When Do I Have To Register for VAT?

If you are aware of an increase in turnover, or are unsure about whether you should be VAT registered or not, the following points should help:                                                      

• If your turnover exceeds the registration threshold of £85,000 over a rolling 12 month period then you will need to register for VAT; you will then need to calculate at what point your turnover broke this threshold.
• Once you know when you exceeded the registration threshold, you need to register by the end of the following month. For example, if the threshold was breached on 31 August, you have to register by 30 September and will be registered from 1 October.
• If you expect you will breach the registration threshold in a single 30 day period, you must register for VAT immediately.
• If you are late registering for VAT, then you must pay what you owe from the point at which you should have registered; as well as interest there may be penalties which depend on what you owe and how late your registration is.
• It is possible to get an exception from registering if your turnover goes over the threshold temporarily. To do this you need to write to HMRC with evidence as to why you believe your net turnover won’t go over £83,000 (de-registration threshold) in the next 12 months. HMRC will then respond confirming whether an exception has been granted or not – this is not always guaranteed – and if denied, they will register you for VAT.
• You can also register at any point voluntarily – you must pay HMRC any VAT you owe from the date that you become registered.

If you are unsure, there is a helpful link online (www.gov.uk/vat-registration/overview) which explains in further detail the steps you should take when registering for VAT.

If you have any queries or concerns with regards to any aspect of VAT, feel free to give our office a ring on 0116 242 3400 and we will be happy to discuss this with you. 

Jake Dempsey, Accounts & Tax

When Do I Have To Register for VAT?

If you are aware of an increase in turnover, or are unsure about whether you should be VAT registered or not, the following points should help:                                                   

• If your turnover exceeds the registration threshold of £85,000 over a rolling 12 month period then you will need to register for VAT; you will then need to calculate at what point your turnover broke this threshold.
• Once you know when you exceeded the registration threshold, you need to register by the end of the following month. For example, if the threshold was breached on 31 August, you have to register by 30 September and will be registered from 1 October.
• If you expect you will breach the registration threshold in a single 30 day period, you must register for VAT immediately.
• If you are late registering for VAT, then you must pay what you owe from the point at which you should have registered; as well as interest there may be penalties which depend on what you owe and how late your registration is.
• It is possible to get an exception from registering if your turnover goes over the threshold temporarily. To do this you need to write to HMRC with evidence as to why you believe your net turnover won’t go over £83,000 (de-registration threshold) in the next 12 months. HMRC will then respond confirming whether an exception has been granted or not – this is not always guaranteed – and if denied, they will register you for VAT.
• You can also register at any point voluntarily – you must pay HMRC any VAT you owe from the date that you become registered.

If you are unsure, there is a helpful link online (www.gov.uk/vat-registration/overview) which explains in further detail the steps you should take when registering for VAT.

If you have any queries or concerns with regards to any aspect of VAT, feel free to give our office a ring on 0116 242 3400 and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

Jake Dempsey 

Accounts & Tax 

RESTRICTION ON INTEREST RELIEF ON RESIDENTIAL BUY TO LET PROPERTIES

As many owners of rental properties will be aware, from 6 April 2017 there is a restriction on the tax relief available on mortgage interest on residential Buy to Let (BTL) loans. The restriction, which is being phased in over 4 tax years to 2020/21, will eventually limit tax relief to the basic rate of income tax, currently 20%.

For a 40% tax payer (usually taxable income over £44,000) the staggering of the restriction means that over the next 4 years, tax relief on interest will be reduced by 1/8 each year to 50% of its 2016/17 level by 2020/21. For example, a 40% taxpayer paying £2,000 in BTL mortgage interest each year will currently be entitled to £800 of tax relief; this will reduce by £100 a year to £400 by 2020/21. As income is assessed before interest is deducted, more people will find themselves in the 40% tax bracket.

This, combined with the extra 3% Stamp Duty applying to additional residential homes being purchased, amounts to a significant increase in the tax burden relating to owning residential rental property.

The tax relief restriction does not apply to companies letting residential properties, so we are experiencing an increase in requests by individuals and couples wishing to set up a limited company to acquire properties they would like to buy for rental purposes. However, the increase in Stamp Duty still applies and commercial BTL mortgage rates tend to be higher than personal rates.

In some very restricted circumstances, it is possible to transfer existing rental properties into a limited company, taking advantage of incorporation relief to hold over Capital Gains, and in even more limited cases, to avoid payment of Stamp Duty on such a transfer.

If you would like to know more, please email peter.morris@torrwaterfield.co.uk or call 0116 2423400

Spring Budget 2017

I am sure that you have seen the headlines in the papers this morning about the Budget and for a detailed analysis please see the report on our website:

www.torrwaterfield.co.uk/news/budget-report.

The items that have caught my attention and I think are relevant to most people are as follows:

National Insurance for the self-employed

At present, if self-employed, you pay class 2 National Insurance of £145.60 for a complete year, and class 4 at 9% based on your level of profits.  The Government do not think that this is fair as employees pay National Insurance at 12%.  To level this position, class 2 National Insurance will be abolished from 06/04/2018 and the class 4 element will increase to 10% from that date, and to 11% from 06/04/2019, thus bringing the self-employed more in line with the employed.

