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A Voice for Small Businesses in the Tax System

The annual 'Tell ABAB' survey is now available to complete.  The survey which is commissioned by an independent body, the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board, provides crucial insight on the big issues faced by small businesses in the tax system.The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete and will be open until 2 May 2023. Results will be published in the 'Tell ABAB' Report, on GOV.UK in summer 2023.Members of the ABAB come from a range of businesses and professions and their goal...

Payroll Year End

The payroll year ends on 5th April. If you are an employer running payroll you need to report to HMRC on the previous tax year and give your employees a P60. You must send your final Full Payment Submission (FPS) on or before your employees' last payday of the tax year. Remember to put 'Yes' in the 'Final Submission for year' field (if available) in your payroll software.If you run more than one payroll under the same PAYE scheme reference (for example for employees you pay weekly and monthly), ...

P9 Coding Notices to Employers for 2023 to 2024

HMRC are in the process of issuing P9 coding notices for the tax year starting 6 April 2023. Email notifications to employers began on 6 February and will continue until 5 March2023.  The notice advises when the new tax codes can be viewed within your PAYE Online Account. Make sure your email address is up to date. When signing into your online account to view your P9 notices the screen defaults to the current  tax year. To check for the next year's codes choose 2023 to 2024 in th...

'Tis the Season

Christmas is coming and if you are planning to give your employees some Christmas cheer there are a few things to remember to ensure they do not incur additional tax or National Insurance deductions.  Staff parties - not necessarily at Christmas time - must cost less than £150 per head and be open to all staff members. This amount includes any VAT chargeable, transport and accommodation costs. The parties may be held at multiple locations if required but all employees must be able to atten...

Unapproved Debt

For decades small businesses have been struggling to get hold of the money they are owed and the problem is not getting any better. Some 59% of small business owners experienced big business customers increasing their payment terms during the pandemic. Too much of a small firm's working capital is tied up in big firm's late payments. This often forces small firms to seek alternative and expensive sources of finance. Not only does this inhibit their  ability to grow at the pace they could an...

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

With the majority of small businesses now registered for MTD for VAT, it is now time to start preparing for the introduction of MTD for Income Tax.In light of the Covid pandemic the planned start date has been pushed back from 2023 to April 2024. This may seem some way away but 4.2 million taxpayers will need to sign up ahead of the deadline so it makes sense to start planning now. Under MTD for ITSA rules, self-employed people and landlords earning above £10,000 will need to submit quarterly u...

Xero Bank Feeds

Xero have just announced exciting changes to the 90 day reauthentication rule for bank feeds.Bank feeds automatically import transactions from your bank or financial institution directly into your Xero organisation, eliminating the need to import transactions manually. Once the bank feed has been connected, statement lines appear in your bank account in Xero ready for you to reconcile each day. Xero bank feeds streamline reconciliation and offer better visibility of cash flow. However it can be ...

Platinum Jubilee

As the nation prepares for a 4 day celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, we would like to add our congratulations on this momentous occasion.  The Queen has ruled for longer than any other Monarch in British history, becoming a much loved and respected figure across the globe. Her extraordinary reign has seen her travel more widely than any other monarch, undertaking many historic overseas visits. The world has seen many social changes since the Queen first ascended the...

Xero Hour

The clock is ticking for Making Tax Digital but for many small businesses owners the prospect of changing their existing accounting system to to an MTD compatible one is a daunting one. However Xero makes the whole process so straightforward. Simply login to Xero, enter your organisations details and opt to either add a trial organisation or to purchase a Xero subscription. If you currently use Sage, and have purchased a Xero subscription then Xero will convert your data for free using Move...

Making Tax Digital

Since April 2019, VAT registered businesses with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85,000) have needed to keep VAT records digitally and send returns using Making Tax Digital (MTD) compatible software.From April 2022, these requirements will apply to all VAT registered businesses including those below the VAT threshold.For some businesses this may necessitate changing their accounting software but if you are already using Xero then all you ned to do is sign up for MTD for V...

Closure of the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme

HMRC have announced that the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will close on 17‌‌‌ ‌March‌‌‌ ‌2022. You have until 24‌‌‌ ‌March‌‌‌ ‌2022 to submit any new claims for absence periods up to 17‌‌‌ ‌March‌‌‌ ‌2022, or to amend claims you have already submitted.  You will no longer be able to claim back Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for your employees’ coronavirus-related absences or self-isolation that occur after‌‌‌ ‌17‌‌‌ ‌March‌â...

Health and Social Care Levy

An increase in National Insurance contributions is set to come into effect from April this year. Under the plans, employers, employees and the self employed will all pay 1.25p more in the pound. From April 2023 the extra tax will be collected as a new Health & Social Care levy and the National Insurance contributions will revert to their existing levels.  The revenue from the levy will be "hypothecated in law to health and social care" meaning that the estimated £12bn a year raised by...

