Christmas Office Hours

Please note our offices will be closed from 5.15 pm on Monday 23rd December. We will re-open on Thursday 2nd January 2014.

Wishing all our clients a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Christmas Parties for staff & Christmas Gifts to customers

Christmas Parties for staff & Christmas Gifts to customers.

Were you aware that an annual event (eg Christmas Party) for your staff at a value of £150 (including VAT) or less for each employee is tax free? However, if you spend more than £150 per head, based on the number of staff and their guest attending, then the excess is a taxable benefit.  The £150 must cover the whole event per person, ie food, drink and any transport or accommodation, and remember it MUST also include VAT.

If you hold two staff events during the year, eg Christmas Party at £120 per head and a Summer event at say £50 per head, only one of these can be treated as tax free and the whole of the other event, say the £50 per head, is a taxable benefit.

 

Gifts to Customers

A tax deduction can be claimed if:-

The gift bears a conspicuous advert for the business and

The gift is not tobacco, drink or food and

The total cost of gifts to any one individual per annum does not exceed £50

Tax/Deadline dates for October/November 2013

October 1 (Tuesday): Due date for payment of corporation tax for accounting periods ended 31 December 2012.

Annual uprating of the National Minimum Wage comes into force. The adult rate rises from £6.19 to £6.31; the development rate from £4.98 to £5.03; the rate for apprentices from £2.65 to £2.68; and the rate for 16- and 17-year-olds from £3.68 to £3.72. The accommodation offset rises from £4.82 to £4.91 a day.

In England, the Agricultural Minimum Wage is abolished from today. However, the rates set last year remain in force in Wales. 

From today, charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs will no longer be able to claim their Gift Aid repayments using Form R68(i): claims must be made online or using the new paper Form ChR1. For details, see www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/online/transition.htm and /online/three-options.htm.

First self-assessment Return for the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) to be made by today. (Payment of the tax will be due on Thursday, 31 October 2013.) 

Newly built commercial property, completed on or after today and no later than 30 September 2016, will qualify for exemption from empty property rates for up to 18 months (applies in England only). 

October 5 (Saturday): An individual or trustee who has not yet been required to make a Self Assessment Tax Return for 2012/13 should by today notify HMRC of any liabilities for that year, not fully covered by deduction at source. One change from previous years is that an individual is required to notify liability to the child benefit clawback, which applies for the first time in 2012/13. This has been widely publicised by HMRC advertisements in the newspapers and other media. There is no set procedure for notification, although HMRC now provides an online form for ‘Registering for Self Assessment and getting a Tax Return’, accessible from the High Income Child Benefit Charge page (www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefitcharge/).

October 6 (Sunday): From today, the only employers not required to operate ‘Real Time Information’ for PAYE reporting will be employers of personal care and support workers, those with religious objections to using electronic communications, and the special schemes for examination fees and electoral payments. 

Plans to extend Universal Credit to all new claims for out-of-work benefit from today have now been abandoned. 

October 7 (Monday): VAT Returns for the quarter (or month) ended 31August 2013 should be filed online by today. The relevant tax should be paid electronically so as to reach HMRC by today. 

October 14 (Monday): If submitted on paper, EC Sales Lists for the month or quarter to 30 September 2013 should reach HMRC by today. 

Due date for Returns of payments by a company from which income tax is deductible for the quarter to 30 September 2013. Returns should be made on Forms CT61 – this form cannot be downloaded from HMRC’s website: the user has to submit an online request for a paper copy. There are also separate instructions for LLPs required to report payments from which income tax is deductible.

October 15 (Tuesday): Today is the single deadline for notification, submission of a Return and payment of tax under HMRC’s My Tax Return Catch-Up ‘disclosure opportunity’ . 

October 18 (Friday): Third 5% penalty charged if tax and Class 1B National Insurance contributions in respect of 2011/12 PAYE Settlement Agreements not paid by today (with an extension until Monday, 21 October if paid electronically). 

