Can I Amend My Personal Tax Return After Its Been Submitted ?

Can I amend my personal tax return after it’s been submitted?

The deadline for personal self assessment annual tax returns to be submitted is 31st January. But what if you realise that you made a mistake or omitted something after the 31 st January deadline?

HMRC allow 12 months for making alterations on line to a submitted self assessment tax return.

They will not apply any penalties for late filing (assuming that you made your original submission before 31st January), but if the amendments result in additional tax being due, then you will be charged interest from the due date of the payment until you settle the unpaid tax.

Brentwood Accountants – Transform Accounting – Essex Chartered Management Accountants

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Forgot your Tax return ? You’ll Be Fined £1,200 this week.

If you had a request from HMRC to file a self assessment tax return for the 2010/11 tax year and haven’t got round to filing it yet, then here is some bad news. HMRC are starting to send out penalty notices this week.

The minimum fine is made up of two elements.

Firstly a daily penalty which is calculated at £10 per day, and which started to build up 90 days after the missed deadline. This penalty is capped at £900.

Then there is the second penalty of 5 percent of the tax due, or £300 – whichever is the larger.

If you receive a late filing penalty, but think that you shouldn’t be in the self assessment system at all, then you can apply to be taken out of the system. If HMRC agree, then both the tax return and penalty will be cancelled. So far, HMRC have agreed to take 273,000 out of the self assessment system this year.

An HMRC spokesman stated that half a million people have filed their self assessment returns this year and this means that HMRC are issuing 44 percent fewer penalties than recent years. However, 6 percent of people who are required to file self assessment for the 2010/11 tax year have still failed to do so and will be receiving penalty notices.

Tax Returns – Transform Accounting – Essex Accountants

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Transform Accounting New Video Launched – Thinking of changing your accountant? talk to us.

Our new video on Youtube has just launched.

Take a look here.

Essex Chartered Management Accountants – Transform Accounting

Thinking of changing Accountants ? – Talk To Us – We can help you and its easier than you think – Our Web site tells you how

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How to pay less tax – small business owners – apply for a dispensation

What exactly is a dispensation?

A dispensation is a written agreement between a company and HMRC that relieves you from having to report expenses payments and benefits in kind on the annual form P11D, where HMRC are satisfied that no tax should be payable on them.

Why would I want a dispensation?

From the perspective of a small business owner, there are two reasons why you would want a dispensation.
Firstly – you will not have to go to the trouble of reporting staff expenses on a P11D
Secondly – you will not have to pay employers National insurance on these expense items, saving you money.

What expense items are included in a dispensation?

Expenses typically included in a dispensation are travel, hotel, subsistence expenses, stationery and other sundry items.
These items must be expenses that are incurred “wholly, exclusively and necessarily” in the employees work for the business.
In all cases, you should only reimburse legitimate business expenses for which you have receipts.
Note that a dispensation does not cover business mileage payments.

How do I apply for a dispensation?

To apply for a dispensation, either discuss with your accountant, or see the HMRC website – www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p11dx.pdf

The above is just a rough guide intended for education purposes – If you want to provide a perk to a member of staff, please seek professional advice from your accountant or see the HMRC web site for detailed guidance.

Tax Returns Epping – Transform Accounting – Tax Return Essex

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Fed up taxpayers complain about HMRC call centres

Data recently released as a result of the freedom of information act, has shown that callers to HMRC have to wait longer each year before getting to speak to anyone.

HMRC received 76,000 complaints last year, up from the previous years 73,000 but down from their peak of 84,500 in 2009.

HMRC are targeting a benchmark of 90% of customers being able to get through to an operator on their first attempt by 2014. At the moment they are achieving less than half this figure leading to claims that the HMRC call centres are understaffed, and leaving taxpayers increasingly frustrated.

Chartered Management Accountants Chelmsford – Transform Accounting

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HMRC Supports iPhones apps to Capture Small Business Accounting Data

    

HMRC’s attempts to support smaller businesses have recently taken another step forward by supporting software developers to produce smartphone apps for small business.

