TQOTW: DATE OF SEPARATION FOR CGT

Jack and Jill started living apart in November 2018 but there was then no contemplation of a divorce. In May 2019 they discussed their situation and at that point in time decided to get divorced. They agreed to get divorced in January 2020. (more…)

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VQOTW: DISTANCE SELLING IN THE EU

My client is a small retailer specialising in bespoke leather goods, and all sales to date have been within the UK. In order to expand her customer base, she is launching a website and planning to sell through Amazon. Are there any VAT consequences she needs to consider?
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IDENTIFYING INEFFICIENCIES IN A BUSINESS

Accountants, as a breed, are fans of efficiency. We tend to appreciate optimised systems and abhor waste, whether it’s time, effort or resources being frittered away.
The concept of efficiency as we know it today is a product of the industrial revolution. That’s when engineers and manufacturers became obsessed with squeezing out maximum profit by the smart use of new machinery and the automation of processes.

Click here to read the full article.

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TAX IMPLICATIONS OF WORKING FROM HOME

Working from home offers all kinds of benefits, from the opportunity to create the perfect environment in which you can be most productive, to the improvements to work-life balance that come with ditching the commute. (more…)

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MTD and Using Supplier Statements as Invoices

Digital record keeping requirements: Treatment of supplier statements or individual invoices

The Croner Taxwise VAT Advice line has received numerous calls from accountants whose clients receive large numbers of invoices from single suppliers, such as builder’s merchants or drugs companies. (more…)

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VQOTW: DEREGISTERING WHERE THE TRADING PREMISES HAS BEEN OPTED UNNECESSARILY

My client is a small independent retailer selling mobile phones and accessories, with turnover below the VAT registration threshold. Last year, in September 2018, they bought the premises they were occupying from their landlord. The landlord had opted to tax and the purchase price was £100,000 plus VAT. In order to recover the VAT, the client VAT registered and notified their own option to tax. The client’s turnover has remained below the threshold, and they have asked me whether they can deregister, and what the consequences of that would be.
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TQOTW: CAPITAL GAINS

My client owns a joint share in the freehold of a building which consists of five flats. One of the flats is occupied by my client under a 999-year lease.
The freeholders are to grant a new long lease over another flat in the building. My client understands that this will be a capital gains disposal event, but has queried whether a measure of principal private residence relief would be due to him, given that the disposal is out of the freehold interest he owns that includes his main residence.

Can you please confirm how to approach my client’s capital gains position, whether any main residence relief would be due to him in these circumstances and how this would be calculated? (more…)

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VQOTW: PRIVATE TUITION

My client is a Limited Company and runs a swim school, teaching children. The client’s turnover is close to £85,000. I would like to confirm that my client is making exempt supplies of education and therefore does not need to VAT register.
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TQOTW: PROFESSIONAL FEES

My clients have inquired about the possibility of claiming relief for expenses incurred in connection with closing down their company. In particular, they would like to know whether they could get tax relief for professional advice that they have taken and whether they can arrange for the company to make pension contributions on behalf of employees.
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VQOTW: HOME OFFICE

My client is the director of an interior design company. The company rents a small unit for storing stock, but this space is not really suitable for use as an office. She is exploring the possibility of having a home-office erected in her garden. Could you please advise on the VAT recoverability of such a project?
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VQOTW: FLAT RATE PRE-REGISTRATION VAT

My client is about to register for VAT and wants to use the flat rate scheme as she meets the conditions and it would be beneficial to her. However, her intention is to register for normal VAT initially, in order to recover pre-registration input tax, and then after the first return has been filed, switch to the flat rate scheme. Is this acceptable or will HMRC challenge it?
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May 2019 Tax Insider

Included in this months issue:
– MPs call for break-up of big four’s accountancy services
– HMRC announces delay to probate fee increase
– Landlords feeling the pinch as tax measures begin to bite
– First VAT-registered businesses enter into making tax digital

Read the full article here.

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ACCOUNTING FOR CHARITIES

If you’re in charge of running a charity, you’ll know how it differs from operating a business and how its motives and goals vary.
Non-profit organisations are treated very differently under the law, and managing a charity’s accounts can offer some unique challenges as a result.

Read the full article here.

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RISK ASSESSMENT AND CONTINGENCY PLANNING

It has been a challenging and eventful three years for UK businesses with a series of high-profile incidents highlighting how situations can change suddenly and often without warning.
From the continued pressure of uncertainty relating to Brexit, terrorism, fire, extreme weather and cyber-attacks, how would your business cope if it was affected by something similar?

Read the full article here.

