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As of 6th April 2013, HMRC will be significantly changing the way in which payroll information is to be submitted and the forms they expect employers to use. RJP has covered these changes and what they mean in detail within previous blogs. We thought it would be helpful to do another one, in which we summarise the main changes to be aware of. It is very important that clients take the necessary steps to get prepared or they will face penalties for non-compliance. (more…)
March 15, 2013
How to account for the cost of staff training is something we are frequently asked by clients and the answer is never straightforward. There are always a number of factors to consider and the issue of whether tax relief can be claimed, or a course classified as a tax-deductible expense, comes down to what the course actually does for the individual in relation to his or her job role. (more…)
February 21, 2013
What’s Best?
Increase to Annual Investment Allowance (AIA)
Top of the announcements for SMEs was the 10-fold increase to AIA. As of January 2013, the amount business owners will be able to write off as tax deductible capital expenditure in the year of purchase will increase from £25,000 to £250,000. This is a massive boost and far more significant than the previous government’s attempt at encouraging investment amongst business owners. In April 2010, the relief was £100,000, which was also generous, but not large enough to enable a lot of companies to write off all their capital purchases in the first year. This new limit however will achieve that in a single hit and we expect a lot of businesses will take advantage and upgrade their infrastructure. (more…)
January 18, 2013
Usually, when the big supermarkets save money, they advertise the fact that they give it back to their customers in the form of price cuts. That same logic is unlikely to be adopted by HMRC, which hopes to save at least £7.5 billion a year when it introduces Real Time Information (RTI) from April 2013. These savings are expected to be realised through reduced incidence of benefit fraud and a more efficient tax collection system. (more…)
November 19, 2012
Running out of cash is one the most common reasons why a perfectly good business ends up in administration. As a result of the recession, many a sound business operation has encountered cash flow problems and for some, it is the nail in the coffin. (more…)
October 29, 2012
As business owners continue to battle with uncertainty and a long lasting recession in Europe, one might be forgiven for thinking this is now business as usual. According to the management consultants McKinsey & Co it is. This landscape is what they have coined the ‘new normal’, which requires businesses to stay agile and cash rich if they want flourish and grow. After the Olympics and our exceptional summer of sports, effective management of working capital should be a central element of every business director’s armoury.
Working capital is the amount of cash available to finance ongoing business expansion. It’s money to pay salaries, invest in marketing activities, pay suppliers, spend on raw materials, resources, or move to better offices. This is different to cash flow, which is the movement of revenue into and out of the business, but central to achieving effective cash flow management. (more…)
September 18, 2012
It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t cover a tax issue with an Olympic flavour just as the games are about to start in London. HMRC has given us a perfect opportunity after they issued guidance to those lucky taxpayers who happen to be in possession of an Olympic torch and may decide to sell it – by reminding us that they will make a capital gain from any such sale. (more…)
June 25, 2012
According to Government figures, R&D tax credits provide nearly £1 billion of support to over 6000 UK companies. Over the past year, RJP has helped many clients to reduce their corporation tax bills – some to almost nothing – by taking advantage of the Government’s R&D tax credits scheme. This is a generous relief and allows over 200% of the money invested in qualifying R&D activities to be offset against corporation tax. (more…)
April 27, 2012
As announced in the 2012 Finance Bill, there have been a number of important changes to VAT rules, which it is important clients are aware of.
1. VAT and Academy schools
We have recently come across a number of academies who have applied for VAT registration without taking proper advice in relation to the implications and without weighing up the pros and cons of what VAT registration means for them. It is actually possible for schools with academy status to reclaim VAT incurred on non-business activities without the need for VAT registration and all the complications that come with it.
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February 24, 2012
There are just 7 days to go before the 31st January self-assessment tax returns deadline and Taxtalk’s Paul Webb outlines some very useful advice for those still needing to get organised. With trading conditions so tough at the moment for many small business owners, many people have had no option but to leave their Self-Assessment tax returns to the last minute and need to complete them in a rush.
Personal tax returns might be something of an administrative burden, but with HMRC out in force to collect as much revenue as possible, it is important to make sure yours is accurate and filed on time. Apart from resulting in an immediate £100 penalty (which will apply even if no tax is payable) and possible daily penalties of £10 per day, it’s never a good idea to fall under the tax officer’s spotlight. It could result in being targeted for an enquiry should HMRC’s officers start to wonder whether your business record keeping is being maintained diligently and whether there might be a tax shortfall to detect.
Taxtalk’s top tips for completing Self-Assessment tax returns (more…)
January 23, 2012
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