Archive for December, 2014

Newer Entries »

HMRC Credit Card Sales Campaign

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

HMRC’s latest disclosure campaign is aimed at traders who accept payments by debit and credit cards but who haven’t declared all transactions. The Credit Card Sales campaign provides an opportunity for individuals and companies accepting debit and credit cards (but have not reflected all transactions in their tax return) to bring their affairs up to date in a simple, straightforward way and take advantage of the best possible terms.

Traders wishing to use the scheme must first notify HMRC. They will then have 4 months from the date they receive HMRC’s acknowledgement of notification to make a disclosure and pay any tax due. If, however, you do not come forward and HMRC finds later that you are behind with your tax, it may be harder to convince them that it was not a deliberate act. The law allows HMRC to go back up to 20 years and in serious cases HMRC may carry out a criminal investigation.

HMRC is targeting tax evasion through Debit and Credit Card Sales and will use information it holds on its digital intelligence systems to identify taxpayers who might not have declared all their income. Where additional taxes are due, HMRC will usually charge higher penalties than those available under the Credit Card Sales campaign.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 at 11:16 am by Slaters and is filed under Business, Tax. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Collection of unpaid tax through your tax code

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

Currently, HM Revenue and Customs can collect tax debts of up to £3,000 by adjusting your Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax code. HMRC refers to this as ‘coding out’. The effect of this is to recover the debt from your income, by increasing the amount deducted from your income during the tax year.

This applies if you have a debt with HMRC and:

 

  • are an employee paying tax through (PAYE), and/or
  • receive a taxable UK-based private pension

 

HMRC are now increasing the amount of debt that can be recovered through your tax code if your annual earnings are £30,000 or more. To do this, HMRC will apply a sliding scale to your main PAYE income. The maximum amount that can be coded out is being increased to £17,000 (where earnings exceed £90,000 a year). These changes will only apply to underpaid Self-Assessment and Class 2 National Insurance debts and Tax Credit overpayments. Changes will be reflected in your 2015-16 tax code and we will write to you before we collect any debts through your PAYE code from April 2015. If your earnings are less than £30,000, there’s no change to the £3,000 coding out limit.

 

Coding out the unpaid 2013/14 tax is only possible if you submitted your paper tax return by 31 October 2014 or file your tax return online by 30 December 2014.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 at 11:13 am by Slaters and is filed under Tax. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

New tax relief for investment in social enterprise

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

The Social Investment Tax Relief scheme (SITR) introduced this year helps individuals support social enterprises, giving these enterprises access to new sources of finance.

The new relief provides the investor with a deduction from their tax liability, equal to 30% of the amount invested. A £10,000 loan to a qualifying social enterprise would therefore allow an individual to reduce his income tax liability by £3,000. The relief is available for qualifying investments made on or after 6 April 2014. A social enterprise is a commercial business that helps people or communities. It may be a charity or community interest company.

The social enterprise can make sure they (and the proposed investments) qualify by sending an advance assurance application to HMRC.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 at 11:11 am by Slaters and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

No loss relief for business run as a “hobby”

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

A recent case before the Tax Tribunal reminds us that in order to set a trading loss sideways against other income, the business must be carried out on a commercial basis with a view to making a profit.

 

The case in question relates to Mrs Thorne, who ran an equestrian business and another business growing asparagus. The self-employment pages of her tax return showed a single composite business, which incurred an overall trading loss. The equestrian business was unlikely to make a profit and was clearly a hobby. However, the asparagus business was in its early stages; it is widely accepted that it can take up to three years before a significant crop is produced. Had separate accounts been prepared for the asparagus business, loss relief would likely have been available, as it could be argued that the venture was being carried out on a commercial basis with a view to making a profit.

 

If your business makes losses in the first few years, we can help to ensure the availability of relief by helping you prepare forecasts and a business plan, demonstrating that the business is being carried out on a commercial basis with a view to making a profit.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 at 11:10 am by Slaters and is filed under Business, Tax. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Tax Diary – December & January

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

1 December 2014 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 28 February 2014.

19 December 2014 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 December 2014. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 December 2014)

19 December 2014 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 December 2014.

19 December 2014 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 December 2014 is payable by today.

30 December 2014 – Deadline for filing 2013-14 Self Assessment online to include a claim for under payments (under £3,000) be collected via tax code in 2015-16.

01 January 2015 – Corporation tax for year to 31/3/14

19 January 2015 – PAYE & NIC deductions, and CIS return and tax, for month to 5/1/15 (due 22 January if you pay electronically)

31 January 2015 –  Deadline to file 2014 SA tax return online

31 January 2015 –  Income tax balancing payment for 2013/14, plus CGT for 2013/14

31 January 2015 –  Income tax 1st payment on account for 2014/15

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 at 11:08 am by Slaters and is filed under Tax. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Business Strategy

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

Failing to plan, plan to fail. We all know this. However, many businesses who create a strategy or business plan fail to execute it to any significant degree. This is because it requires change, commitment, innovation, leadership and numerous other things to align your business in a way that facilitates the execution of your plan.

 

These 4 steps will help you to successfully execute your business strategy:

 

Clarify your vision

Define what the business will look like if your strategy is executed successfully. Develop a summary of that vision and communicate it to all stakeholders. Communication must also be consistent – keep the vision in front of your team and make it a part of their daily lives. People cannot follow you successfully if they don’t know where you want to go.

 

Set goals

As part of your planning process, you should develop 4 or 5 critical goal categories. Each of these categories should be broken down and given specific goals with due dates, metrics to show progress and the names of the people that are accountable for their completion.

