Tag: Income

Are you making the most of your tax free allowances?

Each year we a get tax free allowances:

NI Free £8,164

Tax Free Salary £11,500

Capital Gains Tax Allowance £11,300

Rent a Room £7,500

Dividend Allowance £5,000

Personal Savings Allowance £1,000

Then there are  many other tax saving opportunities like tax free childcare https://stevejbicknell.com/2016/08/19/childcare-3-part-report-for-childcare-providers-and-parents/

Plus tax free benefits https://stevejbicknell.com/2016/09/21/are-you-making-the-most-of-tax-free-benefits/

Have you tried to use these allowances?

What if you set out each year to take advantage of these tax free opportunities?

You would need your own business to be able to restrict your earnings to £8,164 or £11,500 as National Minimum Wage would mean you will get pay levels above these £7.50 x 37.5 hours x 52 weeks = £14,625, however, directors can pay themselves below NMW.

To use the Capital Gains Allowance you are going to need to have assets to sell and make a gain

Rent a Room is achievable especially if you take in students

Dividend Allowance is great if you have your own company

Everyone should be able to use the PSA

Why not sit down and work out how you could maximise the use of the tax free allowances that are available

steve@bicknells.net

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have overseas assets and income you haven’t declared?

All accountants and tax agents should now be sending or have sent a letter or e mail to their clients saying

From 2016, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is getting an unprecedented amount of information about people’s overseas accounts, structures, trusts, and investments from more than 100 jurisdictions worldwide, thanks to agreements to increase global tax transparency. This gives HMRC unprecedented levels of information to check that, as in most cases, the right tax has been paid.

If you have already declared all of your past and present income or gains to HMRC, including from overseas, you do not need to worry. But if you are in any doubt, HMRC recommends that you read the factsheet attached to help you decide now what to do next.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/client-notification-income-or-assets-abroad/notes-on-how-and-when-to-send-the-client-notification-letter

Here is a link to the fact sheet

https://bbaltd.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?docid=0b2969c05c0b74833bb2c42df251ddfb0&authkey=AQoJsi8KFnP87sNNjN-JK4E

Time is running out, so make sure you declare all your income and assets.

steve@bicknells.net

Why taking a dividend now, could save tax – Dividend Tax Calculator

Dividend Calculator 2

When you take dividends has never been more critical due to changes in the Summer Budget 2015, so if you have distributable reserves you might want to take more dividends this tax year, try the Dividend Calculator above to see how much difference it could make.

Dividend tax rates before April 2016

Tax band Effective dividend tax rate
Basic rate (20%) (and non-taxpayers) 0%
Higher rate (40%) 25%
Additional rate (45%) 30.56%

 

This will change from April 2016, see the table below

Dividend tax rates after April 2016

Tax band Effective dividend tax rate
Tax Free £5,000 0%
Basic Rate Tax Payers (20%) 7.5%
Higher Rate Tax Payers (40%) 32.5%
 Additional Rate Tax Payers (45%)  38.1%

 

The new rules are easier to follow, the 10% tax credit in the current rules is hard for most people to follow.

There is a Dividend Allowance factsheet which helps to explain how dividend tax will be calculated.

But be warned!

While these rates remain below the main rates of income tax, those who receive significant dividend income – for example due to very large shareholdings (typically more than £140,000) or as a result of receiving significant dividends through a closed company – will pay more.

So far we don’t know how much more!

steve@bicknells.net

When should you recognise revenue on services provided?

Profitability

The International Accounting Standard IAS 18 states

‘where the outcome of a transaction involving the rendering of services can be estimated reliably, associated revenue should be recognised by reference to the stage of completion of the transaction at the end of the reporting period’ . In other words, the revenue is recognised gradually, rather than all at one ‘critical point’, as is the case for revenue from the sale of goods. IAS 18 further states that the outcome of a transaction can be estimated reliably when all the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) The amount of revenue can be measured reliably.
(b) It is probable that the economic benefits associated with the transaction will flow to the seller.
(c) The stage of completion of the transaction at the end of the reporting period can be measured reliably.
(d) The costs incurred to date for the transaction and the costs to complete the transaction can be measured reliably.

IAS 18 does not prescribe one single method that should be used for determining the stage of completion of a service transaction. However the standard does provide some examples of suitable methods:
(a) Surveys of work performed.
(b) Services performed to date as a percentage of total services to be performed.
(c) The proportion that costs incurred to date bear to the estimated total costs of the transaction.

If it is not possible to reliably measure the outcome of a transaction involving the provision of services (perhaps because the transaction is in its very early stages) then revenue should be recognised only to the extent of costs incurred by the seller, assuming these costs are recoverable from the buyer.

In the UK UITF40 and SSAP9 defined the way we report revenue and profit in relation to Services, although accountants and lawyers were among the most high profile casualties of the new regime back in 2005, which forced them to re-catagorise WIP and Revenue, many other service providers  also had to consider how they accounted for income. Professionals such as surveyors, architects, doctors and dentists all had to consider the impact of the new rules on their tax liabilities.

FRS102 has not changed the rules.

Revenue Recognition

steve@bicknells.net