Money Matters – Autumn 2012 newsletter

Money Matters, the Autumn 2012 newsletter from Hart Shaw is now available to download from our website, along with our latest briefings.

Money Matters – Autumn 2012

 

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Our cover article ‘How secure is your business’ aims to steer you clear of the risk of falling into one of the situations whereby HMRC may require a business to provide a security deposit to ensure certain tax payments are met.

For those who regularly support charities, we have included some topical matters on giving. ‘A simpler move for charities’ looks at a new repayment scheme on small donations to help charities and the feature ‘Feeling generous..?’ takes a look at a new tax relief scheme for individuals and companies who are fortunate enough to own ‘pre-eminent objects’!

VAT for many is not an exciting read but ‘Changes to the VAT invoice rules’ may actually reduce certain administration requirements for your business and we will be happy to assist with any changes you would like to implement.

For individuals, this edition tackles some mainstream practical areas of tax encountered on a day to day basis. First ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’ considers the important area of business travel expenses in the context of a recent case. Real tax case stories also feature in ‘Principal private residence perils’, an article which highlights the problems which can arise in securing a valuable capital gains relief on your main home. We also include a useful article covering the key tax rules when saving for your retirement in ‘Maximising pension reliefs’ including a planning aspect.

Finally for companies ‘Doubling up on reliefs’ is well worth a read as it considers the tax incentives on offer for research and development carried out by UK companies. This follows the issue of the most recent HMRC statistics which indicate a very low portion of small and medium-sized companies in particular make claims for the reliefs available so we thought it might be time to take a fresh look at an area which could reap significant benefits.

In addition to this two new briefings on ‘Capital Allowances and Property’ and ‘Are you at risk from IR35?’ are available to read.

Please do contact us so that we can help you best plan for any business and tax opportunities in these and other significant transaction areas or if you have any questions regarding any of the articles we have included in our newsletter. Your views are always important to us and we would welcome any feedback you could give us.

Brendan Hall, Marketing Co-ordinator

Follow Brendan on Linked In

Hart Shaw Newsletters

 

Money Matters – Autumn newsletter from Hart Shaw

The autumn 2011 issue of our Money matters newsletter is now available to download from our website, which as usual includes a variety of business and topical tax issues. 

Money matters Autumn 2011

You may or may not be aware that HMRC’s latest tool in tackling tax evasion is to launch various task forces over the next two years to target ‘tax dodgers’ in perceived high risk trade areas. Our cover article looks at this latest initiative.

The HMRC spotlight is also on the self-employed and their travel expenses and we have included an article to establish the latest position. The age old company car tax debate rumbles on as HMRC continue to challenge whether a car is employer provided. You will see from our article the Tribunal agreed with HMRC and although the company car remains an expensive benefit, one in ten cars on the road are company cars!

Business owners also need to be aware of both the new employment regulations concerning agency workers that come into force on 1 October 2011 and the new Bribery Act 2010 which finally came into force on 1 July 2011. Our articles should help you determine if you need to take any action on both counts.

Ending where we started, with HMRC, make sure you read ‘Excuses Excuses’ as we round up some ‘reasonable excuse’ defences when filing self assessment, VAT or corporation tax returns late!

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding any of the articles we have included in our newsletter or if you would like further information on a topic we haven’t covered. Your views are always important to us and we would welcome any feedback you could give us.

Brendan Hall, Marketing Co-ordinator

T: 0114 251 8872 – Email: brendan.hall@hartshaw.co.uk

Follow Brendan on Linked In

Money Matters

Money Matters – a winter 2010 newsletter from Hart Shaw is now available to doanload via our website.

With the publication of three Finance Bills, 2010 has been an unprecedented year and seen many tax changes, so unsurprisingly our winter newsletter concentrates on tax issues.

Our front cover focuses on the restrictions relating to tax relief on pension contributions and the bad news that some high earners could find themselves with an additional tax charge.

If you are a high earner, has the introduction of a 50% top rate of income tax made you think that it may be worthwhile leaving the UK? We consider if this is a realistic option.

When is a car a pool car? To make sure there is no tax bill for an employee to pay, certain criteria must be met and increasingly HMRC are looking for employers to ‘prove it’. If your business has a pool car make sure that you can indeed ‘prove it’ and if you have any concerns please get in touch.

Another area under the HMRC spotlight is tax deductions for repairs and alterations to buildings. The deduction may be challenged but the cases we have highlighted show that HMRC don’t always win!

VAT is a complex area and now it seems paying what you owe is also becoming more complicated. New rules when paying by cheque were introduced in April 2010 and HMRC have recently thought it appropriate to a issue reminder. They have also issued revised guidance on correcting your own mistakes! Read ‘VATs it all about’ to find out more.

We also look at the increase in National Insurance Contributions and the decrease in corporation tax from April 2011. Finally, if you feel you have anything left to give away we look at the most tax efficient way to make donations to charity.

Included with the newsletter there are also special briefings where we look in more detail at:

– Year End tax planning tips for the individual
– Keeping the lid on Inheritance Tax
– Securing business success

Our Money Matters newsletter and these client briefings are available to download from our website via: http://www.hartshaw.co.uk/newsletters.htm