The 2020-21 tax return deadline for submitting your paper Self-Assessment returns was 31 October 2021. The tax deadline for submitting online returns is 31 January 2022. Late submission of a Self-Assessment return will become liable to a £100 late filing penalty. The penalty usually applies even if there is no liability or if any tax due
More...Tariff quotas are a special mechanism for importing limited supplies of specific goods at a lower rate of customs duty than would normally apply. The quotas usually apply to imports from specific countries. Most tariff quotas operate on a first come first serve basis and when the quota runs out, the duty rate returns to normal. There is
More...The government has announced plans to introduce a temporary extension to road haulage cabotage rules to alleviate pressures with the supply chain due to lorry driver shortages and other global supply issues. The term cabotage in this context refers to specific restrictions on foreign lorry drivers on the amount of work they can do within
More...The VAT bad debt relief rules allow businesses to claim bad debt relief and reclaim the VAT they have paid to HMRC. This can happen when an invoice has been issued to a customer and no payment has been received after an extended period (usually 6 months after the due date) has elapsed. Under the normal VAT accounting rules, a business
More...An interesting case has seen a haulage company based in the West Midlands have their operator licence revoked. This followed a public inquiry into the company by the traffic commissioner for the West Midlands. The traffic commissioner found that almost all the company’s financial resources had been provided by a £50,000 Bounce Back loan
More...Any assets or rights (but not liabilities) remaining in a company at the date of dissolution will pass to the Crown as ownerless property. This happens under what is known as 'bona vacantia' which literally means vacant goods. The bodies that deal with bona vacantia claims vary across the United Kingdom, but they all ultimately represent
More...Young persons who turned 18 on or after 1 September 2020 may have cash waiting in a dormant Child Trust Fund (CTF) account. This could be as much as or more than £1,000. The actual amount on deposit depends on certain factors. Children born after 31 August 2002 and before 3 January 2011 were entitled to a CTF account provided they met
More...HMRC is responsible for the money laundering supervision of certain businesses including letting agencies. Businesses that HMRC is responsible for supervising should be aware of the requirement to register with HMRC and the penalties for failing to register. It is a criminal offence to trade as a letting agency business (as defined within
More...If you are entitled to the marriage allowance and have not yet applied, then you could receive a payment of up to £1,220 from HMRC. The marriage allowance is available to qualifying married couples and those in a civil partnership where a spouse or civil partner is a non-taxpayer i.e., has an income below their personal allowance
More...There are a few VAT margin schemes. The margin schemes work by allowing qualifying businesses to account for VAT on their profit margin i.e., on the difference between the cost of acquiring an item and its sale price rather than on the full selling price. Without the margin scheme the business would have to account for VAT on the full
More...The Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) is a tax payable by certain Non-Natural Persons (NNPs) that own interests in dwellings valued at more than £500,000. These provisions affect certain companies, partnerships with company members and managers of collective investment schemes described in the legislation as NNPs. To value a
More...In the Spring Budget earlier this year, the chancellor announced that eight Freeport locations would be created in England. The Freeports will be in the East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, the Humber region, Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, the Solent, the Thames, and Teesside. Freeports are a special kind of port where
More...The government has launched a new £500 million package of support for vulnerable households. The new Household Support Fund will be used to help those most in need with essentials over the coming months as the country continues its recovery from the pandemic. The fund will be used to help support millions of households in England and
More...The temporary reduced rate of 5% for hospitality, holiday accommodation and attractions that came into effect in July 2020 ended on 30 September 2021. However, the government had previously decided that reverting to the standard rate would be too much for many businesses and had announced a further step before reverting the rate back to
More...The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) has been designed to increase investment in the early development of high potential growth businesses. Companies seeking EIS investment are typically more developed than those looking for funding using the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the investment limits and tax reliefs available
More...Most COVID support grants are treated as taxable income in the same way as other taxable receipts and need to be reported to HMRC. The grants are treated as income where the business is within the scope of either Income Tax or Corporation Tax. This treatment extends to support measures including the following: the Self Employment
More...The tax treatment of termination payments has changed significantly over recent years. The changes have aligned the rules for tax and secondary National Insurance contributions (employer (NICs)) by making an employer liable to pay NICs on termination payments they make to their employees. An employer is required to pay NICs on any part of
More...The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a £500 million expansion of the Plan for Jobs as part of his speech delivered to the party faithful at the Tory annual conference in Manchester. The money will be used to help hundreds of thousands of people leaving the furlough scheme as well as the unemployed over the age of 50 to get back to
More...1 October 2021 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 December 2020. 19 October 2021 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 October 2021. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 October 2021.) 19 October 2021 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 October 2021. 19
More...The introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) has been delayed by one year until April 2024. This change was announced in a Written Statement to Parliament. The reason for the delay was given as combination of the issues many UK businesses and their representatives are facing as a result of the
More...If you are moving goods to or from the UK then you need to ensure that you have all the correct procedures in place. This is a complex area, and you may need to consider the support of a customs agent to help with your import and / or export declarations. Customs declarations can be difficult and time consuming to complete. Most
More...The trivial benefits in kind (BiK) exemption applies to small non-cash benefits, for example a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers, given occasionally to employees. Although the benefit is defined as ‘trivial’, employers should remember that this can be an efficient way to provide small rewards and incentives to employees. The main
More...The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) was established in July 2010, to provide advice to the Chancellor on simplifying the UK tax system. The OTS has recently published a recording of an online video update setting out its recent publications on three separate issues. The insights into tax changes that have been considered by the OTS
More...As we mentioned in a recent post, the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has released a new video on a number of possible changes to the tax regime. Perhaps the most radical of these ideas relates to the exploration of changes to the tax year end date. The unusual tax year end date of 5 April dates back to the British change from the
More...HMRC’s guidance on how to complete and submit a One Stop Shop (OSS) VAT Return from 1 October 2021 has been updated. The special VAT return should only be completed by businesses registered for the OSS Union scheme. The OSS Union scheme can be used by businesses selling goods from Northern Ireland to consumers in the EU under the terms
More...The government has published its response to its 2016 consultation on tipping, gratuities, cover and service charges and has confirmed its intention to bring forward legislative measures to ensure tips, gratuities and service charges go to workers in full. The legislative measures will include: requirements for employers in all sectors
More...HMRC is warning new students starting university that they could be targeted by scammers trying to steal their money and personal details. As new students start the academic year, they can be particularly vulnerable to tax scams. This is especially prevalent if they have a part-time job and are new to interacting with HMRC. This year,
More...There are special procedures for importing goods into the UK. Following the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020, the process for importing goods from the EU effectively mirrors the process for all other international destinations. On 14 September 2021, a revised timetable for the introduction of full import controls
More...The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has set out the government’s autumn and winter plan for managing Covid. The government is aiming to sustain the progress made and prepare the country for future challenges, while ensuring the National Health Service (NHS) does not come under unsustainable pressure. The government plans to achieve this
More...The final deadline for making a claim under the 5th Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is 30 September 2021. The SEISS scheme is only open to those self-employed with annual profits of less than £50,000 and who receive at least half their income from self-employment. Self-employed persons whose turnover has fallen by more
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