Many micro business owners employ their spouse and as long as they perform a role in the business that’s fine and it can be very tax efficient.
But there are circumstances in larger businesses with several owners/directors where it isn’t practical to directly employ your spouse.
However, it could be possible to claim an expense for using your spouse as an assistant, take a look at EIM32415
A deduction can be given in the following circumstances:
where the employee is paid solely by results so that, in taking on assistance, the employee can maximise his or her earnings from the employment.
where it is actually part of the duties of the employment to engage and remunerate assistants to do some of the work.
So it may be possible to amend your employment contract to identify parts of your job that could be done by someone else and you could add a clause which says that you must ensure the work specified is done and that its your duty to employ an assistant to do it.
The duties could be anything – Admin, Secretarial, Market Research, Telesales…..
Depending on how much you pay your assistant you may need to account for PAYE and NI.
The Finance (No2) Bill 2014, which is due to receive Royal Assent in July, contains legislation which will enable HMRC to demand payment upfront of disputed tax in certain cases, principally involving tax avoidance or deferral. It is estimated that up to 43,000 taxpayers could receive such a demand. Those demands will be issued over an extended period but the first are likely to be issued as early as September 2014.
Taxpayers who have sought tax advantages through tax avoidance schemes that fall within the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) are likely to be most affected.
Here is a link to the SRNs (Scheme Reference Numbers) affected – click here
Over the next 2 years HMRC estimates that it will rake in £7 billion through the use of these notices. Of this £7 billion, individuals will weigh in with £5.1 billion. This would equate to each person having a gross income of £262,000.
Last week the Financial Times reported that Ingenious Media, an investment company, warned 1,300 of its investors, including business leaders, entertainers and sporting celebrities, such as David Beckham, to expect substantial tax bills with interest, as reward for using its tax avoidance scheme. (Contractor Weekly)
This is a radical change and many might say its been a long time coming.
It has always struck me as slightly bizarre the DOTAS were registered and allowed to exist.
A worker’s employment status, that is whether they are employed or self-employed, is not a matter of choice. Whether someone is employed or self-employed depends upon the terms and conditions of the relevant engagement.
Many workers want to be self-employed because they will pay less tax, this calculator gives you a quick comparison between being employed, self employed or taking dividends in a limited company.
HMRC have a an employment status tool to help you determine whether a worker can be self-employed or should be an employee http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/calcs/esi.htm
If a worker should be an employee HMRC will seek to recover the employment taxes from the employer not the worker, so there are considerable risks for the employer if the status of its workers is wrongly assessed.
Some employers might decide to insist that sub-contractors must be limited companies, as companies can’t not be reclassified as employees.
The sub-contractor would then need to assess whether IR35 applies to their contract. If IR35 does apply then please read this blog on Deemed Payments
The 31 July 2014 is the date that you should make your second payment on account to HMRC.
For example on 31 July 2014, you’d make your second payment on account for the 2013-14 tax year.
From the 31 July you will have to pay interest on anything you owe and haven’t paid, including any unpaid penalties, until HMRC receives your payment.
As well as the 4.54 million self-employed people in the UK, higher rate taxpayers, company directors and anyone with more than one income are required to make a payment on account – part of their annual tax payment.
Until now the hire of stalls and other pitches used for temporary sales events have generally been considered to be the supply of land and exempt from VAT in accordance with Item 1, Group 1, Scedule 9 VAT Act 1994 and http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/reclaiming/partial-exemption.htm
But following discussions at EU level in connection with antiques fairs HMRC now feel that VAT should be chargeable at Standard Rate.
Not only that HMRC want VAT to be payable on add-on services such as promoting the fair, providing power and security which had been treated as incidental and VAT exempt.
The change in policy (according to http://www.tipsandadvice-vat.co.uk) came about following a VAT inspection and the decision is now being appealed.
