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Dec 23, 2020
13 min

IR35 and the Off-Payroll Working Rules

Introduction to IR35 For many years, the government and HMRC were concerned that people were using limited companies in order to unjustly reduce their tax liabilities where ‘normal’ employees were not able to. Legislation was therefore introduced, around 20 years ago when Gordon Brown was the Chancellor, so that the directors of (personal service) limited companies had to decide if the work that they performed for their customers was essentially that of an employee and employ

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Do you need original paper VAT receipts to claim back VAT?

Paul Clifton

Dec 4, 2019
4 min

Do you need original paper VAT receipts to claim back VAT?

Businesses often ask if they can claim input VAT without a VAT invoice.

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Business and staff entertaining - the tax consequences!

Paul Clifton

Jun 20, 2019
3 min

Business and staff entertaining - the tax consequences!

Any cost relating to entertaining of existing, potential customers and contacts is not treated as a cost for Corporation Tax purposes. It is still a valid business expense that will be shown in the company’s Profit and Loss Account within its annual Financial Statements. However, the company is not able to claim entertaining as a Corporation Tax deductible cost. Business entertainment is defined as any form of free or subsidised entertainment or hospitality to existing, pot

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HMRC's strategic approach for collecting more tax

Paul Clifton

May 31, 2019
4 min

HMRC's strategic approach for collecting more tax

New Targets for H M Revenue & Custom published in March 2019 The government has invested around £2 billion of additional funding to H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC) since 2010, and will continue to invest in staff and new technology, to ensure HMRC has the resources to further tackle tax avoidance, evasion and other forms of non-compliance. The government states in a recent report that it is “consistently acting to tackle tax avoidance, evasion and other forms of non-compliance i

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MTD4VAT: Digitalising a manual recordkeeping system

Paul Clifton

May 14, 2019
2 min

MTD4VAT: Digitalising a manual recordkeeping system

Question A client is compulsorily VAT registered and is using the cash accounting scheme. Their current system is not particularly sophisticated. They only use a manual cashbook. They wish to ensure that they are MTD compliant, but want to keep things as simple as possible. Can they continue to use their ‘old style’ paper-based cashbook but now do this though a spreadsheet based cashbook and submit via bridging software? Answer Generally, the answer will be yes. However, in

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Exemptions from Making Tax Digital for VAT

Paul Clifton

May 9, 2019
2 min

Exemptions from Making Tax Digital for VAT

HMRC have finally confirmed when an exemption from Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTDfV) is given automatically and when you when you will need to apply. Automatic exemption HMRC expect that most businesses will be able to meet their legal obligations under Making Tax Digital. However, they accept that for a small number of businesses that it may not be possible. If your taxable turnover for the previous year is less than the registration limit of £85,000 then you are automatica

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MTD4VAT: No summaries are permitted when recording takings and purchases/expenses

Paul Clifton

Apr 24, 2019
3 min

MTD4VAT: No summaries are permitted when recording takings and purchases/expenses

Julie Green, a VAT expert for CronerTaxwise, who we used for tax consultancy and HMRC Fee Protection Scheme, provides some very honest and practical details relating to record keeping under the new Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTD4VAT) process. Under MTD4VAT businesses are required to record individual supplies made and received i.e. to record individual sales and their individual purchases/expenses. Recording petty cash transactions Question Petty Cash transactions: Do we hav

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MTD4VAT: What does HMRC say about recording your transactions and digital links?

Paul Clifton

Apr 12, 2019
4 min

MTD4VAT: What does HMRC say about recording your transactions and digital links?

HMRC’s VAT Notice on Making Tax Digital 700/22, sets out the digital record-keeping requirements in section 4.3. The HMRC recordkeeping requirements for Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTD4VAT) are as follows: For supplies made (sales): The time of supply (the VAT tax point) The value of the supply (the net value excluding VAT) The rate of VAT charged For supplies received (purchases): The time of supply The value of the supply including any VAT that is not claimable by the busin

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MTD4VAT: Mandatory Making Tax Digital is now going live

Paul Clifton

Apr 1, 2019
3 min

MTD4VAT: Mandatory Making Tax Digital is now going live

Introduction H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says that Making Tax Digital (MTD) is a key part of the government’s plans to make it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs. HMRC’s ambition is to become one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world. HMRC argue that MTD will transform tax administration so that it is more effective, more efficient and easier for taxpayers to get their tax right through the

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Paul Clifton

Oct 31, 2018
12 min

Budget 2018 - Key points

Introduction Chancellor Philip Hammond’s 2018 Budget speech on 29 October was noted as the 'trick or treat' Budget with its proximity to 31 October. October is a strange month for a Budget. We are so near Bonfire night and Christmas decorations are in the shops. The Budget speech lasted 73min, his longest Budget speech to date, and had a few bad jokes regarding business rate on public toilets. The Chancellor said that austerity is ‘finally coming to an end’ and that wages gr