Strictly Inspirational

With Christmas just days away it can seem hard to find reasons to be merry and bright this year. With the headlines full of fears of another lockdown, rising interest rates and declining confidence in the government you could be forgiven for thinking there are just too many obstacles to overcome to succeed.However on Saturday night 11 million people watched the inspirational Rose Ayling-Ellis become the first deaf person to win Strictly Come Dancing. In an emotionally charged evening, Rose and h...

Shift to a Low Carbon Economy

As the world turns its attention to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) small businesses should consider what they can do in their business to take positive action to combat climate change.  At The Accounts Place we are passionate about helping the environment and strive to adhere to the motto  'Be Green and Keep it on the Screen'  We are also delighted that our partner, Xero is  committed to evolving every function of their business to consider short...

Xero Bank Reconciliations

Bank reconciliation has always been a core bookkeeping task. Comparing two sets of records to make sure the figures are correct was a time consuming but essential process of inputting bills and invoices into an accounting system then cross checking these against the bank statement. Xero totally rethought that process and essentially created a matching game, with Xero transactions (bills and invoices) on one side and statement lines on the other. Xero then did the match for you - something t...

Making Tax Digital Phase 2

Next month HMRC will begin writing to all VAT registered companies not yet registered for MTD to advise that with effect from April 2022 all VAT registered companies regardless of turnover must be compliant with MTD.  Public notice 700 /22:  https://www.gov.uk/government/... gives detailed information regarding the regulations; specifically which digital records need to be kept and return requirements for MTD. It also details the conditions and procedures to claim for exempti...

Changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme .

This month sees changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) The Government will now pay 70% of employees' usual wage for the hours not worked, up to a cap of £2,187.50. In August and September, this will reduce to 60% of employees' usual wages up to a cap of £1,875.Employers will need to pay the 10% difference in July and 20% in August and September so that they continue to pay furloughed employees at least 80% of their usual wage for the hours they do not work during this time, up ...

New Sauce of Investment

Kraft Heinz have announced that they will be investing $199m (£140m) in a UK food manufacturing facility over the next four years.In the firms biggest expansion  of a manufacturing site outside the US in more than 20 years the plans for the plant in north west England would see ketchup, mayonnaise and salad cream made in this country. In what the company say will be one of the largest investments in UK manufacturing since Brexit, the plan will create up to 50 new full time jobs.The Kitt Gr...

Work Smarter, not Harder

Even in normal circumstances, this time of year can be incredibly stressful for people working in accounts. We can't always avoid working long hours or deadlines but we can change the way we approach these things.Maintaining good physical, emotional and mental health is key to productivity. It might be counterintuitive or difficult to justify self care during busy times, but you will be more effective at work when you can bring your body and mind back to a state of wellbeing. It you aren't takin...

New Year - No Big Deal?

As we start the first full working week of 2021, businesses who buy or sell within the UK have to comply with the new Brexit regulations. The UK and the EU have agreed that there will be no taxes on each other's goods when they cross borders and no limits on the amount of things that can be traded. So what affect will the regulations have on business? In a word - paperwork. Traders in England, Wales and Scotland will need to make customs declarations as if they were dealing with countries elsewh...

Virtually Christmas

HMRC have confirmed that the annual parties' exemption (s264 ITEPA03) will apply to the costs associated with virtual parties in the same way that it would for traditionally held parties. Subject to the normal conditions of the exemption being met, the expenses of hosting a virtual event, including providing entertainment, equipment and refreshments principally for enjoyment or consumption by employees during the event, will be exempt. For annual parties or similar annual events, no liabili...

Hamilton Races to the Record Books

Lewis Hamilton made Formula 1 history following his incredible 92nd career win in Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix. His 7th world championship title seems certain to follow this season. A much less certain result is the race to the White House in the upcoming US elections. Voters will decide on November 3rd whether Donald Trump remains in power for another 4 years. Joe Biden is currently  leading national presidential polls but as Hillary Clinton found in 2016, with the electoral college syst...

Furlough For Now

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is changing from 1st October 2020. From that date HMRC will pay 60% of usual wages up to a cap of £1875 per month for the hours furloughed employees do not work.  Employers must continue to pay furloughed employees at least 80% of their usual wages for the hours they do not work, up to a cap of £2500 per month. Employers will need to fund the difference between this and the CJRS themselves. The caps are proportional to the hours not worked so if...

VAT Returns to Normal

The VAT payments deferral scheme ended on 30 June 2020.  If you are a UK VAT registered business that deferred payments between 20 March and 30 June 2020 you should pay in full all payments that fall due after 30 June. Make sure you have set up cancelled direct debits in enough time for HMRC to take payment.  Any VAT payments you deferred between 20 March and 30 June must be paid in full before 31 March 2021 to avoid potential penalty. You can pay or make payments towards your deferred...

Hair Offensive

The use of any language or behaviour designed to cause offence is never acceptable and anyone indulging in such should rightly be condoned. However it does seem that the most unlikely things can sometimes be a surprising cause of controversy.Case in point is the moustache of US ambassador to South Korea, Harry Harris (think Bert Reynolds, Tom Selleck)  Earlier this year South Korean commentators and politicians said the moustache evoked painful memories of Japanese colonial rule - 1910 to 1...