Whilst the case applies to antiques if HMRC win it will be applied to:
Car Boot Sales
Services Office Accomodation
Market Stalls
This could have a massive effect on small traders who are not VAT registered.
It is a question to challenge some of the finest legal minds in the land: when is a cake not a cake, and a biscuit not a biscuit?
Two judges solved it last week by letting their taste buds decide – after testing a plateful of Snowballs, a chocolate and coconut covered marshmallow treat that has been popular with the sweet-toothed masses for generations.
Verdict: Snowballs are cakes. And that means the snack’s manufacturers are in line for a £2.8million rebate from the taxman after a lengthy legal wrangle over whether Snowballs should attract VAT (which biscuits do) or be zero-rated (as a cake).
VAT can be very complicated as highlighted in the case of Jaffa Cakes – Cakes or Biscuits?
The leading case on the borderline is that concerning Jaffa cakes: United Biscuits(LON/91/0160). Customs and Excise had accepted since the start of VAT that Jaffa cakes were zero-rated as cakes, but always had misgivings about whether this was correct. Following a review, the department reversed its view of the liability. Jaffa cakes were then ruled to be biscuits partly covered in chocolate and standard-rated: United Biscuits (as McVities, one of the largest manufacturers of Jaffa cakes) appealed against this decision. The Tribunal listed the factors it considered in coming to a decision as follows.
The product’s name was a minor consideration.
Ingredients:Cake can be made of widely differing ingredients, but Jaffa cakes were made of an egg, flour, and sugar mixture which was aerated on cooking and was the same as a traditional sponge cake. It was a thin batter rather than the thicker dough expected for a biscuit texture.
Cake would be expected to be soft and friable; biscuit would be expected to be crisp and able to be snapped. Jaffa cakes had the texture of sponge cake.
Size: Jaffa cakes were in size more like biscuits than cakes.
Packaging: Jaffa cakes were sold in packages more similar to biscuits than cakes.
Marketing: Jaffa cakes were generally displayed for sale with biscuits rather than cakes.
On going stale, a Jaffa cake goes hard like a cake rather than soft like a biscuit.
Jaffa cakes are presented as a snack, eaten with the fingers, whereas a cake may be more often expected to be eaten with a fork. They also appeal to children, who could eat one in a few mouthfuls rather like a sweet.
The sponge part of a Jaffa cake is a substantial part of the product in terms of bulk and texture when eaten.
Taking all these factors into account, Jaffa cakes had characteristics of both cakes and biscuits, but the tribunal thought they had enough characteristics of cakes to be accepted as such, and they were therefore zero-rated.
Changes to UK legislation relating to prompt payment discounts will take effect in relation to supplies made on or after 1 April 2015. From that date, the way many businesses account for VAT when offering prompt payment discounts will change.
Currently businesses can issue invoices that give details of the amount of the prompt payment discount and its terms and show the VAT due calculated on the discounted price. If the discount is not taken up HMRC has not required businesses to alter the amount of VAT invoiced and accounted for.
After the change businesses must account for VAT on the consideration they actually recieve.
HMRC are currently consulting on the implementation of this legislation and the consultation ends on 9th September.
In many ways its surprising that it hasn’t always been the case that you pay VAT on the consideration!
The Creative Industries have done rather well in the last couple of years as far as tax reliefs go and more are just about to come on stream.
Creative industry tax reliefs (CITR) are a group of 5 Corporation Tax reliefs that allow qualifying companies to claim a larger deduction, or in some circumstances claim a payable tax credit when calculating their taxable profits.
These reliefs work by increasing the amount of allowable expenditure. Where your company makes a loss, you may be able to ‘surrender’ the loss and convert some or all of it into a payable tax credit.
