Wokingham Accountants
What can HMRC do if you do not pay your tax bill? HMRC have a range of powers at their disposal to collect unpaid tax. If you are struggling to pay a tax bill, or know that you will not have the funds available to meet an upcoming bill, it is better to take action … Read more
Scammers are becoming increasingly adept at fooling people and a favoured tactic is a letter, a text or an email purporting to be from HMRC, often promising a tax refund in exchange for personal and financial data. During the summer, many taxpayers received a very convincing scam letter which appeared to be from HMRC, seemingly … Read more
If it works correctly, the tax that is collected under PAYE will exactly match the tax that is due for the year. However, in practice, this balance may be disturbed, for example, because benefits included in a tax code change or a wrong tax code is used, and an employed taxpayer may pay too much … Read more
A new penalty regime was introduced for VAT from 1 January 2023. The new regime comprises late submission penalties and late payment penalties. Here we look at the penalty regime for late returns. Late VAT returns The late submission penalty regime kicks in whenever a VAT return is filed late. It applies regardless of whether … Read more
Employees often need to undertake business trips and it is common practice to reimburse the employee’s fuel costs by means of a mileage allowance. The tax rules allow mileage payments to be made tax-free up to certain limits. However, the rules are different depending on whether the employee is driving their own car or a … Read more
As far as National Insurance was concerned, the 2022/23 tax year was a tricky one featuring in-year changes to the primary threshold and in-year changes to the Class 1, 1A, 1B and 4 rates. This resulted in some strange numbers, with average rates applying for the purposes of Class 1A, Class 1B and Class 4 … Read more
If you have paid too much tax, you will be able to get a refund from HMRC. The mechanics for obtaining your refund depending on how the overpayment arose. Claims must be made within four years from the end of the tax year to which the refund relates. Self-assessment overpayment If you pay tax under … Read more
For a brief period it seemed that the days were numbered for the additional rate of tax following the announcement in the ill-fated mini Budget that it was to be scrapped. Like much of the mini Budget, its planned abolition was swiftly reversed. However, this was not the end of the additional rate tax saga; … Read more
The trading allowance enables an individual to earn up to £1,000 from self-employment, the provision of casual services (such as gardening or babysitting) or from hiring out personal equipment without having to pay tax on that income or tell HMRC about it. You may also make use of it if, for example, you sell items … Read more
Entitlement to the state pension and certain contributory benefits depends on an individual having paid, or been credited with, sufficient National Insurance contributions. To qualify for the full single-tier state pension, an individual needs 35 qualifying years. A reduced state pension is paid where a person has less than 35 qualifying years, but at least … Read more