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Paul Clifton

Sep 20, 2018
6 min

Dancer in pole position for tax relief

Overview of the tax rule Many clients ask what they can claim for as tax deductible expenditure i.e. expenses that can be deducted from their income to reduce the amount of their taxable profit and therefore their tax liability. I thought that I would share with you an ‘interesting’ recent tax case that illustrates the tax rules. I also hope that the introduction to this article would be helpful to business clients in helping them to ascertain what expenses they can claim fo

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Update on Making Tax Digital for VAT (July 2018)

Paul Clifton

Jul 26, 2018
4 min

Update on Making Tax Digital for VAT (July 2018)

Introduction Making Tax Digital (MTD) is the biggest change in tax administration in two decades i.e. since Self Assessment was introduced in 1997. MTD is the Government’s flagship scheme that requires online tax filing and payment, as well as digital record keeping. All business taxes will be part of the scheme. MTD’s impact on businesses large and small is likely to be significant. The Government says the scheme will reduce tax errors and therefore generate £610 million in

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Paul Clifton

Nov 29, 2017
10 min

Autumn Budget 2017 - Key points

Introduction The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has delivered his second Budget of the year, following the spring 2017 Budget. Most of the announcements of that earlier Budget were not passed as law before the June Election. It was only when the Conservatives returned to power and with the introduction of a second Finance Act of 2017 did most of the spring 2017 Budget actually become law. Based on the speech you would be forgiven for thinking that there was hardly any tax in the

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Simple Assessment – ending the Tax Return for some people

Paul Clifton

Sep 29, 2017
5 min

Simple Assessment – ending the Tax Return for some people

Simple Assessment and letter P302 - a new system for some taxpayers

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Delay to mandatory implementation of Making Tax Digital

Paul Clifton

Jul 17, 2017
2 min

Delay to mandatory implementation of Making Tax Digital

We welcomed HMRC’s announcement on 13 July 2017 that the mandatory introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) will be deferred until 2020. In a written statement made by Mel Stride, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, she said that “The Government will not widen the scope of MTD beyond VAT before the system has been shown to work well, and not before April 2020 at the earliest. This will ensure that there is time to test the system fully and for digital record keeping to becom

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Survival Tips for dealing with HMRC Tax Enquiries

Mr Paul Clifton

May 14, 2017
4 min

Survival Tips for dealing with HMRC Tax Enquiries

We look at some practical tips for taxpayers who are subject to an enquiry by HM Revenue & Customs into their tax returns. A tax return enquiry by HMRC is not a pleasant experience, to say the least. For many taxpayers, an enquiry can be very worrying and stressful. A tax return enquiry may be ‘full’ or ‘aspect’. In a full enquiry, HMRC broadly look at all the significant risks of error in the return. An aspect enquiry falls short of a full enquiry into the whole return, but

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Paul Clifton

Mar 14, 2017
8 min

Spring Budget 2017 - Key points

An overview of the key points from Spring Budget 2017

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New VAT rules from 1 April 2017 for the Flat Rate Scheme and Limited Cost Traders.

Paul Clifton

Jan 31, 2017
7 min

New VAT rules from 1 April 2017 for the Flat Rate Scheme and Limited Cost Traders.

New rules are to be introduced from 1 April 2017 that will remove the VAT saving that many small businesses currently obtain through the use of the VAT Flat Rate Scheme. Overview of the new rules For VAT return periods starting on or after 1 April 2017, if your purchases are less than 2% of your turnover, or proportionately less than £1,000 per annum, you'll be required to use an FRS rate of 16.5%. If the new rules apply to you, you’ll probably be better off leaving the schem

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Paul Clifton

Nov 25, 2016
2 min

HMRC Personal Tax Accounts

H M Revenue & Customs are developing their online systems in readiness for Making Tax Digital. They suggest that instead of telephoning or writing to HMRC, that taxpayers can access their Personal Tax Account to view information about their tax affairs and tell HMRC online about changes that may affect the tax they pay. The Personal Tax Account makes it easier for individuals to manage their tax affairs by bringing them together in one place online. They are encouraging taxpa

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Mr Paul Clifton

Feb 12, 2015
1 min

Tax return late filing penalties

If you want to submit a paper copy of your tax return, you must do so by 31 October, following the end of the tax year. For the current 2014/15 tax year (ending on 5 April 2015), the deadline for paper returns is 31 October 2015. HMRC will then calculate what you owe and set a deadline for payment. However, you can also file online by 31 January following the end of the tax year, and your bill will be calculated for you automatically. Late filing penalties Those who failed to

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