: The 31st January is THE FINAL DEADLINE by which you need to file your Self Assessment tax return with HMRC. If you miss(ed) that deadline (11.59pm on 31st), you risk a £100 HMRC fine right away plus other significant penalties thereafter. Interest will also be charged from 1 February if tax is not paid by midnight on 31 January (rules apply).

Time is running out, so contact Taxfile for help with your tax return as soon as possible please. Book an appointment* with one of our helpful tax advisors and accountancy experts TODAY and we’ll make filling in and submitting your tax return simple!

020 8761 8000 Book Appointment Get Started Here

We’ll make filling in and submitting your tax return easy!

Don’t leave it to the last minute as there is always a bottleneck — come in as soon as you can, please, for professional help with filing of your tax return. We’ll require your records and figures for the financial year 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023 unless you have a different accounting period. Plus any previous years not yet submitted, if applicable.

* As well as a face-to-face meeting, we can do a ‘virtual’ meeting with you, for example using Zoom video, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts — or whatever suits you best.

It doesn’t matter if you have zero tax to pay – you still need to submit your tax return.

020 8761 8000 Book Appointment Get Started Here

* Please note: in busy times like January, a deposit may be required before appointments commence.

TODAY is the deadline for submission of your tax return. Contact Taxfile for help filing & avoid a minimum £100 fine!

31st January was the Self Assessment Tax Return Deadline!

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Today (31 January) is the self-assessment tax return deadline!

[As at 1 February 2023]: The 31st January was the Self Assessment tax return and tax payment deadline. Miss the deadline and you’ll be in for a £100 HMRC fine right away. Interest will also be charged from 1 February, as usual, if tax is not paid by midnight on 31 January (rules apply). Time is short, so contact Taxfile for help with your tax return as soon as possible please. Book an appointment* with one of our helpful tax advisors and accountancy experts TODAY — we’ll make it easy!

020 8761 8000 Book Appointment Get Started Here
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HMRC Waives Late Filing & Payment Penalty for 31st January Deadline

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HMRC has taken the decision to not issue a late filing penalty for anyone who does not submit their self-assessment tax return before midnight on 31st January 2022.  It is important to point out that the deadline for filing your 2020-21 tax return remains 31/01/22 but the waiving of the penalty allows anyone who is unable to file their self-assessment tax return by the 31/01/22 deadline avoid a £100 late filing penalty as long as they submit their tax return  sometime before midnight 28th February 2022.

Furthermore, anyone that is unable to pay their self-assessment tax liability before 31st January 2022 will not receive a late payment penalty if they pay their tax in full, or call HMRC to arrange a payment plan before 1st April 2022.  It is important to note that interest will be added on taxes owed from 1st February 2022.

For a second year in a row, due to COVID, an extra Read more

HMRC Extends the Self-Assessment Submission Deadline to 28th February BUT Payments still need to be made by 31st January

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Self-Assessment tax return deadline extendedto February but tax needs to be paid by 31 January

Yesterday HMRC made an 11th hour decision to give the remaining 3 million tax payers an additional 28-days to file their tax return electronically.

For most, a submission after the 31st of January would have resulted in a £100 late filing penalty.  With planning already underway at HMRC on how to cope with the administrative task of appeals around COVID & late filing, HMRC has decided to only issue the penalties after 28th February, effectively offering a 1-month extension on the electronic submission of self-assessment income tax.

However, the payment date for taxes remains unchanged, so it is important to note that taxpayers are still obliged to pay any tax they still owe (including any deferred payments) by 31/01.  In fact we are advising our clients to pay as much as they can into their HMRC self-assessment account and to view it as a bank account with HMRC so that, once their taxes are filed, they are not left with any unwanted surprises with interest on late payments, as any unpaid tax from 19/20 will be charged interest as of 01/02.

The extension has been welcomed and our own Director Guy Bridger had approached the Treasury requesting this extension.  so even though there is a sense of relief, we are adamant that tax payers realise they need to settle their outstanding tax bill if they can, even if it is an estimate, otherwise they will face HMRC’s low rate of annual interest on late payment of taxes along with the initial surcharge of 5% of any tax unpaid for the 19/20 tax year after 28-days.  So Guy’s suggestion is to pay as much tax as you can before 28th of February.