Dividend changes again …

From 06/04/2016 broadly the first £5,000 of dividend income is taxed at 0 % (Dividend Allowance).  This will continue until 05/04/2018.  However, from 06/04/2018 the Dividend Allowance will reduce to £2,000.  This will mainly affect the family company shareholder and increase their tax liability as follows:

Basic rate taxpayer – additional tax of £225

Higher rate taxpayer – additional tax of £975

Additional rate taxpayer – additional tax of £1,143

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs)

 The overall limit is increasing from £15,240 to £20,000 on 06/04/2017.

Property and trading income allowances

Although this was mentioned last year it comes into play on 06/04/2017. It is as it says, so if you have property or trading income of £1,000 or less you will no longer need to declare this or pay tax on it.  This could cover small amounts of rent from Air ‘bnb’ activities or trading on ebay. 

New Childcare provisions

 If you are taking out new childcare provisions from 06/04/2017 then, instead of opting for a salary sacrifice scheme and receiving vouchers, for every 80 pence that you contribute the Government will contribute 20 pence. The maximum the Government will contribute will generally be £2,000.

Making Tax Digital

This will be introduced on 06/04/2018 for businesses, the self-employed and landlords who have profits chargeable to Income Tax and pay Class 4 National insurance Contributions where their turnover is in excess of the VAT Threshold, which will be £85,000 from 01/04/2017.

As this is a very new area please contact us for further information.

Salary Sacrifice

 From 06/04/2017 this is changing, but it is still beneficial for both the employer and employee to sacrifice salary in respect of employer provided pensions, childcare vouchers, workplace nurseries and cycle to work schemes. 

Construction Industry

The government are launching a consultation on 20 March 2017 to look at various areas, including the qualifying criteria for Gross Payment Status and options to combat VAT supply chain fraud in supplies of labour.

In addition to the above, certain other changes come into force on 06/04/2017 that have been mentioned in earlier Budgets namely:

Restrictions on residential property interest

Landlords will no longer be able to deduct all of their finance costs from their property income.

Inheritance Tax residence nil rate band

There will be an additional nil rate band for deaths on or after 06/04/2017 where an interest in a main residence passes to direct descendants.

As mentioned above I have only mentioned the areas that I believe will be most relevant to the majority of our clients but other areas can be found on our website.

Please contact us if you have a specific query. 0116 24243400

Julia Harrison, Tax Manager

More Personal Tax to pay in January 2018?

No one wants to pay more tax, but from 6th April 2016, individuals who receive dividends will be taxed under new legislation. To explain how much this new measure could cost you we have created a short helpful video. 

Please visit our YouTube channel here to watch.  

Having viewed the video, if you would like to know how this will personally affect you in January 2018, please click here. 

YouTube

Have you paid your self-assessment bill?

Tax Payments – How late can you be?

With the madness of the January tax return deadline, it may have slipped some of your minds to actually pay your self-assessment bill. If this is the case then you may be wondering how you will be penalised for doing so.

For those that have filed their self-assessment tax return before the deadline but have not paid the bill, there will be interest accruing at 2.75% pa for the first 30 days.

However, after 30 days from the deadline the full amount of tax due will be subject to a 5% penalty. This means that if you had a liability of £5,000 unpaid by midnight on 2 March 2017, there would be an immediate fine of £250 added to your account.

Similarly, if after 6 and 12 months from the filing deadline you have not paid the full balance, then there would be additional 5% penalties on the tax outstanding at those dates.

Furthering the example above, should there still be an outstanding debt of £5,000 on 1 August 2017 then an additional £250 penalty will be accrued and if the debt has still not been settled by 1 February 2018 then another £250 will be added. This means that within just 12 months, a £5,000 tax bill will have penalties totaling £750.

On top of this there will also still be interest accruing on both the tax and penalties. Making the estimated amount owing on 1 February 2018 £5,887.

Sam Jefferson, Accounts & Tax 

If you need further help please contact us.

Correcting Errors on Your VAT Return

Picture the scene: it’s the end of the month, you’ve just submitted your VAT return for the quarter, you close your laptop and there behind it is a small pile of invoices that you’d forgotten to include.

This isn’t uncommon.  Here’s a few questions that you might be thinking:

Can I amend the return that I’ve submitted?

Unfortunately not, once the return is submitted there is no mechanism to adjust or amend it.

Can I just pay the correct amount?

Again, this isn’t accepted by HMRC. Their systems will assume you’ve under/overpaid and may charge interest & penalties or refund any overpayment.

OK, how do I make the correction?

There are two methods to fix an error on a VAT return, and which one to use depends on the size of the mistake.

• If the net value of the errors is £10,000 or less; or
• Less than 1% of your box 6 figure and less than £50,000

Then you can adjust the mistake on your next VAT return by adding the value to box 1 or box 4 as required. You will also need to keep details of the inaccuracy should HMRC ever enquire about the return.

