When it comes to the self assessment tax return there are two penalty regimes to consider: Late Filing As we know the date for filing the self assessment tax return has been moved to 28th February 2021 from 31st January 2021. This is a one year change and will revert to 31st January next year and beyond. If your return is not filed by 28th February 2021 the … [Read more...]
Bounce Back Loans, Illegal Dividends and Buying Cars
What is a Bounce Back Loan Bounce back loans are one of the many packages of financial support available for those businesses that have suffered as a result of Covid. You can apply for a Bounce Back Loan if your business: is based in the UK was established before 1 March 2020 has been adversely impacted by the coronavirus The purpose of the loan is to help the … [Read more...]
Fraud prevention measure and how it can scupper your business receipts
Many banks have recently introduced a fraud prevention measure to ensure that scammers cannot make people pay them instead of a genuine supplier. The background The banking change has come about due to the increase in a very simple invoice fraud. A scammer would find out, via an active marketing or PR campaign, who a company had won a contract with. They would then … [Read more...]
IR35 tip for delayed legislation
As many of you will know the proposed IR35 legislation implementation in the private sector has been delayed for a year. This may be too late for some and for others this may be good news. However one thing that is important to remember is that if you have already been assessed to be within IR35 you will operate at considerable risk if you continue under the old … [Read more...]
Diversity is different in Accountancy
While delighted to be a judge for the Women in Accountancy and Finance Awards, I was intrigued to find that Male Diversity Champion was on my list of categories to pore over. For those of you that don’t know me, I’ve never been shy in flagging up examples of men who fail to support others in the workplace. But I don’t criticise just for the sake of it, and I do … [Read more...]
The Tax system makes simple self assessments far too complicated
I’m a great believer that where we have a tax regime demanding self assessment (clue in the title – the onus is on us to report income to assess how much tax we pay) then TAX SHOULD BE SIMPLE. The Tax Rules should be something that each and every tax payer in the UK can understand. However there are a number of things that make the tax system unnecessarily … [Read more...]
VAT Flat Rate Scheme should be abolished?
Rendered all but useless to many by the Limited Cost Business rules introduced in April 2017, the VAT Flat Rate Scheme seems to be one that’s inciting business owners to actively seek out tax evasion tactics to avoid the application of the 16.5% standard Flat Rate percentage. It’s time for the whole scheme to be reviewed and potentially abolished. Background to the Flat … [Read more...]
How to avoid sleepless nights worrying about HMRC catching you out on your Tax Scheme
“Nothing is certain but death and taxes” – a phrase attributed to multiple authors including Benjamin Franklin. Whoever said it they were certainly correct. The taxes raised pay for the Public Services that we need and consume – road, health service, Police, Ambulances, Education to name but a few. If as a Nation we want Public Services then we need to fund these by way of a … [Read more...]
I’ll do anything for Tax but I won’t do that
Contrary to popular opinion, the life of a Chartered Accountant is far from dull. The stories some people share with us are extraordinary. It’s almost like being a Priest except, for those accountants who are regulated (not all are but that’s a different story) we have a legal obligation, under Money Laundering Rules, to report any financially suspicious behaviour we … [Read more...]