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We are Recruiting for a Practice Accounts and Tax Assistant

December 6, 2019

Practice Accounts and Tax Assistant – Full Time (may consider Part Time) Salary negotiable depending on experience Due to continued growth in our client base we are looking for a Full Time Accounts and Tax Assistant to join us. About the Role: Providing Tax and Accountancy services to local businesses. Preparation of client accounts including…Read More

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VAT Question Time

December 2, 2019

My client ran his decorating business for three years as a sole trader and is now going to incorporate. As a sole trader his turnover never quite reached the registration threshold but he will VAT register when he incorporates as a lot of his customers are now contractors. Will he be able to recover VAT…Read More

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Collecting Unpaid Tax for 2018/19 through your PAYE Coding

November 22, 2019

Under certain circumstances it is possible to arrange the collection of unpaid tax through your PAYE coding rather than making a balancing payment on 31 January. This will depend upon the amount outstanding and the amount of income taxable under PAYE. There is a further condition that the return is submitted to HMRC online before…Read More

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Home sweet home

November 11, 2019

For many, owning and selling their own home is thought to be tax-free but, as always, tax is never quite as simple as that. Principal Private Residence Relief (PPRR) is a set of tax rules which are designed to ensure that the sale of a person’s home is exempt under certain conditions. The existing rules…Read More

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New tactic employed by scammers

November 1, 2019

Another phishing tactic has been identified. It’s employed to try to trick people into paying money that simply isn’t due. The scam involves using a phone number that looks like a genuine HMRC one, i.e. using an 0300 prefix, with a call threatening court action if payment is not made immediately. HMRC never calls unless…Read More

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Who has a Will?

October 7, 2019

A shocking case was reported in the FT of two step-sisters who were arguing over which of them should inherit their late parents’ house. The elderly couple had been found dead in their home, and it was not possible to determine who had died first. The situation was complicated because the father had not made…Read More

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Registering a deceased’s Estate for Tax

October 4, 2019

Tax obligations do not cease on death, the executors of the deceased’s estate have to complete the final tax return to the date of death, and deal with the IHT returns and payment. Where the estate is extensive or there are competing claims under the will it can take a significant period to transfer all…Read More

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Tax deductible mobile phones for employees

September 9, 2019

Q. I am the director of a family-owned company. My wife and my two children are employed by the company. If the company provides a mobile phone to each of us, what will the tax implication be? A. No tax charge arises where an employer provides an employee with a mobile phone, irrespective of the level of…Read More

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Flat Rate VAT and Rental Income

September 6, 2019

Q. I am a VAT-registered trader and use the flat rate scheme for working out my VAT payments. I receive a small amount of rental income each month which I include in turnover to calculate the VAT due to HMRC. The rental income is managed by a letting agent. Should I include the gross or net…Read More

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Bare Trusts – Income tax and Capital Gains tax

August 21, 2019

I am looking at gifting my child a sum of money. What are the income tax consequences if I use a bare trust to do so? There is no definition of a bare trust in the income tax legislation. Put simply, a bare trust is one where the beneficiary has the absolute right to the…Read More

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Tax-efficient charitable giving

August 7, 2019

Tax relief on personal giving via Gift Aid is given partly by deducting basic rate tax from the payment and partly by giving relief under self-assessment. That makes it hard to work out the true cost of personal giving. Assume that you want to give £100 out of your post-tax income to charity: in other…Read More

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Claiming tax relief on expenses during a company closure

July 17, 2019

My clients have inquired about the possibility of claiming relief for expenses incurred in connection with closing down their company.  In particular, they would like to know whether they could get tax relief for professional advice that they have taken and whether they can arrange for the company to make pension contributions on behalf of…Read More

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Employee Jury Service

July 3, 2019

My client has been informed by an employee that they have been summoned to attend jury service.  What are the rules around this?  The chances are that a lot of smaller employers may be less familiar with handling requests for time off to attend jury service. However, it is important that your client has an…Read More

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Claiming of Pre-trading expenditure when using the Flat Rate Scheme

June 13, 2019

My client is about to register for VAT and wants to use the flat rate scheme as she meets the conditions and it would be beneficial to her. However, her intention is to register for normal VAT initially, in order to recover pre-registration input tax, and then after the first return has been filed, switch…Read More

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