Self Assessment

Summer is over and we are now entering what is commonly known as the Tax Season. New and much tougher penalties are now in force for late filing of tax returns. The online filing deadline is 31 January. We believe that the average  business person is not able to file their own tax return because of the complexity of the tax system.  Added to that is the time involved in completing the for… Continue Reading

VAT registration

Businesses have to register for VAT as soon as  the turnover exceeds £77,000. A common misconception is that this is measured by reference to the annual accounts. However, it is actually measured on a rolling 12 month period. Once the registration is level has been exceeded, registration has to be done withing 30 days thereafter. HMRC will then register from the first day of the ne… Continue Reading

Audit Exemption

It has been recently announced that small companies as defined in the Companies Act will be exempt from audit for accounting period ending after 1 October 2012. The exemption thresholds will now be quite high but as HMRC are stepping up their investigation activity, will exemption increase the risk of a HMRC enquiry? It is not within the scope of an audit to examine every the documen… Continue Reading

US Citizens in the UK

A conditional bilateral agreement between the US and UK tax authorities has recently been signed. Under the agreement (which has still to receive parliamentary approval) banks will pass information on US account holders to HMRC who will then notify the IRS. This is just a further measure brought about by the IRS to capture information on US citizens living abroad who are required… Continue Reading

Capital Gains Tax on Second Homes

The rules regarding the capital gains tax treatment for a second property are quite complicated and commonly misunderstood. As soon as a second property is bought or becomes available example by the finishing of a letting period a principal private residence collection should be filed with HMRC. In practice there is two years in which to file the selection but here at Tuchbands we… Continue Reading