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MTD For ITSA: Business Owners & Landlords Quarterly Summaries

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (MTD for ITSA) will apply to individuals from April 2024, if their total gross income from self-employment and property exceeds £10,000 in a tax year. We already have cost-effective software and tools ready to go as our clients have already switched to the new, compliant system as well as receiving a high number of new enquiries from clients looking to move over before to ensure any problems are dealt with and resolved before the deadline kicks ...

HMRC's Reimbursement Of Electricity Costs To Electric Cars Guidance Doesn't Reflect The Law Claims ICAEW

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Tax Faculty has highlighted that HMRC’s guidance on reimbursement of electricity costs for charging company-provided wholly electric cars conflicts with the law. HMRCs uses an online tool and guidance that both say reimbursements to employees by employers for the cost of electricity used to charge their company-owned vehicles that are wholly electric cars and are available for private use are subject to income tax and National...

Employers Ongoing Re-Enrolment Pension Duties Explained As The Pension Regulator Fines Over 250 Employers In Six Months

We have taken on several clients in the last few months who were not aware of their automatic enrolment – workplace pension duties which are governed by The Pension Regulator and would have incurred fines had we not stepped in on their behalf so we thought we would outline employers responsibilities.What Is Automatic Enrolment - Workplace Pension DutiesIf you employ at least one person, you are an employer and have certain legal duties. Under the Pensions Act 2008, every employer in ...

How Our Monthly Bookkeeping Service Benefits Self-Employed Professionals & It's Cheaper Thank You Think!

We recently shared how our client Kate Mills’ healing business has improved the lives of 2 people suffering with cancer and auto immune conditions. Click here for more information on Kate's healing business. We have been asked what we do to support Kate. Kate is self-employed, for a couple of years we just processed and submitted her tax returns once a year. Following a review of our work together, we realised that Kate would benefit with a more regular service so now we provide regular b...

National Payroll Week - The Importance Of Payroll To Business

With payrolled employees on the rise, we look at the importance of payroll. Payroll impacts all areas of business. Employees are arguably the most important part of a business, the person the customer communicates with, the person who makes your products and if they are not paid correctly or on time, they are not going to be an unhappy employee and the relationship between employee and employer becomes damaged, employee motivation and mental well-being will suffer. Employer review websites easil...

National Payroll Week: Statistics

Payrolled staff are increasing, the Office for National Statistics reported*: The number of payrolled employees rose by 2.9% in July 2022 compared with July 2021, a rise of 847,000 employees; up by 2.2% since February 2020, a rise of 649,000. Payrolled employment increased by 73,000 employees (0.2%) in July 2022 when compared with June 2022. Median monthly pay increased by 6.6% in July 2022 compared with July 2021, and increased by 13.4% when compared with February 2020. All age groups saw an in...

National Payroll Week: Interview With Our Newest Payroll Star

As part of National Payroll Week, we interviewed our superstar bookkeeper and almost qualified payroll sensation, Jo Carro. Jo has been with us for 2 and a half years and decided to further her bookkeeping knowledge by studying the complexities of payroll.As a qualified and experienced bookkeeper, what made you decide to become qualified in payroll? To me, it seemed like the next logical step in my career and another string to my bow and I knew it would be beneficial to Cashtrak’s growth....

National Payroll Week 2022

National Payroll Week was established in the UK by the CIPP (the Chartered Institute of Payroll professionals) in 1998 to celebrate the payroll profession and to give it the recognition it deserves. As payroll professionals for over 16 years, we love to get involved and offer an insight into why payroll is so much more than just pressing buttons on software! We need to not only have a knowledge of legislations and regulations but also the understanding of them which is where the industry crosses...

Part-Time Workers Holiday Calculation Method Deemed Unlawful By The Supreme Court In Harpur Trust vs Brazel Case

The way employers calculate holiday pay for part time, variable hour employees has been ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court and demonstrates how payroll is a lot more complex than may seem.  A long running case brought by a part time music teacher was finally concluded this week. Mrs Brazel worked for The Harpur Trust as a music teacher, she had variable hours each week depending on the demand for music lessons during the school term time. She had a permanent, zero hours contract and had to...

Xero's CEO - Bank Feeds, Apps & Innovation| Xerocon 2022

Xerocon London kicked off with a welcome from @Xero CEO, Steve Vamos. He acknowledged the that the bank feed needs work and advised they are talking to banks to try to resolve the problems. There are more open API (Application Programming Interfaces) to get more connections set up. You can read more about bank feed problems here.Depending on your bank, we would recommend regularly checking your bank statement against your Xero bank feed until the issues have been fixed. Need help? Contact us her...

New Making Tax Digital (MTD) Penalties Introduced To Encourage Compliance

HMRC have published details of how to avoid penalties for Making tax Digital for VAT (MTD for VAT). Accountingweb.co.uk reported that HMRC has resurrected two rarely used VAT penalty provisions from 1994/1995 to encourage compliance. The MTD for VAT rules state you must use compatible software, keep records digitally and use digital links to transfer or exchange data once you have signed up to MTD for VAT. The process is to ensure that there is no human intervention to change invoices and theref...

Spot Check Inspections For Employers Not Carrying Out Workplace Pension Responsibilities

The Pension Regulator recently announced that they are inspecting employers suspected of failing to meet their workplace pensions duties, these employers include organisations that are believed to be non-compliant or that may be at risk of becoming non-compliant. Non-compliance is brought to The Pension Regulator through various ways: HMRC sharing payroll informationPension scheme alertsWhistleblowing from individuals Some of the responsibilities employers are failing to follow are:Correctly ass...

