Small businesses / 217 posts found
Making Tax Digital for Business: update
In July, the Government confirmed that the Summer Finance Bill would be published in September, with the measures dropped from the pre-election Finance Bill being reintroduced in more or less the same form, from the initially planned commencement dates. Clauses dropped from the pre-election bill and expected to be brought back include those on Making Tax Digital (MTD), although the implementation date for income tax is being postponed. There is widespread agreement that Making Tax Digital for Business is the right approach for the future. However a number of concerns about the pace and scale of change have been raised. As a [...]
Double glazing salesmen was self-employed
Employment status tax cases often make the headlines in the professional press and the June 2017 case of Tomlinson was no exception. In this case, the First-tier Tribunal found that a double glazing salesman (Mr Malcolm Tomlinson) was self-employed and not an employee as he had claimed. As with most employment status cases, this case focused on the details of the terms on which Mr Tomlinson was engaged with the company. Many facts of the case pointed towards a self-employed status, including the fact that there was no written contract in place and Mr Tomlinson was not required to give notice of [...]
Paying Class 2 NICs
Whether or not Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) can be paid depends on whether an individual falls within the definition of a 'self-employed earner' for NIC purposes, and if so, whether profits are in excess of the existing small profits threshold (£6,025 for 2017/18). The definition of a self-employed earner is defined as someone 'who is gainfully employed in Great Britain otherwise than in employed earner's employment (whether or not he is also employed in such employment)' (SSCBA 1992, s 2(1)(b)). A person who is regarded as self-employed for income tax purposes, and who is taxed on the profits [...]
New anti-money laundering regulations take effect
The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Pay) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/692) took effect from 26 June 2017 and replace the previous 2007 Regulations with new statutory requirements for systems and procedures. Broadly, the regulations require firms undertaking certain financial activities to apply risk-based customer due diligence measures and take other steps to prevent the firm's services from being used for money laundering or terrorist financing. The regulations apply to a number of different business sectors, including financial and credit businesses, accountants and estate agents. Every business covered by the regulations must be supervised by a supervisory [...]
September 2017 Q&A
Q. I have two small businesses which are treated as a group for VAT purposes, so we only submit a single VAT return covering both entities. Are we eligible to use the Flat Rate Scheme? A. Unfortunately not. If you are part of a VAT group, or are eligible to join an existing VAT group, then you cannot use the Flat Rate Scheme (FRS). There is also a rule which stops 'associated' businesses joining the FRS. A business is 'associated' with another business if: one business is under the dominant influence of another; two businesses are closely bound by financial, economic and [...]
Paying voluntary NICs
There are various reasons as to why gaps may arise in an individual's national insurance contributions (NIC) record, for example, because that person has been on low earnings for several years, they have been living abroad, or because they have been unemployed and have not been claiming benefits. In certain circumstances therefore, it may be possible, and beneficial, to pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as this can safeguard entitlement to a future state retirement pension and certain other state benefits. Broadly, voluntary contributions may be paid for any tax year in which the individual is aged over [...]
SDLT on second homes
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is payable on the purchase of residential property in increasing portions of the property price above £125,000. Current rates of SDLT on individual and additional properties are as follows: Purchase price up to £125,000 - SDLT rate Zero; additional property rate 3% The next £125,000 (portion from £125,001 to £250,000) - SDLT rate 2%; additional property rate 5% The next £675,000 (portion from £250,000 to £925,000) - SDLT rate 5%; additional property rate 8% The next £575,000 (portion from £925,000 to £1.5m) - SDLT rate 10%; additional property rate 13% The remaining amount (portion above [...]
Mileage rates for electric and hybrid cars
Some confusion has been reported over how businesses should calculate mileage expenses rates for electric and hybrid company cars. This confusion has arisen largely because HMRC's advisory fuel rates, or approved mileage allowance payments, only cover petrol and diesel cars. There are no separate 'approved' rates for electric or hybrid vehicles. Currently, whilst HMRC do recognise that employees should be reimbursed for costs incurred for business travel, they do not currently recognise electric charging costs as a 'fuel' expense and do not therefore, currently publish separate rates. HMRC's advisory fuel rates can be used to work out mileage costs in certain [...]
VAT: zero-rating of adapted motor vehicles
Finance Act 2017 introduced legislation designed to end perceived abuse of the VAT relief on substantially and permanently adapted motor vehicles for disabled wheelchair users. The amended rules, which took effect from 1 April 2017, now specify a limit on the number of vehicles within a specified period of time that an individual can purchase under this relief. An eligible individual will be able to purchase one vehicle every three years. There are some instances when this limit can be exceeded, so if an individual's car is written off or stolen or if the vehicle has ceased to be suitable for the [...]
August 2017 Q & A
Q. My wife has a part time job but doesn't earn enough to pay tax. Can she get tax relief on contributions made to a pension scheme? A. Yes, even if you are not earning enough to pay income tax, you still qualify to have tax relief added to any contributions you make to a pension plan. However, the maximum you can pay in is £2,880 a year, or 100% of your earnings, subject to the 'annual allowance' restrictions. Tax relief is added to the contributions at the basic rate of tax (currently 20%), so if you pay in £2,880 net, tax [...]