In its most simplest definition, if you have a limited company, you would need to pay tax on your profits. This is called Corporation Tax. You would also need to pay corporation tax if you are an association, a club or co-operative. If you are a sole trader or a partnership, your profit is not subject to corporation tax and any tax you have to pay will be through your self-assessment. Continue reading “What is Corporation Tax?”
Category: Accounting Posts
What is income tax?
A dictionary definition and its simplest explanation, income tax is the tax levied on personal income that you earn.
What is personal income?
Personal income that is taxed in this way is made up of:
- Income received from employment including benefits in kind
- Your profits on self-employment
- Pension received
- Rental income
- Some state benefits – a list of what is and isn’t taxable can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/taxfree-and-taxable-state-benefits
- Income from trust
The budget and the PAYE
Every year when the budget comes out you hear about taxes going up, the economy growing and unemployment going down. If you’re in employed work and receiving a monthly salary you might not really understand or care how the budget affects you. However, the salary you receive in your bank account is what you get after your employer has taken the PAYE. Your PAYE is made up of your national insurance contributions and income tax. Continue reading “The budget and the PAYE”
My Top 5 Accounting Blogs
Here are my top 5 accounting blogs and why I like them. There are a lot of other people that I do admire in the tax and accounting world who are not listed here as they don’t blog or they don’t have a website. However, as I like to blog, I tried to focus on bloggers only.
Why Pay Class 3 National Insurance Contribution?
Class 3 National Insurance Contribution (NIC) is a voluntary contribution that you can make if you have gaps in your NI history. One of the main reasons that you would want to make a voluntary contribution is in order to ensure you receive your full basic state pension. However, this is a voluntary contribution and you are not contracted to pay it unlike the other national insurance classes. Continue reading “Why Pay Class 3 National Insurance Contribution?”
Where’s my profit?
In its simplest definition, profit is the difference between the sales you have made less the expenses incurred in bringing the product or service ready to sell.
Sales – Expenses = Profit
The profit is what you get taxed on whether you are a limited company (corporation tax) or a sole trader (personal tax). So let’s have a look at all of these three things in a bit more detail. Continue reading “Where’s my profit?”
Reporting your personal pension contribution
If you have taken out a personal pension plan, do not forget to include this in your tax return. If you are a basic rate tax payer, it will have no effect but if you are a higher rate tax payer, you will benefit from some tax savings. Continue reading “Reporting your personal pension contribution”
The Pain of Class 2 National Insurance
A change in tactic in my blog post today and hopefully going forward. Once a month, I’m hoping to post a technical accounting or tax related post. At the moment, I have no schedule for it and it will most likely be on what takes my fancy or what I had to deal with in that month. So, for today, I’m going to look at national insurance and in particular Class 2 NIC. Continue reading “The Pain of Class 2 National Insurance”
Top Three tips for Starting a Business
This is a blog I posted on the website MotivatingMum UK about setting up in business.
So it’s mummy mentoring month and I want to give some advice based on what work I do. I am an accountant so the best sort of advice that I am disposed at giving is in doing your accounts and tax returns and complying with Companies House and the HMRC. Also, as I am starting off too, I’m in the best place to be giving advice on something I’ve only just started doing myself. So as an accountant, here are my top three tips:
1.Decide what type of business structure you want. There are three main types: sole trader, partnerships or limited companies.
There are pros and cons to all types. Sole traders and partnerships are generally good if you are just starting up and don’t plan to make much and are still unsure as to how your business is going to work out. These types of business have less admin costs and it’s only the tax compliance you need to worry about. A limited company is good if you have a long term plan and you know you are going to make a profit in the future. A limited company has more structure and in the long term there will be more tax benefits.
2.Once you’ve decided your business structure, you need to tell everyone. By this, I mean not just on Facebook, twitter and blogs and all your friends and family but you need to inform HMRC and Companies House.
If you are a sole trader or partnership, you need to let HMRC know that you will need a self-assessment tax return and that you will be paying class 2 tax as soon as you have registered. You will also need to take into account class 4 tax when you start making a profit.
If you are a limited company, you need to inform HMRC of self-assessment for yourself personally as a Director of the company and then for the company, you need to register for corporation tax, if you have a payroll, then payroll taxes and if you need or want to register for VAT. These are the main taxes for a company. You also need to register your company with Companies House.
3.Finally, you need to make sure you choose a good accountant. OK, so you’re thinking, here’s the sales pitch, surely I’m breaking the rules, but hear me out first. To start off with, especially if you are a sole trader, you may be able to do a lot of things by yourself, as there is a lot of information on the internet and to be honest, even the HMRC website and helpline is getting a lot better.
However, there will come a time when you either don’t have the time to do all the tax and accounts or it just starts getting a little complicated or you hear something at the school gate and wonder if it applies to you and wish you had someone with a little more knowledge to talk to, and that’s where accountants step in.
My advice when choosing an accountant is don’t always go for the cheapest one on the block, I’m sure the charges will pile up. As with everything, make sure you get on with them and can build up a good rapport and also see if they are honest with you and let you know where there limitations are and how they will deal with it.
For more information on this or for help with your tax returns, get in touch with Q.A. Accountancy Services.
An accountant and a Mum 