Film Tax Relief (FTR) was introduced in April 2007 and 2 additional reliefs were introduced in April 2013. These are Animation Tax Relief (ATR) and High-end Television Tax Relief (HTR). A fourth relief for Video Games Development was introduced from 1 April 2014. A fifth relief for Theatre Tax Relief is to be introduced in Autumn 2014. HMRC
Let’s take a look at the 5 tax reliefs:
Film Tax Relief (FTR)
Your company will be entitled to claim FTR on a film as long as:
the film passes the culture test – it is considered a ‘British film’
the film is intended for theatrical release
at least 25% of the total production costs relate to activities in the UK
Animation Tax Relief (ATR)
Your company will be entitled to claim ATR on an animation programme if:
the programme passes the cultural test – a similar test to that for FTR but within the European Economic Area
the programme is intended for broadcast
at least 51% of the total core expenditure is on animation
at least 25% of the total production costs relate to activities in the UK
High-end Television Tax Relief (HTR)
Your company will be entitled to claim HTR on a programme if:
the programme passes the cultural test – a similar test to that for FTR but within the European Economic Area
the programme is intended for broadcast
the programme is a drama, comedy or documentary
at least 25% of the total production costs relate to activities in the UK
the average qualifying production costs per hour of production length is not less than £1million per hour
the slot length in relation to the programme must be greater than 30 minutes
Video Games Development
Your company will be entitled to claim VGTR as long as:
the video game is British
the video game is intended for supply
at least 25% of core expenditure is incurred on goods or services that are provided from within in the European Economic Area (EEA)
Many small businesses assume there is only one type of VAT scheme, the standard VAT scheme where you pay VAT on Sales and reclaim VAT on Purchases but in fact there are several schemes and they could save you money:
Cash Accounting
Using the Cash Accounting Scheme, you:
pay VAT on your sales when your customers pay you
reclaim VAT on your purchases when you have paid your suppliers
You can use the Cash Accounting Scheme if your estimated VAT taxable turnover during the next tax year is not more than £1.35 million.
Cash Accounting can improve your cashflow if your customers pay later than you need to pay your suppliers.
Flat Rate Scheme
You can join the Flat Rate Scheme for VAT and so pay VAT as a flat rate percentage of your turnover if:
your estimated VAT taxable turnover – excluding VAT – in the next year will be £150,000 or less.
Generally you don’t reclaim any of the VAT that you pay on purchases, although you may be able to claim back the VAT on capital assets worth more than £2,000
There’s a one per cent reduction in the flat rate percentages for your first year of VAT registration.
You can get a list of Flat Rates by following this Link
Flat Rate is easy to use and can save you money if you have a lower than average level of VAT purchases.
Annual Accounting Scheme
Using the Annual Accounting Scheme, you make either nine interim payments at monthly intervals, or three quarterly interim payments, throughout the year. You only need to complete one return at the end of each year. At that point you must pay any outstanding amount. If you have overpaid, you will receive a refund.
You can use the Annual Accounting Scheme if your estimated VAT taxable turnover for the coming year is not more than £1.35 million.
This could save you money by saving time.
Retail Schemes
Using standard VAT accounting, if you are VAT-registered then you must record the VAT on each sale in your accounting records. But with the VAT retail schemes, you work out the value of your total VAT taxable sales for a period – for example, a day – and the proportions of that total that are taxable at different rates of VAT (standard, reduced and zero) according to the scheme you are using. You then apply the appropriate VAT fraction to that sales figure to calculate your VAT due.
You do not need to record VAT separately in your accounts for each and every retail sale you make. This is particularly beneficial if you make a number of low value and/or small quantity sales to the general public. This can save you a lot of time and record keeping.
Margin Schemes
Normally you charge VAT on your sales, and reclaim VAT on your purchases. However, if you sell second-hand goods, works of art, antiques or collectibles, there may have been no VAT for you to reclaim when you bought them. You may be able to use a VAT margin scheme. This enables you to account for VAT only on the difference between the price you paid for an item and the price at which you sell it – your margin. You won’t pay any VAT if you don’t make a profit on a deal. You can still use standard VAT accounting for other sales and purchases such as overheads.