 

Align systems and people

This is the step where most businesses encounter trouble with strategy execution, as they do not take the critical step of aligning people and processes to attain their vision. They just assume that the firm will “figure it out”. All systems, people, incentives and business processes must be aligned with the new strategy. People must understand what they need to do and how their role affects successful execution of the strategy. They must get help in establishing priorities on what to do, as well as what not to do, to ensure that the overall strategy doesn’t get lost in the day-to-day.

 

Review

The business should hold annual reviews of their current strategy and how outside forces have impacted on it. The aim of the review should be to determine whether the strategy is still valid, whether the firm is making adequate progress and what customers think. Strategy execution doesn’t just happen; it must be driven with the same commitment that built the business in the first place.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 at 10:43 am by Slaters and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Online Marketing Metrics

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

Businesses often wonder if their online marketing is successful.  Here are a few metrics which may help your business measure online marketing success.

 

New Business and Increased Revenue

This is the ultimate sign of a successful marketing campaign. While driving traffic to your site, gaining relevant social media followers and building your base of inbound leads are all steps in the right direction, the main goal is to grow your firm. When you see an increase in new business and revenue from leads which originated online, it’s a safe bet that your online marketing is successful. However, if you aren’t gaining new business opportunities as a result of your marketing efforts, it might be time to re-evaluate. For instance, if you notice an increase in the amount of traffic to your website, but not a higher number of inbound leads, it might be time for a website redesign. Why? Bounced traffic is an indicator that your homepage lacks clarity and/or engaging conversions. Or, if your content is frequently being read and downloaded, but your prospects aren’t taking the next step, you might want to re-evaluate your calls-to-action.

 

Followers and Shares

Before beginning a new marketing campaign, take a moment to track your existing number of followers across each of the social media platforms currently employed. With this knowledge, you will be able to assess the degree to which your latest marketing efforts have increased the firm’s visibility. It is also helpful to know the average number of shares your content generates, as this will tell you which types of content generate the most interest.

 

Website Traffic

A primary goal of online marketing is to drive traffic to your website. It is therefore essential to know what your traffic numbers are prior to any campaign. If your website begins to see more traffic after the initiation of a campaign, this is a good indicator that your marketing efforts are working. Monitor the sources of your inbound traffic to identify the sites or pieces of content that are bringing in the most traffic, and use this information to plan future campaigns.

 

Inbound Leads

The actions your prospects take in reaction to your marketing efforts are one of the best ways to measure your success. When more people reach out to your firm for consultations or fill out contact forms, it’s a sign of a successful campaign. If your list of prospects and influencers is growing, your marketing is doing its job. All of your online activity—from the content you produce, to your social media interactions—should work towards driving more prospects and influencers to reach out to your firm and show interest in your services. Your prospects might show interest by simply sharing their contact information or signing up for a webinar, or they might ask for an appointment to see one of your sales people.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 at 10:35 am by Slaters and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Shake up of UK tax system

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014

The Scottish parliament is to take over responsibility for income tax and welfare benefits in the most significant devolution of taxes thus far.

Changes to the management of income tax and other taxes, as published by the Smith Commission last week, are listed below. Any reference to a tax being “reserved” means it will be controlled by the UK parliament:

Income Tax

  1.  Income Tax will remain a shared tax and both the UK and Scottish Parliaments will share control of Income Tax. MPs representing constituencies across the whole of the UK will continue to decide the UK’s Budget, including Income Tax.
  2. Within this framework, the Scottish Parliament will have the power to set the rates of Income Tax and the thresholds at which these are paid for the non-savings and non-dividend income of Scottish taxpayers (as defined by the Scotland Acts).
  3. As part of this, there will be no restrictions on the thresholds or rates the Scottish Parliament can set. All other aspects of Income Tax will remain reserved to the UK Parliament, including the imposition of the annual charge to Income Tax, the personal allowance, the taxation of savings and dividend income, the ability to introduce and amend tax reliefs and the definition of income.
  4. The Scottish Government will receive all Income Tax paid by Scottish taxpayers on their non-savings and non-dividend income with a corresponding adjustment in the block grant received from the UK Government, in line with the funding principles set out in paragraph 95.
  5. Given that Income Tax will still apply on a UK-wide basis, albeit with different rates and thresholds in Scotland, it will continue to be collected and administered by HMRC. In line with the approach taken for the Scottish rate of Income Tax, the Scottish Government will reimburse the UK Government for additional costs arising as a result of the implementation and administration of the Income Tax powers described above.

 National Insurance

 All aspects of National Insurance Contributions will remain reserved.

 Capital Taxes

 All aspects of Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax will remain reserved.

 Corporate Taxes

 All aspects of Corporation Tax will remain reserved.

 All aspects of the taxation of oil and gas receipts will remain reserved.

 Value Added Tax

The receipts raised in Scotland by the first 10 percentage points of the standard rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) will be assigned to the Scottish Government’s budget. These receipts should be calculated on a verified basis, to be agreed between the UK and Scottish Governments, with a corresponding adjustment to the block grant received from the UK Government in line with the principles set out in paragraph 95.

 All other aspects of VAT will remain reserved.

 Air Passenger Duty

The power to charge tax on air passengers leaving Scottish airports will be devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government will be free to make its own arrangements with regard to the design and collection of any replacement tax, including consideration of the environmental impact.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014 at 12:00 am by Slaters and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Newer Entries »