From this tax year, Class 2 National Insurance  Contributions (NIC) will be collected through Self Assessment along with Class 4 National Insurance Contributions in an attempt to streamline the process.

Under the current system, Class 2 NIC is calculated automatically and collected via direct debit. However, from July 2015, the direct debit will automatically cease with no need to take any further action.

If you are employed as well as Self Employed and paying Class 1 NIC, this will also mean you will no longer have to apply for a Self Employed Exception Certificate from 6 April 2015 cutting down on cumbersome admin.

Are you Self Employed and approaching state retirement age? You pay Class 2 NIC up until you reach 65 and not a day after. However, Class 4 National Insurance is different and is paid right up to 5 April in the year you turn 65. If you think you have overpaid, further details can be found on the National Insurance office page through the GOV.UK website.

We hope you find our posts useful and welcome any feedback. If you have any questions on the above or would like a free consultation to see how we could be of benefit to you and your business, contact Cooper Curtis Accountants  on 0845 303 1144 or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk. 

Please note, all our blog content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published. 

You may be aware that from 8 June 2015, the paper part of the driving licence will be abolished and no longer issued. From this date, all penalty points will be recorded and have to be accessed electronically via the   Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) website. The DVLA states the reason for the change is in an attempt to simplify the system and to store everything online.

Going abroad and hiring a car? You will need to check with your hire company before you travel if they will require any evidence of what cars you can drive and any penalty points.

If the car hire company request this information from you,  you will need to obtain a unique code from the DVLA website or ring 0300 083 0013 which you either need to pass on to your car hire company or download and print your details depending on their request.

This could potentially cause chaos if the country you are visiting aren’t aware of the changes. The unique code will expire within 72 hours so if you are thinking of hiring a car 3 days into your holiday, bear in mind that you may need to log on to the DVLA website to request a code whilst away.

The DVLA recommends destroying the paper part after 8th June, however Motoring group AA is advising people not to be too hasty as it is likely that some car hire firms are unaware of the new arrangements.

Cooper Curtis Accountants offer accountancy and tax solutions for you and your business. For a free consultation to discuss how we can be of benefit to you, call 0845 303 1144 or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk.

Our Accountancy Office Locations:

• Manchester Accountancy Practice
• Accountants in Warwickshire
• Banbury, Oxfordshire Location

Register your interest in the new Marriage Allowance and you could save up to £212 for the 2015/16 tax year.

Married couples and those in civil partnerships can now register their interest in the new tax break by entering basic details into H M Revenue & Custom’s Marriage Allowance registration page.

As long as you have satisfied their criteria, HMRC will contact you within 14 weeks inviting you to apply for the allowance online. Any of your partner’s unused personal allowance will then be transferred into your PAYE code.

To qualify for this tax break, you and your partner must have been born after 6 April 1935, your partner must have earnings below £10,600 per year plus up to £5,000 tax free savings interest, and you don’t pay tax at 40 or 45% which means your earnings are between £10,601 and £42,385 for the 2015/2016 tax year.

Call us on 0845 303 1144 if you wish to discuss any of the above in further.

Cooper Curtis is different in that they specialise in providing Accounting Advisory Services to all types of recruitment businesses. 

Call 0845 303 1144 for a chat to see how we can help you raise your game. 

Please note, our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published. 

Read our Spring Budget Summary here

Cooper Curtis are Accountants based in the North West and Midlands. We offer you a full range of Accountancy and Tax services as well as other Added Value services such as Tax planning and Business Advisory.

For a free consultation to discuss how we can help you, call Brian or Caroline on 0845 303 1144 or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk 

The UK government will soon make changes to its rules for small business firms’ bookkeeping, business accounting and finance requirements.

According to a Global Tax News article (sourced on 23/02/15), the government’s recent implementation of the European Union Accounting Directive means that a greater number of firms and businesses will now be classified as small businesses, and thus changes these business’ requirements when they work with local bookkeepers and accounting firms. As a result, the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has released a series of proposals that would amend the current rules regarding business accounting services.