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VQOTW: MTD AND CASH ACCOUNTING

My client is a wedding and party planner, and is compulsorily VAT registered operating the cash accounting scheme. Their current system is not particularly sophisticated and they only operate using a manual cashbook. I am in the process of ensuring they are MTD compliant for their 07/19 return, but want to keep things as simple as possible for them. Can they continue to operate a cashbook in a spreadsheet format and submit via bridging software?
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VQOTW: 28 DAY RULE

My client runs a small bed and breakfast and a furnished apartment which to date has been let on an Airbnb basis with a daily linen change and cleaning service. Normally she would account for VAT on all of these stays. Now she has received an enquiry from a construction company about exclusive use of both for a period of 12 months to house some of its employees working away from home. Should she still charge VAT?
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VQOTW: INPUT TAX ON RE-REGISTERING FOR VAT

My client is a bathroom fitter and was VAT registered from January 2017 to March 2018 as he had a contract with a large developer to fit en-suites into new-build dwellings. His supplies were mostly zero-rated and he received repayments of VAT from HMRC. He bought a new commercial vehicle and specialist tooling in August 2016 on which he recovered the VAT as pre-registration input tax. On his final return, for the tax period ending 31st March 2018, he accounted for VAT on all the assets and stock on hand as a deemed supply.
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TQOTW: PPR – SELLING NOW OR DELAYING

This question is based on a call to the Advice Lines where a client never had the intention to be a landlord for very long. He had fallen into those circumstances because it had been difficult to find a buyer for his property when he moved home – not an uncommon situation. His hesitation to sell the property once the market improved resulted purely from the mortgage redemption fee that would be triggered.
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TQOTW: ENTREPRENEUR’S’ RELIEF

We recently received a question to the advice lines regarding a family company and the availability of entrepreneur’s’ relief (ER) with regard to different classes of shares in issue.
A total of 11,000 shares are in issue made up of A and B shares. Mother and father own 10,000 A shares and their adult child owns the other 1,000 B shares.

The A shares have full voting rights, full dividend and full rights on disposal of the company. The B shares have full voting rights, full dividend and no rights on disposal of the company. (more…)

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Registering For Making Tax Digital For VAT

The moment has come: if your business has a taxable turnover above the VAT-registration threshold, which is currently £85,000, you’re now obliged to keep records in digital form and to file your VAT returns using HMRC-approved software. (more…)

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April 2019 Tax Insider

Included in this month’s article:
– GOVERNMENT CONSULTS ON NEW STAMP DUTY SURCHARGE
– THOUSANDS FACE HUGE TAX AVOIDANCE BILLS
– MINISTERS GIVE THUMBS-UP FOR PROBATE REVAMP
– APPRENTICESHIP ‘STARTS’ FALL BY A QUARTER
(more…)

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Landlord Tax Changes – updated for 2019

Recent budgets have seen several significant changes to the taxation of income from letting out residential property. These changes are likely to impact on the taxation of all current property landlords, as well as future decisions as to whether to remain or become a landlord. (more…)

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VQOTW: BUILDING MATERIALS

My client is a builders’ merchant and has supplied steel sheets to a customer who is building his own home. The customer has provided my client with a copy of the planning consent supporting the demolition of an existing property and the construction of a new dwelling. Can my client zero-rate the supply of the steel?
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TQOTW: DEEMED DOMICILE & AUTOMATIC REMITTANCE

My client is a long-term resident of the UK for tax purposes. However, she is non-domiciled and has been using the remittance basis for her foreign income as it is below £2,000. As she will now have been here for 15 of the previous 20 tax years, will she be caught by the Deemed Domicile rules?
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VQOTW: CHARITY FUNDRAISING

Over the last few years, my client and a couple of his friends have run a small local beer and cider festival; any profits they make are given to local charities. They sell a few tickets in advance and have sponsorship/advertising income, but most sales occur on the day of the event. In the last few years, they have been below the VAT registration threshold, but with the number of people attending increasing year on year and the wonderful summer we had in 2018, they did exceed the VAT registration threshold by £800. As all the profits are donated to charity, can the client benefit from the charity fundraising exemption?
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HR EXPERT: CHANGE IN NMW

My client is wary of the new National Minimum Wage rates that will come into effect from 1st April. What things do they need to consider from an employment law perspective?
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TQOTW: Irrecoverable Loans

My client has made a directors loan to his personal company (he is the majority shareholder) which now cannot be repaid. Is there a loss for CGT and if so, is it a ‘clogged loss?’
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TQOTW: Electric Car Charging

My client is an expanding local mobile care business and they are increasingly aware of the pollution that cars emit into the environment. With this in mind, they have been asked by their team whether they can look at changing the company cars to hybrid or electric cars and whether there are any incentives to do so.

Here we look at some of the recent changes and existing exemptions that may help them to make their minds up. (more…)

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HR Expert: Personal Hygiene

My client has received a number of complaints from customers and staff about the personal hygiene of one of their employees. As this is a sensitive topic how should they go about addressing this with the individual? (more…)

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The politics of tax breaks

If there’s one thing accountants love, it’s identifying obscure tax reliefs to which you may be entitled and using them to reduce your tax bills.

Tax reliefs, or tax breaks as they are sometimes called, aren’t without controversy, however. There are too many of them, say critics, and they deny the public purse much-needed funds.

Read the full aeticle here.

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