01384 271 858 [email protected]
Furloughing your Employment

Furloughing your Employment

by | News

Advanced Accountancy are commited to communicating with you at this worrying time. We understand that the information on the Gov website is overwhelming and complicated and it’s hard to sit down and decipher pages of new information with so much chaos going on around us.

Well, now you don’t have to.

Welcome to your daily ‘under the spotlight’ blog which will simplyfy and breakdown each Government scheme that has been put into place over the last few days.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

At this uncertain time where your business income is looking patchy (to put it kindly) and no one knows when things are likely to start turning around, the last thing you need to worry about is paying your employees. If you employee just one person, or have a workforce of  thousands, covering wages can often be a financial concern at the best of times. Its safe to say COVID-19 has far from helped (unless you work in a toilet paper factory I suppose….)

Needless to say no employer wants to let down loyal employees when they could well be facing financial difficulties of their own. You know your employees all have mortgages, rent and bills to pay and the idea of laying everyone off at such a time is really difficult to contemplate.

Thankfully help is at hand.

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers will be able to access support to continue paying up to 80% of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. This protects your staff force, ensures that they will be there when we emerge from the crisis, and takes a huge financial burden off your struggling business. No difficult decisions need to be made! So, we know there is an answer, but I guess you still have questions….Fire away!

Am I eligiable?

Yes, thankfully all UK businesses are eligable for this scheme.

How do I access this scheme?

You will need to:

designate affected employees as ‘furloughed workers,’ and notify your employees of this change. By changing the status of employees they remain subject to existing employment law and, depending on the employment contract, this may be subject to negotiation

You then submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed and their earnings through a new online portal (HMRC will set out further details on the information required very soon)

HMRC will reimburse 80% of furloughed workers wage costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. HMRC are working urgently to set up a system for reimbursement. Existing systems are not set up to facilitate payments to employers, so bear with them on this one. We are all working hard to accomdate an unexpected crisis!

As an employer you are able to top up the remaining 20% if you are financially able to do so, and if you’re simply not in the position to do that you can rest easy knowing that the vast majority of the money is covered providing a safety net to your business and workforce.

This sounds time consuming. Are there any other options?

At Advanced Accountancy our qualified and experienced payroll team are in an excellent position to facilitate these complex changes ensuring the minimum disruption possible to your employees and giving you the time and space to focus on keeping yourself and your community as safe as possible.

If you believe that the above scheme would be of benefit to yourself and your company contact us today on 01384 271858 and rest easy knowing the wages are taking care of themselves.

Self Employed COVID-19 Help and Support

Self Employed COVID-19 Help and Support

by | News

So last week the government released the information so many of you had been waiting for. There would be help for self employed individuals!

We know that has majorly concerned so many of our clients at Advanced Accountancy and we’re pleased we can finally bring you some positive news.

This scheme announced will allow you to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next 3 months. Of course no one knows how long this situation will last, but this can be extended if necessary.

So, am I eligable?

  • You can apply if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you:
  • Have submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19
  • Traded in the tax year 2019-20
  • Are still trading when you apply, or would be except for COVID-19
  • Intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21
  • Have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19

Your self-employed trading profits must also be less than £50,000 and more than half of your income come from self-employment. This is determined by at least one of the following conditions being true:

  • Having trading profits/partnership trading profits in 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits constitute more than half of your total taxable income
  • Having average trading profits in 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits constitute more than half of your average taxable income in the same period

If you started trading between 2016-19, HMRC will only use those years for which you filed a Self-Assessment tax return.

If you have not submitted your Income Tax Self-Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19, you MUST do this by 23 April 2020. Or alternatively contact us and we can do it on your behalf.

How much will I get?

You’ll get a taxable grant which will be 80% of the average profits from the tax years (where applicable):

2016 to 2017

2017 to 2018

2018 to 2019

To work out the average HMRC will add together the total trading profit for the 3 tax years (where applicable) then divide by 3 (where applicable), and use this to calculate a monthly amount.

It will be up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for 3 months.

They will then pay the grant directly into your bank account, in one instalment.

Sounds good! How do I apply?

HMRC are busy setting up the scheme at the moment. These new systems are pretty complex and will take some time to set up to ensure they work for everyone.

HMRC will contact you if you are eligible for the scheme and invite you to apply online.

Please do not contact HMRC yet. If everyone floods the phonelines it will only further delay the available help as they will have to use precious resources answering the phones instead of working on these new systems.