The idea is that these apps help the self-employed small business owner to capture data on the go, helping them to keep accurate records that will both save time, and enable accurate tax reporting.

Software houses such as Sage and Intuit (Quickbooks) offer applications that can use the camera on a smartphone to immediately scan a receipt, which can then later be used in their bookkeeping software, negating the requirement to keep paper receipts.

For clients of accounting practices that make the most of modern technology, this can make life much easier.

The tools are suitable for small businesses who fall under the £77,000 VAT threshold.

The first batch of approved apps are for iPhone and Android with expectation that apps for Blackberry will follow.

A full list of approved HMRC apps can be found at http://www.tinyurl.com/clsuqmf

Transform Accounting use and recommend Quickbooks, including the iphone application for our clients as a modern and cost efficient bookkeeping solution.

Romford Tax Technicians – Transform Accounting – Essex Tax Technicians

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How to Pay Less Tax – Business Gifts for Customers and Suppliers – How To Be Tax Efficient

It is a normal part of business to give business gifts to either customers or suppliers.

But there are some important things to consider making sure that these gifts are tax efficient, so they will save you money.

Firstly – the gift (or any gifts given to the same person over a 12 month period) must not exceed £50

Secondly – the gift may not be alcoholic drink, food, or tobacco and cannot be vouchers

Thirdly – the gift should carry an advert for the business who is giving – eg – a branded calendar, diary or clothing.

If all of the above criteria are satisfied, then the cost of the gifts are allowed to be offset (ie – treated as an expense) when calculating taxable profits, and you can treat the VAT as per any other business expense.

However, gifts that do not satisfy these criteria such as food hampers or bottles of whisky cannot be treated as allowable business expenses.

Taxation Technicians Brentwood – Transform Accounting – Taxation Technicians Essex

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HMRC sets up task force to find tax dodgers by targeting specific businesses

HM Revenue and customs have announced that they have set up six task forces to target specific areas where they feel there is a high risk of tax dodging.

They have announced that these groups will target London market stall holders, Property rental business in East Anglia and London and Taxi firms and Restaurants in Yorkshire and the Midlands.

The HMRC will send their teams to visit traders, examine their records and carry out investigations in short sharp bursts of activity.

Exchequer secretary David Gauke said “If you have paid all your taxes, you have nothing to worry about …. We have made it clear that we will not tolerate tax evasion… We are determined to crack down on the minority who choose to break the rules”.

Chartered Management Accountants Harlow – Transform Accounting – Chartered Management Accountants

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Top 10 Finance Books – Crime, corruption and incompetence – No 6 – Chasing Goldman Sachs – Suzanne McGhee

We all love a top 10 list.

When it comes to finance, books come in three distinct categories.

Accounting Text books – avoid like the plague!

Firstly the long often dry and tedious text books that sometimes have to be studied to gain professional qualifications – I would advise steering well clear of these and leaving them to the accountants and lawyers who have to study them!

Personal Finance Self Help Books

Secondly, there are the personal finance self-help type books that try to teach you something as quickly as possible – there are many of these but if in doubt, the dummies books are always a good place to start.

The Exposé

And finally there are my favourite category – the exposé – a book that relies on research and investigative journalism to give you the inside story.
This is where the crime, corruption and incompetence comes in, with a little greed thrown in for good measure.
 Read on for the countdown from number 10 to number 1.

Recommendation No 6 – Chasing Goldman Sachs – Suzanne McGhee

Suzanne McGhee takes an alternative approach to explaining the causes of the recent global financial problems.

Rather than focusing on what happened following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, McGhee takes a step back in trying to explain how global banking giant Goldman Sachs transformed from a respected merchant bank, carefully run by the owner partners, with a focus on preserving both their reputation and capital into Wall Street’s most successful but controversial firm, declaring record profits in 2007.

The theme of the book is how the other Global banks developed what McGhee called “Goldman Sachs Envy” – an envy of their enormous profits and how this led to the other firms changing their strategies to be more like Goldman Sachs and focus on short term profits at any risk.

Whilst Goldman Sachs profited during the initial turbulence and collapse of sub-prime debt, the results of this is for other firms such as Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and AIG  is of course well documented and the knock on effect is still being felt around the world.

