Watch out for IR35, the tax rule that could ruin your business January 31, 2020 If you haven’t yet heard of IR35, the controversial tax rule, it’s time to start learning. The rule, designed to limit tax avoidance through “disguised employment”, already means that off-payroll workers who would otherwise be deemed directly employed are taxed at the same rate as employees. But from April the law changes: it will be [...]
Thanks to improving tech, tax collectors are no longer the bad guys January 31, 2020 “If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street. If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat. If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat. If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.” Thus warbled four rockstars from Merseyside. As rebellious as it was melodic, Taxman would become the first track on [...]
I confronted our bureaucratic tax system — and lost January 30, 2020 “Tax doesn’t have to be taxing,” claim the helpful ducks on the HMRC adverts that urge people to file their self-assessment returns by the deadline of midnight tomorrow. As anyone who has been through the rigmarole of painstakingly filling in a return that always results in a higher-than-expected calculation, the reality is somewhat different. Filing [...]
The taxman cometh: 6 tips to help you complete self-assessment tax return January 29, 2020 This Friday marks the end of a process that many have found divisive, emotionally draining, expensive, and time-consuming. No, I’m not talking about Brexit. Friday 31 January is the deadline for completing your self-assessment tax return — the bane of existence for freelancers, the self-employed, and anyone who earns extra income outside their basic salary. [...]
Tech giants urged to pick up VAT bills in fraud crackdown January 29, 2020 Online marketplaces such as Amazon and Ebay have been urged to take responsibility for VAT collection and remittance in the UK. Trade body the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) today called on the government to make tech firms liable for the goods tax, citing concerns about growing fraud. HMRC has estimated that VAT fraud by [...]
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary calls Flybe a ‘loss-making turkey’ in stinging rebuke to chancellor Sajid Javid January 28, 2020 Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has issued another sharp rebuke to chancellor Sajid Javid in the wake of the government’s rescue of Flybe, this time saying the UK’s business strategy is “doomed to fail”. In a letter bound to further escalate the row between the two, O’Leary called the struggling regional airline a “loss-making turkey”. He [...]
Entrepreneur tax relief to be scaled back in Budget January 27, 2020 The government will reportedly scale back a tax break for entrepreneurs amid concerns it is overly generous to the wealthy. A senior cabinet minister told The Financial Times that the Chancellor Sajid Javid is drawing up plans to curb the tax break. The Conservatives’ general election manifesto outlined plans to review and reform the relief. [...]
For businesses relying on EU tax directives, what happens after Brexit? January 23, 2020 Businesses are currently eager to know what shape any post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU will take and what tariffs or other barriers might apply to goods and services. However, when considering financing operations and investment abroad, businesses also need to look at the EU tax directives that facilitate cross-border financing flows. A repeated question [...]
UK property transactions soar after General Election January 21, 2020 UK property transactions soared at the end of last year, according to government data, as both sellers and buyers made the most of renewed confidence following the General Election result. Residential property transactions in December jumped 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 104,670, a 6.2 per cent rise on November’s number. The total number of non-residential [...]
EY TaxChat: making Self Assessment quick, easy and cost effective January 17, 2020 According to HMRC, 11.5m UK taxpayers were required to complete a Self Assessment return in 2019. EY research¹ shows that many worry about getting something wrong if they do it themselves (33 per cent) and find the process complicated and time consuming (15 per cent). A further 12 per cent also said they can’t afford [...]