Don’t forget, there are many individuals taking advantage of this confusing situation at the moment and are using it to scam people. So please, if someone texts, calls or emails claiming to be from HMRC, saying that you can claim financial help or are owed a tax refund, and asks you to click on a link or to give information such as your name, credit card or bank details, it is a scam. Please contact us IMMEDIATELY if this happens.

So what happens after HMRC have been in touch and I’ve applied?

Once HMRC has received your claim and you are eligible for the grant, they will contact you to tell you how much you will get and the payment details with amounts, dates etc.

If you claim tax credits  or Universal Credit you’ll need to include the grant in your claim as income.

Please give us a call on 01384 271858 or email us at [email protected] to give you an idea on what you are eligable to claim or if you have any further questions about the process.

Delays to Payment Deadlines

Delays to Payment Deadlines

by | News

You Get a Payment Extension Due to COVID-19. But How Does it Work?

Advanced Accountancy are commited to communicating with you at this worrying time. We understand that the information on the Gov website is overwhelming and complicated and it’s hard to sit down and decipher pages of new information with so much chaos going on around us.

Well, now you don’t have to.

Welcome to your daily ‘under the spotlight’ blog which will simplify and breakdown each Government scheme that has been put into place over the last few days.

Next up under the spotlight is……

 

Support for businesses through deferring VAT and Income Tax payments

VAT and income tax payments can often put financial stress on businesses at the best of times. Under the current circumstances with many business incomes looking uncertain in the coming months that stress has increased drastically.

With this in mind the UK government have pledged to support businesses by deferring Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments for 3 months after the usual payment deadline.

Income Tax payments that are currently due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system and may now be deferred until January 2021. This means that we now have 10 months to make that payment which will undoubtedly be an enormous help.

VAT

For VAT, the deferral will apply from 20 March 2020 until 30 June 2020. This has added an extra 3 months grace onto the original payment date.

Eligibility

So, am I eligible or is there some undetected small print somewhere?

The good news is there is no small print. All UK businesses are eligible.

How do I apply to increase my payment deadlines?

This is about as easy as it gets and is an automatic offer with no applications required.

Quite simply all businesses will not need to make a VAT payment until the dates stated above and all UK taxpayers will be given until the end of the 2020 to 2021 tax year to pay any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period.

VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal.

Hang on, I’m already set up to pay via direct debit. What do I do?

Customers who pay by direct debit should cancel their direct debit with their bank if they are unable to pay. Please do this ASAP to give your bank sufficient time to cancel off any arrangements before the funds get taken by HMRC! We know the phone lines to banks are especially busy right now, but you can access your direct debits online on through your banking app and cancel the direct debits yourself if you don’t want to wait on hold.

So lets talk Income Tax

For Income Tax Self-Assessment, payments due on the 31 July 2020 may be deferred until 31 January 2021.

Am I eligible for this?

You are eligible if you are due to pay your second self-assessment payment on account on 31 July. You do not need to be self-employed to be eligible for the deferment.

The deferment is optional. If you are still able to pay your second payment on account on 31 July you should do so as there is no point in delaying the payment unless necessary.

I’d definitely like to defer. How do I apply?

Again, this is an automatic offer with no applications required. No penalties or interest for late payment will be charged if you defer payment until January 2021. If you can’t afford to pay until January 2021, the option is there.

HMRC have also now scaled up their Time to Pay offer to all firms and individuals who are in temporary financial distress as a result of COVID-1.

If you have any questions or queries about the above information please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Advanced Accountancy on 01384 271858 or email us at [email protected]. We are here to guide you through this complicated and worrying time.

Your Title Goes Here

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

COVID-19. The Unexpected Financial Crisis.

COVID-19. The Unexpected Financial Crisis.

by | News

Here at Advanced Accountancy we understand the uncertainty and fear that you are feeling right now. In the blink of an eye life as we know it has changed completely and the future of the businesses we’ve worked so hard to build are looking suddenly uncertain.

If you’re self employed the last thing you want to do is stop trading. Every instinct you have wants to continue to grow your business and serve your loyal customers, but we’re in the middle of something unexpected and unpredictable and we’re being forced to make decisions that we know will benefit our health, but harm our profits and prospects.

The only consolation we can offer at this time is to reassure you that you are not alone.

