Wokingham Accountants
Many employers have a social event for employees around the Christmas period. This may take the form of a Christmas party or dinner or another social event, such as wreath-making and cocktails. When planning the event, it is important to consider the tax and National Insurance implications up front. Although there is a specific tax … Read more
The tax code is fundamental to the operation of PAYE. An employee’s tax code provides the employer with the information needed to deduct the correct amount of tax from an employee’s pay. There are various types of tax codes depending on an employee’s circumstances. A tax code is typically made up of numbers and letters. … Read more
There are various ways in which profits can be extracted from a personal or family company. A popular and tax-efficient extraction strategy is to pay a small salary and to extract further profits as dividends as long as the company has sufficient retained profits. One of the advantages of paying a salary is to secure … Read more
A VAT invoice is an invoice that contains information required by the VAT regulations. A VAT invoice can only be issued by a business which is registered for VAT. Where a business is VAT registered, they must issue a VAT invoice whenever they supply goods or services that are liable to the standard rate of … Read more
The tax exemption for trivial benefits is a useful one as it allows employers to provide certain low-cost benefits to employees without an associated tax or National Insurance liability, such as Christmas or birthday gifts. However, not all benefits qualify, and there are some pitfalls to be wary of. What is a ‘trivial benefit’? To … Read more
Adjusted net income is a key measure of income for tax purposes. It is total taxable income before taking account of any personal allowances and after deducting trading losses, pension contributions and certain tax reliefs, such as Gift Aid. The calculation Step 1 Calculate your net income for the year. To do this you first … Read more
There are many possible situations in which a person may make a loan to a family member, for example, a parent may lend money to an adult child to provide them with a deposit for a property. Where the parent has a personal or family company and there are unextracted profits in the company, it … Read more
If you are running a business, regardless of whether you operate as a sole trader, in partnership or the business is run as a limited company, you will need to register for VAT if your total taxable turnover in the previous 12 months exceeds the VAT registration threshold of £90,000 or if you expect your … Read more
Employer’s National Insurance rose considerably from 6 April 2025. Not only did the rate increase from 13.8% to 15%, but the secondary threshold also fell from £9,100 to £5,000. This is the amount that an employer can pay before a liability to secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions arises. For 2025/26, the secondary threshold is … Read more
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA) is introduced progressively from 6 April 2026. It will require unincorporated traders and landlords whose income is over the trigger threshold to keep digital records and make quarterly returns and a final declaration to HMRC using MTD-compatible software. The start dates for traders and … Read more
