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Many Businesses Could Unknowingly Be Committing Tax Fraud By Claiming Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) AKA The Furlough Scheme

In April this year, the government increased the Employment Allowance (EA) from £3,000 to £4,000 however there were more restrictions on eligibility than in previous years, therefore, employers needed to reapply and will need to do so annually. The Employment Allowance allows eligible employers to reduce their National Insurance liability by up to £4,000 per annum. This means that each time payroll is run, the employer pays less employers Class 1 National Insurance until t...

Value Added Tax (VAT) - A Look At What It Is; VAT Schemes & The Complexities

VAT (or Value Added Tax, to give its full name) was introduced in the UK in 1973 and is the third largest source of government revenue after income tax and National Insurance. VAT is levied on the sale of goods and services by UK businesses and is charged by a business at the point of sale of goods and services. The standard rate of VAT is currently 20%* and this rate has been in place since 4 January 2011. This rate covers most goods and services. The other rates are: • Reduced rate of 5%, w...

Quickly And Easily Manage Your Bookkeeping: Receipts and Invoice Filing And Data Entry Made Simple

We are all looking to save time and make our lives easier, unfortunately your bookkeeping can be a time intensive process – we are always looking at ways to help our clients cut down on time and energy spent to provide us with what they need. Many businesses and individuals find managing their paperwork an uphill struggle, piles of paperwork for business or tax returns, little time to sort through and process these, putting off dealing with the paperwork until it becomes urgent and then the st...

As A Proud BNI (Business Networking) Member, We Are Pleased To Announce That BNI Berkshire (Thames Maidenhead) Have Been Awarded 4 Awards!

At the BNI UK and Ireland National Awards, BNI Thames Maidenhead Chapter won 4 awards.They were: 1. Net Growth in Chapters 2. Net Growth in Members 3. Most improved region 4. Outstanding performance by a region.  BNI Locally in Berkshire continues to go from strength to strength and this is down to the brilliant work of all of the members....

What A Bookkeeper Does And How They Differ From Accountants:In Depth

We have a lot of people ask us what a bookkeeper does so we have taken an in depth look to give you the low down on a bookkeeper. Let’s start by looking at the dictionary definition: Bookkeeping is “the skill or occupation of maintaining accurate records of business transactions”. Bookkeeping, as the word suggests, is about ‘keeping books’ and is the first step in the accounting process. The bookkeeper is the person who is responsible for keeping an accurate and complete record of the...

The Changing Face of Making Tax Digital - New 10 Year Plan Revealed

IntroductionAll companies that were VAT registered and their VAT taxable turnover was over the 'threshold' were moved over to new Making Tax Digital (MTD) reporting some time ago. The remaining VAT registered companies under the VAT threshold and other taxes were put on hold.  One time to be grateful for Brexit negotiations overrunning some would say! Last week, the new ambitious plan to digitalise tax was revealed with the first draft of the HMRC 10 year plan. MTD for VAT T...

To Defer or Not To Defer: Tax Return Income Tax Bill for July 2020

Overview Your tax return should still be filed on timeYou do not need to apply for the defermentTo take advantage, direct debit must be cancelledYou will not be charged penalties or interest for the deferral periodYou don’t have to be self-employed to defer In Depth Firstly, it should be noted that filing your tax return early does not mean you need to pay your Income Tax early, it can still be paid in January, 2021 should you decide to defer. However, filing early allows you to know what your...

Why Submitting Your 2020/21 Self-Assessment Tax Return Now Could Save You Money And Don't Forget The Deferment Of 31st July Payment On Account

If you are considering deferring your Income Tax payments on account due in July 2020 then you should also consider filing your tax return now.  If you believe you have if your profit is likely to be lower than last year your payment on account will have been calculated on a higher amount and more is due in the eyes of HMRC. You can reduce this amount by request to HMRC, however if later discovered to be incorrect there are penalties in way of interest to pay. Why not just submit ...

The Summer Statement 2020 - What Does It Mean To The Self-Employed and Small To Medium Businesses?

Rishi Sunak, the UK government's Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced the Summer Statement to support the country as it tries to recover economically from the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. What does it mean to our clients, the self employed and small to medium businesses?VAT Reduction In the Chancellor’s summer statement, he shared the government's plans to change UK VAT from 20% to 5% for the hospitality and tourism sectors. This change will come into effect from Wednesday 15 ...

Coronavirus COVID-19 Job Retention Scheme Update - Flexible Furloughing

Furlough rules are changing: From 1 July: employers can bring back to work employees that have previously been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim CJRS grant for their normal hours not worked.employers will be able to agree any working arrangements with previously furloughed employees. • When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours; employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week. • This is a minimum period and...

All Employees Required To Work From Home Can Claim £6 Per Week From HMRC

Accounting Web reports that HMRC has changed its practice to allow employees to claim a flat-rate deduction of £6 for each week they work at home to cover additional household costs such as heat and electricity. Since April 2011 employers have been able to pay their employees a tax-free allowance to cover the additional costs incurred when the employee works at home on a regular basis under an agreed home working arrangement. The flat rate of this allowance was raised from £4 to £6 per week f...

