Did you know if you own a small company under new HMRC rules you can claim up to £300 per director per annum for Trivial Expenses? What are they? The basic rule is that an employer can now provide trivial benefits such as a bunch of flowers, a box of chocolates, a meal out, without having to put it on their P11D and without any tax or national insurance for either employer or employee. The employer will also be entitled to claim income tax or corporation tax relief on the cos

A Payment on account is the amount of Income Tax and class 4 National Insurance that some business owners have to pay to HMRC for a future tax year.....and it can be a little confusing. Payment on Account is one of the most commonly misunderstood elements of the Self Assessment process. Although it was devised as a way of helping self-employed people ( that's sole traders and private limited company directors) spread out their tax bill, it often results in increased financia

Mistakes are easy to make, especially on your tax returns so can you amend them? Making an error on a personal tax return is not uncommon and HMRC make provision for taxpayers to amend their tax return providing this is done within one year of the original filing deadline. For example for a 15-16 tax return which had to be filed by the 31 January 2017 you have until 31 January 2018 to amend your tax return, as this is one year after the original online tax return filing dead

As we head towards the end of the year and one of the busiest sales periods for many businesses, one vital task can easily escape your mind… Your taxes. If you're running your business as a sole trader, you might feel like 31 January is a long way off, and you have the security blanket of time to help you get your accounts in order. But this is one of the biggest mistakes business owners can make this time of year… waiting till January to get organised only to find thems

Can you tell your annual accounts from your annual confirmation statement? They sound similar but in fact they’re quite different. What’s required, what are the deadlines and do they apply to sole traders as well? The annual accounts Both sole traders and limited companies prepare annual accounts and file their accounts with HMRC as part of their tax returns, the sole trader for self assessment and the limited company for corporation tax. One major difference is that limited

What do you need to consider when setting up a Limited company for the first time? Methods to form a company Probably the first thing to decide is the method of forming a limited company. This can be done in three different ways: You can register the company yourself with Companies House. You can pay a company formation agent or accountant to do this for you. You can buy a on ‘off the shelf’ ready-made company and then change the name, directors etc. Choosing a company name W