Viewing entries posted in July 2009

New payment methods accepted

Posted by admin on 31 July 2009 | 0 Comments

To keep up technological advances, Chase Accounting and Hate Paying Tax will now be accepting card payments. These can be done over the phone or by coming in to the office. If you want more information about paying by card or wish to make a payment contact us on 01543 468500. For those of you with a bigger bill we are also offering standing order payment plans. This will help to ease the cash flow of your business and is available at no extra cost. Further information available on request.

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New redundancy measures proposed by CBI

Posted by admin on 30 July 2009 | 0 Comments

The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) have proposed a new alternative to redudancy. Though the recession is easing, there is still a long route to recovery and more jobs will be lost.

The CBI has called for an Alternative to Redundancy (ATR) package. This would give organisations the choice to use the existing redundancy path, or to place an employee on ATR for a set period of up to six month. The employee would not work during that time, but would be paid an ATR allowance equal to twice the rate of Job Seekers Allowance - paid half by government and half by the employer. There would be no extra cost to the government and while on ATR an employee could seek new work. The ATR is not the same as a wage subsidy, or short-time working. The scheme allows the firm to take the employee back into work when the ATR period expires or if business improves earlier. If demand fails to pick up then full redundancy rights are preserved.
For further information on the CBI's proposal, click here.

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National Minimum Wage (NMW)

Posted by admin on 30 July 2009 | 0 Comments

Though you may not think your employees are worth their hourly rate, The Revenue have differing opinions. The National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates are as follows;

£5.73 (£5.80 from October 2009) an hour for adults aged 22 and over £4.77 (£4.83 from October 2009) an hour for 18-21 year olds £3.53 (£3.57 from October 2009) an hour for 16-17 year olds.
HMRC are imposing automatic penalities on anyone who refuses to refuses to comply and go back six years! The penalties can range between £100 and £5000, however if you settle up with 14 days you'll get 50% off your penalty. However, if it gets serious it can go to the courts and result in unlimited fines! Are you complying with the National Minimum Wage?

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Forms forms forms

Posted by admin on 29 July 2009 | 0 Comments

As well as hate paying tax, we also hate filing in forms. But, similarly to tax, we have to. Here are a few of the forms we really dislike. CWF1 (Becoming self-employed and registering for National Insurance contributions and/or tax). If you want to become self employed you'll need this. If your unsure about going self employed, give us a call and we will do our best to help discern the best option for you. P46 (Employee without a Form P45) Found a new tea boy who wants to go on the books? For him to be an employee on your Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, you'll both need to fill this in. VAT1 (Application for registration). If your registering for VAT you'll need this. If you need assistance filing your VAT return we would gladly be of assistance. 287 - If you're moving premises, Companies House will need to be informed. Use this form to notify them. 288a - Found a business partner? If you want to appoint them a director or secretary of the company, this form allows you to do so. 288b - Lost a business partner? In filing in this form, a company director or secretary can be terminated. 88(2) - If your looking to add in shareholders this is the form for you. This is not a comprehensive list of all the forms we hate. We advise that before filing in any of these forms, you contact us to ensure what you are doing is best for the business. If you have further queries or want to start being self employed, email us on advice@hatepayingtax.co.uk or call on 01543 468500.

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When the Inspector calls – New Inland Revenue regulations regarding businesses

Posted by admin on 27 July 2009 | 0 Comments

Not just another scare story. As from 1st April 2009 (not an April fools joke either) Inland Revenue have new powers regarding investigations. Most of the powers we hope we will never see used against you as they involve entering and inspecting premises – sometimes without notice. However, if you are unlucky enough (or careless enough) to be investigated, there are some new rules that you need to be aware of. The major one is the new system of penalties and how they are applied. Fundamental to the level of penalties are whether Inland Revenue consider a) whether you have co-operated and b) whether any tax arises due to neglect or deliberate mis-statements in your Tax Return. We have always advised full co-operation with Inland Revenue in the event of an investigation and this continues to be our policy. They probably already know the answers to the questions they are asking. In any event co-operation can reduce the level of penalties by up to 50%. As regards the neglect or mis-statement issue, this depends on whether ‘reasonable care’ has been taken in maintaining business records. Reasonable care implies adequate business records have been kept. If not this can be interpreted as a deliberate neglect and can more than double the level of penalties (it can triple them if they consider a serious concealed error). Even at its very least, it means the possibility of avoiding penalties altogether is virtually nil. Remember penalties are imposed on top of any tax and interest due. So what are adequate records? Clearly this depends on the business but as a minimum, record of income and expenditure each week, supported by receipts. Bank statements should also be produced so that income can be reconciled. These powers and rules apply to all taxes – Income Tax, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE, CIS and National Insurance. Finally, while we all ‘hate paying tax’ we always advise a full disclosure of material events to Inland Revenue. This means you need to tell us (in writing or email preferably) so that we can tell them. If you would like us to conduct a review of your records adequacy, or have any queries, please contact us.

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HMRC aren't always that reliable

Posted by admin on 27 July 2009 | 0 Comments

Something which we are sure you already know, but we feel it needs underlining. If you were to ring up HMRC's National Advice Service, the advice they may give you is only advice, not the gospel. It can be unreliable and HMRC may turn their back on it, like in the case of Corkteck Ltd. A representative of Corkteck Ltd rang up the NAS asking for advice on VAT on exports. The advice they was given from NAS wasn't entirely accurate. One court case later, Corkteck had a VAT assessment of £300,00 to cough up. Though a phonecall is helpful, a written down version of the information holds better in court. Write to HMRC confirming what you've been told and ask them to make sure what you think is correct. In the mean time make a note of what was said, the time the date and if possible, get a call reference number. The moral of the story is this: Don't rely on HMRC's phone advice.

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Own property abroad?

Posted by admin on 22 July 2009 | 0 Comments

Here is a link to an important article about earning property abroad. If you own it and you meet the criteria mentioned on the link, you could be entitled to a refund. The deadline is 31st of July so if you think this applies to you contact us as soon as you can! http://www.tinyurl.com/offshoreprop

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