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough) Government Update 12th May

If you cannot maintain your current workforce because your operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), you can furlough employees and apply for a grant that covers 80% of their usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions (up to the level of the minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contribution) on that subsidised furlough pay. This is a temporary scheme in place from 1 March...

A Clever, Stress-Free Solution for Staff Expenses That Could Improve Cash Flow (Not COVID-19 Related!)

The staff expense process can be a problem for employees, many companies consider a spreadsheet good enough to manage employee expenses. But disconnected and often inconsistent processes means missing out on some huge benefits, from increased VAT reclaim and increased visibility of spend to improved user experience and quicker claiming. Fixing the expenses process means your business spends less time doing admin and more time doing business! Is your team spending too much time processing claims?...

New 100% Government Backed Loan Scheme for Small and Medium Businesses To 'Bounce Back' From The Devastation of Coronavirus COVID-19'

The Government has announced a 12-month interest-free  Bounce Back Loans scheme with £50,000 limit and 100% guarantee.Businesses will be able to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 and access the cash within daysLoans will be interest free for the first 12 months, and businesses can apply online through a short and simple formLoan terms are up to six yearsAll firms trading as of March 1 will be able to get cashBanks will no longer require forward financials or business plansYou can’t app...

Cyber Criminals Seek to Exploit Businesses and Individuals During COVID-19 Pandemic.

The public are being urged to follow online safety advice as evidence emerges that criminals are exploiting the Coronavirus online.  Experts from the National Cyber Security Centre have revealed a range of attacks being perpetrated online as cyber criminals seek to exploit COVID-19. Techniques seen since the start of the year include bogus emails with links claiming to have important updates, which once clicked on lead to devices being infected. These ‘phishing’ attempts have been seen ...

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and COVID-19 Still Remains a Problem

Ian Holloway has reported on Accounting Web that SSP has largely been overshadowed by announcements about retaining employees, furloughing and then reclaiming wage costs from HMRC. However, the issue of SSP has been continued in the background. It was announced that The Coronavirus Act 2020 would make provision to temporarily allow SSP to be paid from the first day of sickness absence, rather than the fourth day. But, this only applies for people who had been told to self-isolate, and for people...

Tax Relief Available for Employees Working from Home Because of Coronavirus COVID-19

Last month, just before the enforced lock down, we wrote a blog about the tax benefits ofworking from home. But, things have changed since then and the majority of employees that are still able to work are now working from home.  An increase in the Homeworking Allowance from £4 to £6 a week was announced in the Spring Budget with effect from 6th April, 2020.  An employer can pay this fixed sum, tax-free and NIC-free, to meet the additional costs an employee incurs working at home und...

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employees Holiday/ Annual Leave Guidance

Acas advises:In most situations, employees and workers should use their paid holiday (‘statutory annual leave’) in their current leave year. This is 5.6 weeks in the UK. This is important because taking holiday helps people: get enough rest keep healthy, both physically and mentallyBeing flexible about holiday during coronavirus Employers, employees and workers should be as flexible as they can about holiday during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a good idea to: talk about any plans to...

Business Rates and Delaying Tax Payments Due To Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Business Rates Business rates holiday for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England have been introduced for the 2020 to 2021 tax year.  A £25,000 grant will be provided to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000. Additional funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBBR) will provide...

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough)

If you cannot maintain your current workforce because your operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), you can furlough employees and apply for a grant that covers 80% of their usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions (up to the level of the minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contribution) on that subsidised furlough pay. This is a temporary scheme in place from 1 March...

Deferring VAT and Self-Assessment Income Tax Payments

VAT The VAT payment deferral will apply from 20th March 2020 until 30th June 2020. HMRC are assuming all businesses will take this deferment therefore if you have a direct debit set up then no payment will be taken for this period. If you do want to pay the VAT for this period then you will need to make a manual payment. Click on this here link for information on how to pay. Self-Assessment Income Tax  Payments due on the 31 July 2020 will be deferred until the 31 January 202...

UK Insolvency Framework Restructure and Wrongful Trading Provisions Temporarily Suspended

On 28th March the business secretary announced new restructuring tools to the existing UK insolvency framework and temporarily suspended the wrongful trading provisions retrospectively from 1 March 2020 for three months. Sharma said that these changes would enable companies to continue buying supplies, such as energy, raw materials or broadband, while attempting a rescue. As part of his insolvency package, the business secretary introduced three new tools to the UK’s insolvency framework: a m...

Making Tax Digital (MTD) Digital Link Rules Delayed by COVID-19

HMRC announced a one-year delay to its enforcement of rules specifying the digital transmission of MTD for VAT data. The tax department explained, “we understand that the impact of COVID-19 is creating extremely difficult times for all, and we are committed to helping in every way possible all those businesses facing unprecedented challenges. Therefore, we are providing all MTD businesses with more time to put in place digital links between all parts of their functional compatible softwar...

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) Paid for Sickness Absence Due to COVID-19.

Small-and medium-sized businesses and employers can reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19. covers up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19employers with fewer than 250 employees will be eligible, the size of an employer will be determined by the number of people they employed as of 28 February 2020employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to the...

Support for Businesses Through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value. Businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free, as government will cover the first 6 months of interest payments. Further details to be released....