COVID-19 will have dire financial repercussions for many industries but as your accountants and your friends it’s our job to guide you through this upheavel by bringing you the very latest in news and updates. We have developed an inside out knowledge of all the Government financial assistance available and we can help you access support and look at other ways you can continue to trade safely at this uncertain time.

This includes a package of measures to support businesses including:

  • A Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
  • Deferring VAT and Income Tax payments
  • A Statutory Sick Pay relief package for SMEs
  • A 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in Englan
  • Small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
  • Grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
  • The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank
  • A new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loan
  • The HMRC Time To Pay Scheme

You do not have to read, digest and apply these schemes yourself. As your accountant it’s our job to work out which would be of benefit to your business at this time and, as always, do the legwork to bring you the best financial outcome possible.

Over the next few days we’ll continue to update you with a brief and easily digestable pack of information to explain each scheme and grant in more detail.

In the meantime please contact us on 01384 271858 or email us at [email protected] for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-Assessment Tax Returns

by | News

Let the Fun Begin.

So it’s that time of the year again…. And no. I don’t mean Christmas!

The time of the year when some of us panic at the realisation we are not as organised for the imminent Self-Assessment Tax Return deadline as we would like to be. We’re full of mince pies. We’re Christmas shopping. We’re putting our trees up. But self-assessment? It’s achingly dull and it’s not due for AGES…right?

Like Christmas itself self-assessment rolls around much quicker than you’d expect, and it takes time to complete it correctly. 

Do I NEED to complete a Self-Assessment Tax Return?

If you receive income from any other source other than through your employer through PAYE then you will most likely need to complete a Self-Assessment Tax Return. 

Common reasons for needing to complete a self assessment include:

  • Landlord rental income
  • Savings
  • Investments
  • Being self-employed
  • Being a company Director
  • Being a minister of religion

If you are unsure as to whether you need to complete a tax return, then you need to contact an accountant or HMRC (Prepare yourself for some funky hold music) and inform them of your circumstances and get tailored advice.  Ignorance is NOT excuse and you will receive penalties for not paying tax on or declaring any relevant income. 

How do I register for Self-Assessment?

Like with most things these days most people choose to sort all their self-assessment dealing online. You need to pop along to the HMRC website and follow the instructions, make note of the many many reference numbers you’re provided with along they way paying attention to your Unique Taxpayers Reference (UTR). You will also need to enrol for the Self-Assessment Online service. 

You will then be sent an activation code which you will need the first time you log on to your online account. You can replace your activation code should you misplace it but it may take 10 days to reach you in the UK and up to 21 days if you live abroad. Our advice is just don’t misplace it.

There is a different registration processes for those who are self-employed, those who are not self-employed, those in partnerships etc so make sure you do your research and fill in the correct forms for your circumstances. Alternatively, you can talk to us regarding your circumstances and let us navigate the process for you.

What expenses can I claim?

When you are self-employed, a large proportion of your running costs can be deducted from your tax bill such as:

  • Internet and phone bills
  • Electricity
  • Council Tax
  • Heating
  • Electricity
  • Mortgage interest

Running a limited company allows you to deduct some of your business costs from your tax bill also. Such as:

  • Phone and internet bills
  • Travel costs
  • Advertising and marketing costs
  • Business premises costs such as business rates and heating
  • Insurance
  • Staff costs
  • Stock or raw materials if you are intending to sell them
  • Clothing and other uniform costs
  • Office supplies such as stationery and computers

To get the most from your expenses and therefore reduce your tax bill as much as possible, it is a good idea to talk us about your personal circumstances and what constitutes an expense for you or your business. 

We hope you have now completed your tax return, or at the very least have everything prepared ready to fill in your online form. The deadline is the 31st January and there is an immediate fine of £100 for not submitting it on time. Not something you really want to pay after the expense of Christmas!

If you have not had the time to complete it, or don’t fancy jumping through the hoops above when all you really want to do it eat pigs in blankets and watch Die Hard, then please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Have a great Christmas!

Love, the Team at Advanced Accountancy.

Business of the year

by | News

We are OVER THE MOON to announce that Advanced Accountancy has been shortlisted as a finalist for Business of the Year category of the Dudley News Forging a Future Awards 2019.

This would not have been possible without the support of our team and our wonderful clients.

We are SO proud to have been recognised by such a fantastic award scheme that celebrates so many wonderful organisations and individuals within our community.

The awards will take place on the 28th of November. Just being nominated is enough for us, but hey – who knows?

#awards #finalists #proud #excited #hopeful