The Q- July 2019

The first MTD deadline for quarterly returns is fast approaching on 7th August 2019 (for quarters ending 30th June 2019), with the monthly VAT returns already passed on 7th June 2019.

As a reminder, you will need to be submitting your VAT returns through compliant software, such as Xero, Quick Books, Sage or bridging software, where you are VAT registered and have a turnover of over £85,000. If you are VAT registered but your turnover is beneath this, you will need to opt-out. Please let us know if we can assist you here.

For clients where we do the book keeping for you, this will be taken care of for you. If you do this yourself, please find below the steps to complete this. However, if you are having problems, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Signing up to MTD

1. Visit Signing up for MTD for VAT;
2. Click Sign up your business for Making Tax Digital for VAT and follow the on-screen prompts;
3. When prompted, enter your Government Gateway credentials then click Sign in. If your business is not yet eligible to sign up for MTD, a message appears to advise this;
4. Follow the on-screen prompts, providing any requested information;
5. When you receive a verification email, click the link in the email to verify your email address; and
6. Read and accept the terms of participation.

HMRC will then confirm if you can start submitting VAT Returns under MTD – this confirmation usually occurs within 24 hours. When submitting under MTD, businesses can continue to use their existing Government Gateway user ID and password credentials.

Once Signed Up

Once you’ve signed up to MTD, from that point onwards you must submit your VAT Returns under the new MTD system and can no longer use the Government Gateway. Before you sign up for MTD, check the following:

• The last VAT Return you want to submit under the Government Gateway has been reconciled and submitted; and
• Your VAT settings are correct.

Signing up for MTD must be done at least 5 working days after your last non-MTD VAT Return submission and at least 8 working days before your first MTD VAT Return submission.

MTD 2.0

Making Tax Digital will be rolled out to other individuals and companies across other taxes, but we will be in touch with you separately to discuss this with you and how it will impact you going forward.

Book Keeping Software

If you are considering using book keeping software on your business, give us a call or drop us an email as we’d love to hear what your requirements are and give you our experience. We are also Partners of Xero, Quick Books and Sage so are able to offer discounts on these softwares for new customers, if you subscribe through us rather than going direct. We are happy to work with others too the most important thing is it is the right package for you.

App Spotlight

We are in the process of trialling Futrli which is an integrated forecasting and reporting tool which feeds off of live data from Xero and Quick Books, to see if it would be useful to our clients. It is a much more visual and interactive way to see both your results and forecasts, together with building what-if scenarios, cashflows and other fun things. If you would be interested in us trialling this on your business, please let us know.

Self-Assessment Tax Returns 2018/19

It’s that time of the year again when we need the information to complete your Self Assessment Tax Return for the year ended 5th April 2019. So far nearly 15% of these have been completed in the first three months.

The tax return needs to be filed with HMRC before 31st January 2020, but the sooner we have the information the better, as we can let you know your tax liability sooner, reduce any worry and ease the pressure on your cash flow.

Please note that your tax return has to include all your sources of income. Therefore, if you received any new sources of income during the year, kindly include summaries of these too. To ensure a smooth and timely completion of your Self Assessment Tax Return for the year ending 5th April 2019, consider reaching out to a professional self-assessment accountant for personalised assistance as the tax season progresses.

Timescales

Provided the requested information has been received by us before 31st August 2019, we will endeavor to meet a turnaround time of 6 weeks maximum.

We will be preparing tax returns strictly on a first come first served basis. If you require a priority service of a turnaround time of 2 weeks, our priority fee is an additional £100+VAT.

For information provided to us between 1st September 2019 and 31st October 2019, we can no longer guarantee turnaround timescales but will endeavour to meet the filing deadline of 31st January 2020.

For information provided to us after 1st November 2019, a late preparation fee of £100+VAT will apply.

Property Let Campaign

Do you or anyone you know have rental income that you haven’t declared to HMRC? We can help you avoid sleepless nights by disclosing this to HMRC, without penalties through the Property Let Campaign. Get in touch with us today to talk further. Don’t forget, if you refer a friend to us, you receive £25 in John Lewis from us, once they have signed up with us (quote code: REFER25).

Research & Development (R&D) Tax Credits

These are not only one of the most generous reliefs for SMEs, but they are also still one of the easiest ways to reduce your corporation tax (additional 130% deduction, in addition to the original claimed cost), or claim cash back (at 14.5% where losses are being made) where the business seeks to advance science or technology, or has projects or activities that help resolve scientific or technological uncertainties. Is this you? If so, please get in touch today so we can discuss the potential here on your business.

Harness the potential benefits of R&D Tax Credits and contact us today to explore the possibilities.

Looking Forward

In the current B****t climate even less is known about potential changes in the tax legislation. One of the anticipated areas is the IR35 rules, for those in the private sector from April 2020. Please don’t worry however, as we hear about any changes, we will be in touch with you directly on this and indeed any other areas of interest for you.

VAT on Construction Businesses

The way VAT is charged on construction services will change from October 2019. HMRC have introduced the Domestic Reverse Charge (DRC) as part of new anti-fraud rules. This will change the person responsible for accounting for VAT in relation to certain supplies of construction services. In particular, supplies between sub-contractors and main contractors will be impacted by the changes, with the main contractor responsible for declaring the VAT against an equivalent VAT deduction, subject to the normal VAT recovery rules.

The rules will impact ‘Construction services’ as defined by the Construction Industry Scheme (‘CIS’), i.e., construction, demolition, repairs and alterations, drainage, painting and decorating, scaffolding, the installation of heating, lighting, water and power etc.

If you think you will be impacted by this and want to talk it through with us, please get in touch with us.

Gross CIS Scheme

One of our client’s biggest frustrations with HMRC is the deduction of CIS from invoices for client’s in Construction Services i.e., you are paid net. Did you know you could get paid gross here? To qualify you must apply to HMRC and show that:

• you’ve paid your tax and National Insurance on time in the past;
• your business does construction work (or provides labour for it) in the UK;
• your business is run through a bank account; and
• your business turnover (excluding VAT) over the last twelve months must be at least:
  • £30,000 if you’re a sole trader;
  • £30,000 for each partner in a partnership, or at least £100,000 for the whole partnership; or
  • £30,000 for each director of a company, or at least £100,000 for the whole company.

If you are interested in finding out more, get in touch with us today.

Team News

Marisa Pilich is moving on to pastures new after five years with us, but I am delighted to say that Donna Sharp has joined us from Haines Watts Basingstoke. She has been working in practice for over ten years and is a big fan of Xero, being a Xero certified user. She will be providing book keeping services, supporting you with your day-to-day queries and assisting with drafting up accounts and tax returns. I hope you will join me in welcoming her to our team. She will be based in our Herriard offices and working Monday to Friday 08.30 to 15.30. Her email address is [email protected] and is available on our office telephone number.

Refer A Friend

You may be aware that if you refer a friend to us, you receive £25 in John Lewis vouchers from us, once they have signed up with us (quote code: REFER25). So please get in touch here and refer your friends to us.

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