The FRC says its proposed changes will benefit as many as 1.5 million of the country’s smallest “micro-entities” making their accountancy services’ reporting requirements simpler. An additional 1.5 million businesses will be impacted by the change as well.

Currently, approximately 74,263 people work for some 11,425 accounting companies throughout the UK. These firms primarily assist individuals and businesses big and small plan their finances and meet their financial goals and prepare their tax information.

In the FRC’s proposals, the current Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities would be removed, with a new, simplified business accounting standard for small businesses and micro-entities put in place. This new standard would allow small companies to comply with the new UK Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and would be giving them more flexibility in the format of their profit, loss accounts and balance sheets, Global Tax News reports.

The proposed rules would apply to micro-entities and small businesses with annual turnovers of £632,000 or £10.2 million, respectively; applicable companies would be required to have no more than 10 or 50 workers, respectively, as well.

“Many micro-business owners and freelance workers … will stand to benefit, as they will be released from the most complex aspects of the accounting requirements of the current reporting regime,” says Danielle Stewart, Head of Financial Reporting at chartered accounting firm Baker Tilly.

Self-assessment can be a nightmare, and something that business owners across the land dread, each and every year. One of the most commonly misunderstood sections of the self-assessment process is Payments on Account.

Many accountants fail in explaining Payments on Account to their clients. As a result, we thought we’d help out, starting by letting you know, exactly what Payments on Account is…

Payments on Account – What is it?

Devised to spread the cost of the year’s tax across the year, “Payments on Account are normally required from any taxpayer who is assessed to income tax, in any amount, for the preceding tax year” (Source: HMRC).

The result is two payments being made; one by the 31st January of that tax year and the other by the 31st July of the following tax year.

It is generally considered to be advanced payments towards the tax bill for that year.

But in which circumstances must it be paid?

How do you know if it is owed?

Payments on Account is all dependent upon how much your tax bill equates to. “You need to make one if your bill is more than £1,000, unless you’ve already paid more than 80% of it” (Source: Gov.uk).This could have already been paid through your PAYE tax code, for example.

As with most things tax; it is a lot easier to understand it by taking a look at it in practice.

So let’s take a look at explaining Payments on Account through the use of an example;

Example

You’re a new start-up company. Your tax bill for the year ending 2013/14 has come to £1,200.

Using the “Payments on Accounts” process, we will then calculate what is owed, and when it is owed for the following year; 2014/15.

31/01/2015

£1,200 (Tax bill for the Year 2013/14)
+ £600 (50% of the bill for the previous tax year, 2013/14 – goes towards your 2014/15 tax bill)
£1,800 is due by the 31st January 2015

 31/07/2015

The remaining £600 (the other 50% of the bill for the 2013/14 tax year, which also goes towards your 2014/15 tax bill) is then due 6 months later, by the 31st July 2015.
 
As you can see, you have paid a total of £2,400. £1,200 for the year 2013/14, and £1,200 for the year 2014/15.

 
However;
At the end of the 2014/15 tax year, it may be the case that you’ve only incurred a tax bill of £1,100. Having already paid £1,200 (in two instalments of £600) for that year, you will be due a rebate of £100.

 
£1,100 (Tax bill for the Year 2014/15)
(£1,200) (The amount already on paid on account re: the year 2014/15)
£100 is due as a rebate for the tax year 2014/15

 Using the “Payments on Account” process, we can then calculate what is owed, and when it is owed for the following tax year, 2015/16.

31/01/16

£550 (50% of the bill for the previous tax year, 2014/15 – which goes towards your 2015/16 tax bill)

 31/07/16

£550 (the other 50% of the bill for the previous tax year, 2014/15 – again going towards your 2015/16 bill)

Still Confused?

Of course, whilst you may be able to follow this now; when it comes to the mad-rush of filing your tax return, you may come unstuck.

Not to worry. At Cooper Curtis, it’s our job to take care of these matters – so that you can take care of the things that you do best.

Contact Us today on 0845 303 1144 and we’d be more than happy to help.

Please note, all our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published.