More Healthcare Professionals Can Now Sign Fit Notes

From today (1st July, 2022), a number of healthcare professionals are now able to certify fit notes, also commonly referred to as sick notes. Now, the following can all legally certify fit notes.:NursesOccupational therapistsPharmacistsPhysiotherapists  The change enables people to access the service without having to see already under pressure GPs. Fit notes provide evidence of an absence of more than 7 days. The changes apply across England, Scotland and Wales with Northern Ireland c...

Workplace Pension – Employers Are Still Getting It Wrong

Workplace pensions have been around for some time now.  Every employer in the UK must put certain staff into a workplace pension scheme and contribute towards it under the Pensions Act 2008. This is called 'automatic enrolment'. If you employ at least one person, you are classed as an employer and as such you have certain legal duties. A business with just a sole director (depending on the circumstances) may be eligible (more to follow below on ‘eligibility’.) However long your business...

Claiming VAT Back On Fuel Costs

As VAT is charged on fuel, employees and business owners may be able to claim some or all of the VAT back. HMRC use their fuel advisory rate (we publish this on our social media platforms and our website every month, click here. Eligibility The business must be VAT registeredThis method can’t be used if you pay a fixed rate under the Flat Rate VAT scheme.If your vehicle is ONLY used for business, then you can reclaim all of the VAT Reclaiming: There are 2 ways to reclaim the VAT: Only rec...

High Wycombe & Surrounding Areas History

May is the Local and Community History month across the UK! The Historical Association, which is a charity registered and incorporated by the Royal Charter, supports education, enjoyment and the learning of history at all levels of teaching and adulthood. Their mission is to “inspire, enable and encourage” people across all walks of life to get involved with history, and the Local and Community history month is one of their ways to do it. In this month, the Historical Association wants every...

What Has Happened To The Reliability Of Xero Bank Feeds?

What Is Open Banking?Open Banking was introduced to encourage competition in banking — giving everyone more choice, and greater control of their data. As a result, businesses can share their bank transaction data securely and electronically with companies, including Xero. No more drudgery filling in forms manually and waiting weeks for a connection.  Open banking allows the automatic bank feeds are the connections that allow your accounting software to download transactions from your ...

Pay Business Bills Simply & Quickly With Pay Wise on Xero Accounting Software

An exciting offer for Xero users! Save time paying bills by using Pay Wise and get your first month free* What Is ItSecurely pay multiple bills at once through Xero without needing a payment file. You pay and manage bills through Xero allowing you a seamless process to pay multiple bills, regardless of your bank. Reconcile transactions easily allowing a more efficient way to manage the bill payment process.BenefitsSeamless process: standardised way to make UK bill payments, creating an...

The Spring Statement 2022 & Business - What It Means

Rishi Sunak delivered the Sprint Statement with a few gains for businesses. He stated that SMEs support 16.3 million jobs – 61% of total private sector employment* – and a strong economy relies on the entrepreneurship of small businesses across the United Kingdom. There were positive statistics for businesses with Rishi stating that the total number of payrolled employees now over 600,000 above pre-pandemic levels total number of payrolled employees in February 2022 2.3% above pre-pandemic l...

Making Tax Digital (MTD) For VAT - Deadline Approaching

All remaining VAT registered businesses must sign up for MTD, keep records digitally (for VAT purposes) and use compatible software for VAT return submission for their first return after 1st April, 2022. Businesses have been urged to sign up as soon as possible to ensure there are no delays to their returns.  MTD Rules Records must be kept digitally and should include: business name and address VAT registration number Any VAT accounting schemes usedcopies of all invoices you issue...

National Insurance Contributions - What Employers And Employees Need To Know

National insurance contributions (NICs) are essentially a tax on earned income. The NICs regime divides income into different classes: Class 1 contributions are payable on earnings from employment, while the profits of the self-employed are liable to Class 2 and 4 contributions and Class 3 are voluntary. National insurance is often overlooked yet it is the largest source of government revenue after income tax. We highlight below the areas you need to consider and identify some of the potential p...

Why Invoicing Correctly Is Vital To Your Business

An invoice is an often overlooked and fundamental part of business, it is a document issued by a business to show the goods and/or services provided to a customer. The main aim of the sales invoice is to request payment however there are other functions this serves which are essential to a business. If both the business and customer are VAT registered, then it is a legal requirement to provide an invoice with certain information. It is important to note that a business can’t reclaim VAT using ...

Tax Return Deadline Extended To 28th February - Interest Will STILL Accrue

HMRC has announced there won’t be: Late filing penalties for those who file online by 28‌‌th ‌February, 2022Late payment penalties for those who pay the tax due in full or set up a payment plan by 1‌‌ ‌April 2022.  BUT interest will still be charged on any outstanding amount from 1st February.The additional time will be good news for those still struggling through their tax return however HMRC is encouraging customers to file and pay on time if they can, we always recommend th...

Statutory Sick Pay – Fit Note Also Known As Dr Note Temporary Changes

Usually, your employer will ask for a fit note (Statement of Fitness for Work) if you are off of work sick for more than 7 days. However, for the purposes of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), from 10th December 2021 your employer can only ask for proof of sickness, such as a fit note, after 28 days of sickness (including non-working days). Proof of sickness cannot be requested earlier than 28 days. Fit notes do not have to be provided for Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit claims until 27 Ja...

Government Announces Financial Support For Businesses Impacted By Omicron (COVID-19 Variant)

The government have reacted to the growing numbers of Omicron infections which have caused cancellations in the hospitality industry at the busiest time of year and also to support businesses suffering with staff of sick. The Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (SSPRS) has been reintroduced for small and medium-sized employers (fewer than 250 employees) which reimburses businesses for the cost of SSP for COVID related absences. This is for Covid-related absences, for up to 2 weeks per employee. Bus...