Thursday January 26, 2012 at 9:00am
January can be a gloomy month – not least for those facing the deadline for completing their online tax return – but January 2012 has brought at least a small ray of sunshine for small businesses which feel unfairly treated by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
In a precedent-setting judgement, the Tax Tribunal has ruled the Government is acting illegally by issuing late-payment penalty fines against thousands of small businesses which fail to submit their tax returns on time....
Friday January 20, 2012 at 6:55pm
We’ve all done it. That letter needs writing; those invoices need filing; that client needs calling. But then, that other thing needs doing too. You know, that really important thing. The one that can’t wait - your annual tax return.
It’s human nature. We put off anything that doesn’t need doing by yesterday. But the problem with filing your online tax return even a few minutes after the deadline, is you’ll be rewarded with an unwelcome fine of £100. This pe....
Friday January 13, 2012 at 1:21pm
With Christmas out of the way and as we rapidly approach the end of the tax year it’s a good time for every small business owner to take a look at their financial management and accounting practices. Small business owners often make seemingly simple accounting mistakes which at their most extreme could mean the difference between a good and bad fiscal year.
Here are three common financial mistakes we encounter and how to avoid them.
Not discussing costs and payment terms in advance. Co....
Thursday January 12, 2012 at 9:00am
Amidst all the doom and gloom of 2011 I was encouraged to read that according to recent research 470,000 new businesses were created last year an increase of 18 per cent on figures for 2010. Even taking account of the high number of insolvencies there was still a net gain of 455,000 new limited companies. It’s not unsurprising as in previous recessions when large numbers of people have been made redundant many have elected to set up their own business, often offering their skills and exper....
Thursday January 5, 2012 at 9:00am
I do think HMRC might be over-egging it a bit when it comes to tax enquiries at the moment. It’s been reported that HMRC recovered £179 million as a result of enquiries into tax returns in one year alone.
Over recent years HMRC have become more and more determined to discover tax discrepancies. There’s nothing wrong with that in my view, if they are tackling people who are making false claims or trying to fiddle the system. But unfortunately it also means than many innocent b....