Yearly Archives: 2019

According to a recent announcement on the GOV.UK website, preparations include: Recruitment of 700 new staff to work on EU Exit policy using additional funding allocated by HM Treasury for Brexit preparedness. Passing of new legislation to lay the groundwork for our future outside the EU with 57 out of 63 required statutory instruments required…

A reminder that from 1 April 2019, VAT registered traders with turnover in excess of the current VAT registration limit, £85,000, will need to file returns after 1 April 2019 linked to HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) systems. Accounts software providers have been working at some pace to change their software, so they “speak” to…

Options for adopting 99% of tax planning opportunities for 2018-19 ends on 5 April 2019, just a couple of months away. This applies equally to individuals and all businesses with an accounting year end close to, but prior to 5 April 2019. More importantly, this planning option applies to all taxes: Income Tax, Capital Gains…

Leaving aside the fact that there were no violins available, it’s interesting to seek a comparison between the supposed musical antics of Nero in AD64 as Rome burned and our government, preoccupied with important political matters as British industry slips ever closer to the cliff edge of a no-deal Brexit. There are just under 60…

What is a disguised employee? Very definitely, it is not an individual holding a clock card in fancy dress. It is contractor, usually in the guise of a limited company, that is undertaking work as if an employee, but more importantly, is being paid as a business contractor: this saves the “employer” paying National Insurance…

HMRC seem to be working on their people skills, either that or they have decided to soften their hard sales approach to tax compliance by injecting a little humour. Last week they published the following responses they had received for late payment of tax and claims for expenses that failed. This what they said: Excuses…

It is hardly surprising that Brexit is fast becoming as big a turnoff as tax. How on earth are we supposed to react or adapt to such far-reaching changes when the exact details of our exit are still undecided just a few weeks before the March 2019 deadline? Businesses that buy or sell goods to…

A bit of history this week but with a practical outcome for 2019. Up to 1582, Europe used the Julian calendar introduced by the Romans in 45BC. Unfortunately, the Julian calendar differed from the solar calendar by 11 ½ minutes; after 500 years this small difference meant that the Julian calendar was 10 days off…

HMRC normally send out a tax statement this time of the year to all self-assessment taxpayers that have submitted a tax return for 2017-18. As we reported last week, this will list any balance of tax due for 2017-18 and the amount of any payment on account required for 2018-19 (if any is due). Both…

The following guidance was published on the GOV.UK website 20 December 2018. Much of the guidance has been updated on the basis of a no-deal Brexit. UK citizens planning a trip to the EU and EEA before 29 March 2019 are not affected by Brexit changes. The following comments assume a no-deal Brexit and would…