Please view your UTR as a bank account with HMRC, and any money paid into HMRC’s account with your UTR is money that will sit on your account until it needs to be used up.

So, even though your taxes can now be filed electronically by no later than 28/02, you will need to pay money into your HMRC account by 31/01.  If you still need us to calculate and submit your 19/20 taxes, please come and see us or call us on 020 8761 8000. Even though we might not file them before the 31st January, you will at least know the outstanding amount owed.

Guy Tells No. 10 to Extend Self-Assessment Deadline

BREAKING NEWS: No. 10 Heeds Guy’s Plea — & Extends Self-Assessment Deadline!

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HMRC Heeds Guy's Plea & Extends Self-Assessment Deadline!

[BREAKING NEWS:] 11 days ago we published a post confirming that Guy Bridger, Taxfile’s founder, had personally delivered a postcard to No. 10 Downing Street, making the case for an extension to the Self-Assessment tax return deadline until the end of February. In Guy’s postcard to Boris Johnson, he had argued that there was simply too much pressure on people during Christmas, the New Year and the month of January, due to the bottleneck caused by the Self Assessment tax return deadline.

Well, in some very welcome good news, it seems the Government has listened to Guy’s plea. This afternoon HMRC confirmed:

“Self Assessment customers will not receive a penalty for filing their 2019-20 tax return late, as long as they file online by 28‌‌ ‌February.”

They went on to say:

“We are still encouraging customers who have not yet filed to do so by 31‌‌ January, if possible.”

This is great news for the people of the UK, in what are otherwise challenging times. Tens of thousands of accountants across the nation will also be hugely relieved. We also suspect that under-pressure HMRC staff will be happy about this development.  Accountants and taxpayers across the UK may well be queueing to buy Guy a drink when the pubs re-open!

It’s important to realise, however, that the tax owed for the tax year 2019-20 will still be due by 31 January. HMRC will charge interest from 1 February as usual. Guy’s company Taxfile is here to help compute the figures, though. For those who wish to take advantage and submit tax returns online during the February extension, but also want pay tax by 31 January in order to avoid interest, we have now published some further guidance here on what to do. That new guidance will help even if you’re not yet 100% sure of the figures, so take a look via that bold link.

Contact Taxfile for Help with Tax Returns & Any Tax-Related Issue

To contact Guy Bridger or any of the helpful tax experts at his company Taxfile, simply get in touch. We’re here to help!

Book an Appointment
Send us a Message
T: 020 8761 8000

 

You can learn more about Guy Bridger, his involvement at The Office of Tax Simplification and his company Taxfile here. If you would like to read Guy’s original article about the postcard given to Boris Johnson, click here.

Last resort for tax returns this year

Every Day of January is the 31st

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Every Day of January is the 31st

HMRC have announced that those members of the public not able to pay their taxes or submit tax returns on time will be able to appeal against the late filing penalties they will inevitably get this winter. From what we have been hearing HMRC are expecting everyone to have adequate proof of sickness. Does this mean that they will be expected to waste the time of the medical community who, if I am right, are rather busy these days?

What will happen if tax filers struggle with the HMRC online service and cannot get help over the phone, perhaps because HMRC are closing early, not open over the two Sundays, under-staffed on the helplines and rather strangely make you wait 40 minutes in a queue (which has been the case the past year)?

What are people to do?

Buy last minute accounting software from some of the companies climbing on the band wagon to further stress and pressure people into adopting overbearing products and systems designed for businesses not necessarily for sole traders, who probably use their personal bank accounts to get paid, so have mixed use issues? These software products are now being pedalled to the public as the fix-all solution — but who wants to have all their personal bank info imported into a tax and accounting package? Are people expected to analyse every minutiae and, in doing so, become experts on what they can claim or most likely not claim anyway! Or have to master percentages for use of things such as telephone, Internet usage and then apportion in the software (how does this work if at all)?

When I worked with the office of tax simplification we worked out what was actually happening in society and gave it credence;

  • People earn an income from dealing with their clients;
  • They may or may not provide materials or use tools;
  • They may or may not use transport;
  • They probably have some communication and technology costs;
  • Then they may have some professional costs like insurance.

It’s hardly rocket science.

When you come to use the HMRC software it leads you through the maze somewhat similar to the psychology of coping with your first orientation of a new Ikea store!

So I can tell you …

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