Author Archives: chalmers2020

It is fairly common knowledge that the UK tax system is biased in favour of married couples or those partners who have entered into a formal civil partnership. Note that from 2 December 2019, the Civil Partnership (Opposite Sex Couples) Regulations 2019 came into effect in England and Wales allowing opposite sex couples to enter […]

The end of the calendar year is a popular accounting date for many businesses, but for those of us with a year-end accounting date of 31 March 2020, reviewing your management accounts for the nine months to the end of December 2019 is a must-do. Please use the following notes as a check list when […]

There are certain assets that may be carried on your balance sheet at values higher than their market value or past their sell by date. If so, and if these amounts are written-off against your profits, you will pay less tax. Three possibilities are sketched out below: Stock Businesses that accumulate stocks of goods do […]

At the end of this week, 31 January, the UK is leaving the EU. In actuality, we are entering the “transition” period during which we will need to negotiate our ongoing terms of trade with the EU. This transition period is due to end 31 December 2020. In the meantime, back at the coal-face, what […]

Paying VAT should never reduce your business profits as you are acting as an unpaid tax collector for HMRC: the VAT added to your sales (less any VAT paid on your purchases) is simply collected from your customers (less amounts paid to suppliers) and the difference paid to HMRC. But if my customers are registered […]

In most cases, if you have lived in your home during the entire period of your ownership of a property, then when you sell that property you should pay no capital gains tax (CGT) on any profit you make on the sale. You can claim the Private Residence Relief (PRR) to exempt any profits made. […]

The VAT Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) does simplify the calculation of VAT returns, but there are certain circumstances when you may no longer use the FRS. You will need to leave if your turnover on the anniversary of joining was more than £230,000 including VAT in the last twelve months or if you expect your […]

The treasury has announced that the next budget will be presented by the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, on Wednesday 11th March 2020. In recent years, the Budget has been held in the Autumn. The Autumn Budget 2019 was postponed due to the pre-election uncertainties last year. Now that our government has a significant working majority those […]

Businesses that have a significant number of staff paid at Minimum Wage or National Living Wage rates should take note that from April 2020 the rates are increasing.   In more detail the changes announced 31 December 2019 are: Annual pay rise of up to £930 for a full time worker. National Living Wage (NLW) […]

Not all penalties levied by HMRC are civil, many cases are serious enough to warrant a criminal investigation. The first post in the “money” section of the gov.uk website in 2020 reflects on this. The title of the post is a give-a-way: “Busted! HMRC reveals biggest criminal cases of year 2019” In what could be […]