HMRC have a general plan to lead the way in a revolutionary tax system, the main idea being why pay tax based on last years income when you can pay based on actual income. Of course of live real time reporting will bring many benefits to HMRC such as avoiding overpaying tax credit claims or collecting tax faster. Why now? Covid 19, contactless payment and open banking are just a few reasons why there has been a big shift in the way we live our lives. In short we have the technology to implement these big changes. The new MTD ITSA will be implemented from April 2023. What does Making Tax Digita ..read more

On 1 July 2021, new VAT legislation was introduced in the European Union (EU) affecting the VAT treatment of cross-border B2C sales.  The three main aspects of the changes are: the withdrawal of the Distance Selling thresholds and introduction of the ‘One-Stop Shop’ (‘OSS’) single EU VAT return, The removal of the low-value import VAT exemption and the new import one-Stop Shop (‘IOSS’), and Digital marketplaces which provide a fulfilment services will become the deemed supplier for VAT purposes The new rules will impact all businesses that sell products online to consumers (‘B2C’) in t ..read more

Running a business can be tough, you have enough hurdles to face let alone managing and paying your tax bill. Depending on your business you may have several taxes to pay such as Corporation Tax, VAT, Income Tax, PAYE and CIS. With so many taxes to manage its no surprise that you may miss a deadline for submitting a return or paying your tax. Our recommendation is setup an HMRC online account to manage your tax. With an HMRC account you can have one dashboard to manage all your taxes so you know if you have any tax outstanding, how to pay, when to pay and what penalties may have been charged ..read more

If you are in the construction industry you may have heard about the introduction of reverse charge VAT, which was originally supposed to be implemented on the 1st October 2019. This was delayed by a year to October 2020 due to the industry not being ready and now delayed again due to Covid 19. The latest update is the changes will take place from the 1st March 2021. Let us have a quick look at these changes and why they are being introduced. What is the point of these changes? Put simply there are two main reasons for the change, which are: 1- speed up payments of tax to the Exchequer, and 2 ..read more

Running a business can be lonely and challenging. There are so many hats to wear in business, from your sales, bookkeeper, IT service, Marketing, Human Resource and Health & Safety. How can you run a business and focus on your core offering when you have so many different hats to wear? We know it can be lonely, we know that sometimes you will be left feeling ‘Have I made the right decision?’ How well am I doing? Could I make any improvements? If this sounds like you, then why not get in touch for a Small Business Health Check. Our Small Business Review includes the following:   • A r ..read more

Before I started accountancy, I worked in a family owned restaurant. I had the wonderful responsibilities of looking after the accounts, paying the bills, and dealing with our accountant. I could never understand how our accountant was working out our tax bill when we had no money in the bank! To my mind we were not making much money, but our accountant always gave us a tax bill. There was never anything in the bank. My curiosity into how accounts and tax works led me down the path of a career to accountancy and here I am today. Thinking back to those days I think there was a big detachment b ..read more

My client is the director of a close trading company. The company operates from a commercial office in town but due to Covid-19, the director is being asked to work from home. The director is exploring the possibility of the company buying a brand-new office pod to be installed in his garden. What are the main tax implications for the company and the director? Tax implications for the company As this will be a capital expense, the company will not get a deduction for the cost of the pod against its trading profit (if any) in the accounting period in which the expense is incurred. Where a comp ..read more

As a way to help the suffering hospitality industry Rishi Sunak announces a 6 month reduction in VAT on the supplies of food and non-alcoholic drinks in pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes. The reduction has been further extended to supplies of accommodation and tourist attractions. The reduction applies from the 15th July 2020 to the 12th January 2021. VAT Reduction for hospitality sector (restaurants, cafes, bars) overview: As part of the temporary changes, the following supplies will benefit from this temporary 5% reduced rate of VAT: • Food and non-alcoholic beverages sold for on ..read more

As we approach the tax return deadline, I thought now would be a good time to post a blog about Payments on account due for Self-Assessment Income Tax. Payments on account is common area of confusion and although designed to help taxpayers can often lead to increased financial hardship and confusion especially to new taxpayers on self-assessment. What are payments on account and why are they necessary? Before we look at what payments on accounts are, let’s look at how the tax payments work first. When the tax year finishes on the 6th April you will have just under 10 months to file your tax r ..read more

HMRC have a general plan to lead the way in a revolutionary tax system, the main idea being why pay tax based on last years income when you can pay based on actual income. Of course of live real time reporting will bring many benefits to HMRC such as avoiding overpaying tax credit claims or collecting tax faster. Why now? Covid 19, contactless payment and open banking are just a few reasons why there has been a big shift in the way we live our lives. In short we have the technology to implement these big changes. The new MTD ITSA will be implemented from April 2023. What does Making Tax Digita ..read more