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HMRC accept faster payments

18 Jan 12

As from 16 December 2011 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are able to accept payments made using the Faster Payments Service. This allows you to make faster electronic payments, typically via internet or telephone banking, enabling them to be processed on the same or next day.

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January reminders: new HMRC penalties and new HMRC bank account

21 Dec 11

As January is fast approaching and we are nearing the time when tax returns need to be submitted and tax bills paid, it is appropriate to issue a reminder about two practical issues which will apply this year, namely the new penalty regime for late tax returns and HMRC changing their bank account.

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HMRC and mortgage lenders working together to combat mortgage fraud

21 Dec 11

HMRC, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies have announced that they are now working together in a new scheme designed to combat mortgage fraud.

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National minimum wage and interns

21 Dec 11

Guidance to clarify when individuals performing work experience, including interns, are entitled to the national minimum wage has been published. It is important to note that the right to be paid the national minimum wage depends on whether or not the individual is defined as a “worker” or not, it is not dependent upon job title.

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Do you own a property abroad?

17 Nov 11

As part of its commitment to tackle tax evasion HM Revenue & Customs have announced that they are setting up specialised teams of tax investigators to target individuals with property abroad. In particular they are searching for those individuals who either are not declaring the correct income and / or gains from the properties or those who do not appear to be able to legitimately afford the property.

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Junior ISA’s now available

17 Nov 11

Since 1 November Junior ISA’s have been available. Each eligible child ISA account has an annual savings limit of £3600. The new accounts offer parents a simple and tax free way to save for their child’s future.

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Important Deadline for Commercial Property Owners

10 Nov 11

Next April, important changes are being brought in which may have a serious impact for owners of Commercial Property. It is possible that current owners of commercial property have unclaimed capital allowances on certain fixtures and fittings imbedded within the property. Under current legislation, property owners are able to make a claim for fixtures purchased at any time, and still receive tax relief for the last two years. The new rules will require businesses to pool their expenditure on fixtures in a building, within a short period of acquiring the building, in order to qualify for capital allowances. It is possible that the new rules will prevent claims being made for fixtures in property purchased or built in the past.

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Successful Selling

3 Nov 11

The Coventry Rioch Arena, home of the Sky Blues, hosted the annual 2011 conference for the Institute of Sales Marketing and Management and this month I was privileged enough to attend on behalf of GreenStones. This is the second time we have attended the event and would recommend it to anyone wanting to improve their sales and marketing.

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Are you a company owner paying your own pension premiums?

2 Nov 11

The rules regarding the tax relief on pension payments changed in April of this year. Now, tax relief is only available for contributions up to £50,000 per annum. This limit however only applies to individuals and for shareholder/directors there can, in the right circumstances, be quite a tax advantage in using the company to pay the premium on your behalf.

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Get your employee PAYE information correct

27 Oct 11

HM Revenue & Customs announced this month that a number of people will be receiving a tax refund (or worse a tax demand) as a result of HMRC now having the computer technology to tidy up the back log of cases it has been dealing with. Naturally this received a lot of publicity. We would all like to be one of the people who received a tax refund, but actually what this means is that these people were paying too much tax for a period of time. Indeed HMRC have recently disclosed that up to 6 million people paid too much tax through the pay as you earn (PAYE) between 2003/4 and 2007/08. What, as an employer can you do to ensure that employee PAYE information is correct?

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