If the errors do not meet the threshold above, then you are required to report them to HMRC immediately.

You should complete a form VAT652 which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-notification-of-errors-in-vat-returns-vat-652

HMRC may charge you interest and penalties if they deem the error to be due to careless or dishonest behaviour.

If you’d like any assistance in making the adjustments, please feel free to get in touch with our team on 0116 242 3400.

Matt Smith- Accountant, Audit & Tax 

 

The New Marriage Allowance

 

The marriage allowance allows you transfer £1,100 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner – if they earn more than you.

This reduces their tax by up to £220 in the tax year (6 April to 5 April the next year).

In order to benefit as a couple, you (as the lower earner) must have an income of £11,000 or less.

If you are eligible for marriage allowance in the 2015/2016 tax year, you can backdate your claim to 6 April 2015 and reduce the tax paid by up to £432.

Who can apply?

You can get marriage allowance if all the following apply:

• You are married or in a civil partnership
• You don’t earn anything, or your income is under £11,000
• Your Partner’s income is between £11,001 and £43,000

You can also apply for marriage allowance if you or your partner:

• Are currently receiving a pension
• Live abroad – as long as you get a Personal Allowance

If you or your Partner were born before 6 April 1935, you might benefit more as a couple by applying for Married Couple’s Allowance instead.

If you would like to discuss this please get in touch. 

Paula McIntosh, Administration  

THE BENEFITS OF USING APPS

In today’s fast moving world we are all looking for ways to save time.  The majority of us carry some kind of hand held device, whether it is a tablet or simply a mobile phone on which we can organise our day to day lives.  We even provide our children with these devices to occupy them and give ourselves five minutes of peace and quiet!

Apps can be downloaded to hand held devices and are generally a cheap way to provide not only entertainment but also as a means to seek and manage information.  Where our children are happy to play games and line the pockets of the game creators of ‘Flappy Birds’ and ‘Candy Crush,’ perhaps we as adults are looking for something a little more informative and useful.

I monitor and manage important deadline dates for the clients of Torr Waterfield and I find the Companies House App an extremely useful business tool.  By searching for companies on this App I am able to instantly see information such as the following:

• Company number
• Date of incorporation
  
• Registered Office address, along with a link to view the location on a map
• The company accounts reference date
• The date the last set of submitted accounts were made up to
• The date the next set of accounts are due for submission
• The date the last submitted annual return (now known as a confirmation statement) was made up to
• The date the next annual return/ confirmation statement is due for submission
• Nature of the business
• Current and resigned company directors and secretaries and certain details about the company officers
• History of submitted documents

This App is available to everyone, so if you think your business may find this company search facility useful then you may be interested to know that it can be downloaded for free.

As mentioned by my colleague Calum Ainge in his June 2016 blog, entitled ‘Keep Up To Date And Download Our Free Tax App,’  the Torrwaterfield Tax App is also available free of charge and includes features such as key tax dates, tax tips, news, tax tables and it even has a tax calculator. 

If you think that your business may benefit from the above Apps then all you need to do is either visit the App store or Google play and download your Apps for free.

Beth Judd, Accounts & Tax

Tax return deadlines – Are you ready?

As you may know, the tax return deadline is getting closer with the final date of submission and payment for electronically submitted tax returns being 31 January 2017.

Collect tax through PAYE code:

When filing a tax return you can opt to pay your overdue tax by collecting it through PAYE (This means your tax code would bechanged to collect the tax each month straight from your wages). If this is something that you are interested in, the tax return deadline is brought forward to 30 December 2016. The advantage of this is that your tax will be collected over 12 months rather than a single payment on 31 January 2017.

Please note: This only applies if the tax you owe is less than £2,000.

Late submission of tax return:

If your tax return is submitted late there are different types of penalties that you will face depending on how late it is:

Time scale	Amount due
After 31 January 2017	Flat rate of £100
Three months after deadline	£10 per day for 90 days (maximum £900)
Six months after deadline	The higher of £300 or 5% of the tax due
Twelve months after deadline	The higher of £300 of 5% of tax due

These are all on top of the previous penalty, for example if you file your tax return on 31 May 2017 you will owe £100 for the first three months plus 31 days x £10 per day = £310 meaning your total penalty would be £410 on top of the tax that is due on your late return.

In serious cases HMRC could request for you to pay 100% of the tax due on top of the original tax- meaning you would be paying double the tax you owe.

There is an option to appeal against these penalties if there is a reasonable excuse that can be provided.

Late payment of tax:

If the tax is paid late HMRC can charge interest on the tax due; at the minute this stands at 2.75% (from 23 August 2016).

As well as interest, there are also late payment penalties:

Time scale	%of tax paid late
Over 30 days late	5%
Over 6 months late	Further 5%
Over 12 months late	Further 5%

As you can see there are many penalties that can arise if your tax return is not submitted and paid on time, therefore please try and get your tax return information to us as soon as possible so that these can be avoided.

If you would like any more advice on tax return submission, payment or calculations, please get in contact.

Jessica Cooper, Accounts & Tax