“Chasing Goldman Sachs” gives a fascinating insight into the root causes of the global banking crises, and concludes that without structural reform imposed by governments, nothing has changed, and similar crises will happen again.

“How the masters of the universe melted wall street down …. And why they’ll take us to the brink again – Suzanne McGhee

What was the root cause of Wall Street nearly taking down the entire financial and economic system?

Yes there was extreme greed wrapped up in subprime lending, with CDO’s (collaterized debt obligations) and other instruments of financial self-destruction. But the reason the system nearly collapsed lies in Wall Street’s transformation from a financial utility that served our economy and society into a behemoth that operates with only its own short-term interests in mind. Financial journalist Suzanne McGee ingeniously calls this “Goldman Sachs Envy” – the mindless pursuit of the gargantuan profits earned by Wall Street’s most successful firm.

Through probing analysis, meticulous research, and dozens of interviews with bankers, traders, research analysts and investment managers, McGee brings the real Wall Street to light. And we should all be afraid – very afraid – because the truth is nothing has changed! “

Accountant Harlow – Transform Accounting – Accountant Essex

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Top 10 Finance Books – Crime, corruption and incompetence – No 7 – Rogue Trader – Nick Leeson

We all love a top 10 list.

When it comes to finance, books come in three distinct categories.

Accounting Text books – avoid like the plague!

 Firstly the long often dry and tedious text books that sometimes have to be studied to gain professional qualifications – I would advise steering well clear of these and leaving them to the accountants and lawyers who have to study them!

Personal Finance Self Help Books

Secondly, there are the personal finance self-help type books that try to teach you something as quickly as possible – there are many of these but if in doubt, the dummies books are always a good place to start.

The Exposé

And finally there are my favourite category – the exposé – a book that relies on research and investigative journalism to give you the inside story.
This is where the crime, corruption and incompetence comes in, with a little greed thrown in for good measure.
Read on for the countdown from number 10 to number 1.

Recommendation No 7 – Rogue Trader – Nick Leeson

For those of us who have ever boarded that train every morning and worked in the financial services industry in the City of London, Nick Leeson remains an infamous character.

Starting out from humble beginnings and education and then in tedious back office role for Barings – the oldest merchant bank in the city of London, Leeson managed to get a transfer to Barings Singapore office where he was rewarded for his work in sorting out the back office with the combined role of trading financial futures on the Simex exchange.

Leeson became probably the most famous “Rogue Trader” in recent years after his unauthorised trading losses brought about the collapse of Barings bank – eventually sold for just £1, and resulting in Leeson finding himself in a Singapore prison cell.

Leeson is honest enough to write in detail of the unauthorised trading that he undertook and what drove him to do it. Rogue Trader has sometimes been criticised as an attempt by Leeson to defend his actions and put the blame on others in more senior responsible positions at Bearings, but I consider the book to be a well-balanced account which backs up the conclusions of the investigation by the Bank of England into the collapse of Barings.

“The key questions are:

a)      how were the massive losses incurred ?

b)      why was the true position not noticed earlier?

Our conclusions, in summary are:

a)      the losses were incurred by reason of unauthorised and concealed trading activities within Barings Futures Singapore

b)      the true position was not noticed earlier by reason of a serious failure of controls and managerial confusion within Bearings

c)      the true position had not been detected prior to the collapse by the external auditors, supervisors or regulators of Barings

From the conclusions to the Bank of England’s report of the inquiry into the collapse of Barings Bank.

Published 18 July 1995 “

 

Rogue Trader is written by Nick Leeson himself and gives a fascinating insight into just what led to him becoming the “Rogue Trader”.

A very easy read and extremely entertaining – highly recommended.

“Pressure, pace, error: the extraordinary inside story of how the greatest gamble ever made rocked the City to its foundations. Crackling with tension, in a narrative as crisp as any thriller, Rogue Trader is the hugely compelling account of a man shaped by events that proved beyond his control.”

Accountant Romford – Transform Accounting – Accountant Essex

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