Paying your personal tax bills
Personal tax payments are generally made on 31 January and 31 July. Now is a good time to plan for that January 2024 payment. The first criteria to ensure an accurate tax bill is to have completed and filed the 2022/23 tax return. Many still, unfortunately, put off this task to the very last minute, […]
The Autumn Statement and the effect on small businesses
The government has announced a cut to the main rate of Class 1 employee NICs from 12% to 10% from 6th January 2024 and a cut to the main rate of Class 4 self-employed NICs from 9% to 8% from 6th April 2024. It has also announced that no one will be required to pay […]
The Real Living Wage – increased
Employers who join the Real Living Wage scheme, set up by the Living Wage Foundation charity, make a commitment to pay their staff at a rate that reflects what the charity thinks people need to cover everyday costs. Around 14,000 employers have signed up, benefitting over 460,000 workers. The rise will take hourly pay from […]
Trading on digital platforms? – HMRC is watching!
Under new rules, from 1 January 2024, information will be sent to the tax authorities by those platforms. The goods and services covered by the reporting requirement include accommodation, transport rental, personal services, and tangible goods. This includes Ebay, Etsy, AirBnB and Amazon among many others. The information will be sent to the tax authority […]
Electric cars – buy new or used?
Buying an electric car through your company can produce significant upfront tax savings. An electric company car costing say £65,000 new is wholly deductible as capital allowances in the year of purchase, meaning the full cost is deducted from taxable profits. There is a benefit in kind where there is personal use, but this is […]
PAYE – Pay it on time!
As with most taxes, if payment is late, interest is charged and sometimes penalties too. PAYE can be paid monthly or quarterly – the latter option is available when the liability is less than £1500 per month. The downside is that it can be more easily overlooked than if it is paid monthly. PAYE is […]
The Autumn Statement
The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will present the Autumn statement to Parliament on 22 November 2023. This is likely to announce tax rates, allowances, and reliefs for the next financial year. We do know some tax plans which have already been announced; the annual Capital Gains Tax exemption is halving to £3k in 2024/25, the basis […]
When tax planning goes wrong…
Lord Alan Sugar was in the news recently regarding an unexpected tax bill – £186 million. This was tax on a dividend he received from his company whilst he claimed to be non-resident in the UK! Having emigrated to Australia, he thought he would not have to pay UK tax. However, it went wrong, in […]
Might the VAT flat rate scheme be beneficial to your business?
If you use the Flat Rate Scheme, you charge VAT to your customers (‘output VAT’) and pay VAT to your suppliers when you buy goods or services from them (‘input VAT’) in the normal way. However, the VAT return figures are calculated differently. VAT on expenses is generally ignored; instead, the total sales including the […]
Benefits in Kind –P11d or PAYE Settlement agreement?
Many businesses will provide certain benefits to their employees that are intended to motivate or incentivise them, such as staff entertaining, gifts and prizes. Whilst there are certain exemptions available, many benefits remain liable to income tax and NIC. A PAYE Settlement agreement (PSA) is an administrative arrangement allowing employers to pay the income tax […]
