Latest News
Nov 17 – VAT Agreements
The VAT rules are relatively easy to operate on a day-to-day basis, if all your income is business related and all your sales are subject to VAT. You can reclaim all the VAT incurred on your purchases, and you don’t have to worry about apportioning ...
Oct 17 – Sparkling Night at Stockport Business Awards
Stockport Business Awards 2017 took place at Stockport Town Hall last night and 400 people turned out to celebrate the achievements of the town’s best businesses. The awards were set up by Clarke Nicklin Chartered Accountants back in 2012 and have grown year on year ...
Sep 17 – VAT and Second-hand Goods
If your business deals in second-hand goods, it can use a concession that significantly reduces your VAT payments compared to normal VAT accounting. Using this concession you account for the VAT on its profit margin on the second-hand goods, rather than on the full sales ...
Sep 17 – VAT Partial Exemption
A business that has some income which is exempt from VAT, but also makes sales that are subject to VAT, is referred to as ‘partly exempt’. Input VAT on purchases can only be recovered if it relates to ‘VATable’ sales made by the business, i.e., ...
Sep 17 – Inheritance Tax Nil Rate Band
After your death your relatives will have to pay inheritance tax (IHT) at 40%, if the net value of your assets exceeds £325,000. A discounted rate of 36% applies if you leave at least 10% of your net estate to charity. Where you leave the ...
Sep 17 – Pension Scheme Withdrawals
Pension scheme rules are complicated, and they are constantly changing. It is essential that you take advice from a qualified independent financial adviser before drawing funds from your pension scheme, or using those funds to invest in business assets. Before you sign any deals, check ...
Aug 17 – Buying Off-plan is Risky
When you purchase a new property off-plan, you may put down a deposit to reserve the property before it is finished, or even started. The contract to purchase the property is normally not completed until the property is finished, and at that time the balance ...
Aug 17 – Making Tax Digital
Making Tax Digital (MTD) is a project to transform the UK tax system so that accounting data flows into HMRC digitally and at least quarterly. The General Election created a temporary pause in MTD, but it is clear that the project will continue as HMRC ...
Aug 17 – Tax Changes That Didn’t Happen
The snap General Election curtailed the Parliamentary time available to pass new laws. As a result, a number of tax changes which were expected to come into effect on 1 April or 6 April 2017 did not become law, including: New Allowances Two new allowances ...
Aug 17 – VAT and Contracts with Three Parties
VAT can often get very complicated when there are three parties involved in a transaction. To clarify who must account for what VAT, it is essential to identify who is the principal, who is the agent and who is the customer. Identifying the customer is ...
Aug 17 – Simple Assessments
When your state pension is larger than your personal allowance, you will have a small amount of tax to pay for the year. To collect this tax HMRC need to ask you to complete a tax return, and ‘self-assess’ the tax due. This appears to ...
Jul 17 – VAT Payments and Surcharges
If you don’t pay all the VAT you owe on time, HMRC will eventually send you a surcharge calculated as a percentage of the unpaid VAT. This surcharge is not interest, and doesn’t relate to length of the delay for the payment, just the amount ...