October 19 (Saturday): Tax and Class 1B National Insurance contributions in respect of PAYE Settlement Agreements for 2012/13 due today (with an extension until Tuesday, 22 October if paid electronically). A 5% penalty applies if payment is more than 30 days late, 10% if it is six months late and 15% if it is a year late.

Where an employer/contractor makes his PAYE/CIS remittance for the month or quarter ending 5 October 2013 by post, the cheque should reach HMRC’s Accounts Office by today. 

An employer must submit an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) for the month to 5 October 2013 by today, to be able to deduct recoverable amounts (Statutory Maternity Pay, etc paid that month, or CIS deductions suffered by a subcontractor company) from his remittance for that month. 

A contractor’s CIS Return for the month to 5 October 2013 must reach HMRC by today, whether filed online or on paper. 

October 21 (Monday): If submitted online, EC Sales Lists for the month or quarter to 30 September 2013 should be filed by today. Intrastat Supplementary Declarations for September should also be made by today. 

October 22 (Tuesday): Where an employer/contractor makes his PAYE/CIS remittance for the month or quarter ending 5 October 2013 by electronic transfer, the payment should reach HMRC’s account as cleared funds no later than today.

October 31 (Thursday): Filing deadline for paper Self Assessment Tax Returns for 2012/13. Note that the deadline for amending a 2011/12 Return remains 31 January 2014, even if the taxpayer originally filed a paper Return. 

Further penalty of up to 100% of the tax outstanding on 31 October 2012 if a paper Tax Return for 2011/12 is filed after today. The penalty can be reduced by filing online. 

Today may be the last day for claiming that an overpayment of Tax Credits for 2012/13 or an earlier year should be written off because it was caused by HMRC Error.

Last day for a taxpayer to request HMRC to issue a Self Assessment Tax Return (SATR) for 2009/10. The only way for a taxpayer formally to challenge his PAYE deductions is to request and complete a SATR. 

Due date for payment of the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED). CTSA Returns for accounting periods ended 31 October 2012 should reach HMRC by today. 

Private companies with 31 January 2013 year-ends, and public companies with 30 April 2013 year-ends, should file their accounts at Companies House by today. 

November 1 (Friday): Due date for payment of corporation tax for accounting periods ended 31 January 2013. 

November 2 (Saturday): Forms P46 (Car) for the quarter to 5 October 2013 should reach HMRC by today. 

November 6 (Wednesday): Women born between 6 January and 5 February 1952 reach State Pension Age today. Generally speaking, Class 1 primary (employee’s) National Insurance contributions should not be deducted from earnings paid on or after today, but secondary (employer’s) contributions remain payable (and should be paid at the not-contracted-out rate, even if the contracted out rate has applied hitherto).

November 7 (Thursday): VAT Returns for the quarter (or month) ended 30 September 2013 should be filed online by today. The relevant tax should be paid electronically so as to reach HMRC by today. 

November 14 (Thursday): If submitted on paper, EC Sales Lists for October 2013 should reach HMRC by today. 

November 18 (Monday): 5% penalty charged if tax and Class 1B National Insurance contributions in respect of 2012/13 PAYE Settlement Agreements not paid by today (with an extension until Thursday, 21 November if paid electronically).

November 19 (Tuesday): Where an employer/contractor makes his PAYE/CIS remittance for the month ending 5 November 2013 by post, the cheque should reach HMRC’s Accounts Office by today. 

An employer must submit an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) for the month to 5 November 2013 by today, to be able to deduct recoverable amounts (Statutory Maternity Pay, etc paid that month, or CIS deductions suffered by a subcontractor company) from his remittance for that month.

A contractor’s CIS Return for the month to 5 November 2013 must reach HMRC by today, whether filed online or on paper. 

November 21 (Thursday): If submitted online, EC Sales Lists for October 2013 should be filed by today. Intrastat Supplementary Declarations for October should also be made by today.

November 22 (Friday): Where an employer/contractor makes his PAYE/CIS remittance for the month ending 5 November 2013 by electronic transfer, the payment should reach HMRC’s account as cleared funds no later than today.

Companies House Phishing Scam

Since last week, emails purporting to have been sent from Companies

House have been sent to a significant number of limited companies.

 

Companies House say that if the e-mail contains a zip file, it should not be

opened and should be forwarded to 'phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk'.

Those that we have seen refer to a complaint being made on the webfiling

service.

Tax/Deadline dates for August/September 2013

·        26 August 2013 – Statutory bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Banks in Scotland and Companies House Edinburgh will also be closed today.

·        30 August 2013 – As 1 September 2013 is a Sunday, today is effectively the last day for paying corporation tax for accounting periods ended 30 November 2012.

·        31 August 2013 – CTSA returns for accounting periods ended 31 August 2012 should reach HMRC by today. Private companies with 30 November 2012 year-ends, and public companies with 28 February 2013 year-ends should file their accounts at Companies House by today.

·        6 September 2013 – Women born between 6 December 1951 and 5 January 1952 reach State Pension Age today.

·        7 September 2013 – VAT returns for the quarter (or month) ended 31 July 2013 should be filed online by today. The relevant tax should be paid electronically so as to reach HMRC by today.

·        13 September 2013 – If submitted on paper, EC Sales List for August 2013 should reach HMRC by today.

·        19 September 2013 – Where an employer/contractor makes his PAYE/CIS remittance for the month ending 5 September 2013 by post, the cheque should reach HMRC’s accounts office by today.

·        19 September 2013 – A contractor’s CIS300 monthly return must reach HMRC by today, whether filed online or on paper.

·        22 September 2013 – PAYE/CIS remittance for the month ending 5 September 2013 paid by electronic transfer should reach HMRC’s account as cleared funds no later than today.

·        30 September 2013 - CTSA returns for accounting periods ended 30 September 2012 should reach HMRC by today. Private companies with 31 December 2012 year-ends, and public companies with 31 March 2013 year-ends should file their accounts at Companies House by today.

Tax/Deadline dates for July/August 2013

·         31 July 2013 – Second payment on account for 2012/13 due by today. All tax credit claims should be renewed by today.

·         31 July 2013 – CTSA returns for accounting periods ended 31 July 2012 should reach HMRC by today. Private companies with 31 October 2012 year-ends, and public companies with 31 January 2013 year-ends should file their accounts at Companies House by today.

·         1 August 2013 - Due date for corporation tax due for the year ended 31 October 2012 .

·         2 August 2013 – Second 5 per cent surcharge imposed on 2011/12 income tax, Class 4 National Insurance contributions and capital gains tax not paid by today.

·         2 August 2013 – Form P46 (car) for the quarter to 5 July 2013 should reach HMRC by today.

·         5 August 2013 – Statutory bank holiday in Scotland but in practice banks will be open for business as usual. Companies House Edinburgh office will be open.

·         7 August 2013 – VAT returns for the quarter (or month) ended 30 June 2013 should be filed online by today. The relevant tax should be paid electronically so as to reach HMRC by today.

·         14 August 2013 – If submitted on paper, EC Sales List for July 2013 should reach HMRC by today.

·         18 August 2013 -  5 per cent penalty charged if Class 1A National Insurance contributions for 2012/13 not paid by today.

·         19 August 2013 – Where an employer/contractor makes his PAYE/CIS remittance for the month ending 5 August 2013 by post, the cheque should reach HMRC’s accounts office by today.

·         19 August 2013 – A contractor’s CIS300 monthly return must reach HMRC by today, whether filed online or on paper.

·         22 August 2013 – PAYE/CIS remittance for the month ending 5 August 2013 paid by electronic transfer should reach HMRC’s account as cleared funds no later than today.

Wills and assets

Do you know what happens to your assets when you die?

 

Recent research indicates over half of the adult population in the UK are currently without a will.  Of those that have, more than a third of the wills’ fail to fulfill the intention of the testator (one who makes the will).  We are legally unable to offer wills or probate service through our firm.  However we can offer advice on your will, how to save inheritance tax and assist those responsible for dealing with the affairs of the deceased to obtain probate and prepare estate accounts.

For further help or information please contact Mr Ray Callingham on 01623 645705