Blogs

Because of the training we did this month, we thought it will be a good idea to remind our clients that as directors of their limited companies, what their roles are.

Strategic Decision-Making:

Directors of small limited companies play a crucial role in shaping the strategic direction of the business.

One area that often goes overlooked is special capital allowances available to Limited Companies for tax purposes. If you are intending on investing in your business by purchasing capital assets i.e. machinery, renovating a building etc., please contact us and we will assist you in understanding these allowances.

In this blog post, we will explore the various types of special capital allowances that can be claimed:

Happy new tax year our lovely Anlo community. Everyone worked hard to get all the 2021/2022 tax returns submitted and paid on time.

We start a new tax year, and working towards getting financials and returns calculated early so that we stay on the good side with HMRC but also have some time to do some cashflow planning.

If your situation has changed or you have moved or have new contact details, please get in touch so that we can update your details where it is appropriate.

We can start your personal tax return as early as the 6th of April, so if you want to be an early bird, then send your information on 😊

I don’t know what else to say other than I have really missed taking the time to write this newsletter. Sitting down and writing our company newsletters was like writing to friends and telling them about things that can make their lives easier.

I can only apologise for being so quiet, and I promise to write more 😊

So here goes….

We haven’t done a newsletter in a while, and I honestly can’t tell you why not 🤔. It has been a hectic few months of ups and downs in the United Kingdom and there is so much uncertainty that the best answer was that I couldn’t write about tax matters as they were changing by the month (or week)!

The change regarding tax seems to have stabilised for now and I can get back to my routine of writing about relevant matters. I hope our clients and community have been doing well and luckily I have been in touch with my clients on a monthly basis.

Making Tax Digital is part of the government’s plans to make it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs. We think it encourages business owners to take their accounting processes more seriously and use the numbers to improve their business.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is not a new concept and we have been filing VAT returns for businesses since 2020. But from the tax year starting 6 April 2024, all sole traders/self-employed businesses and landlords whose income or turnover is over £10,000 will need to also use MTD to file their returns.

The team is hard at work at making our clients' lives easier and, we hope, better. Loads of business owners want to do their own accounts, but don’t know how Xero works, or want to have an accounting practice to help them to do it properly and accurately themselves, because they want to learn.

We have supported businesses in the past with a Xero (an accounting package) training session where Irelene would help business owners and bookkeepers, via Zoom or in person, understand how the program works and how to use this effectively and efficiently in their business.

Remember back in April I said I am going for a surfing lesson? It went well, but gosh did I work some muscles! The idea behind it was to do something out of your comfort zone. Surfing, I realised, isn't just out of my comfort zone, it is also the best way to get completely away from everything.

When you are in the water, waiting for the next wave, you can’t think of anything else except surfing or how to get yourself standing on the board. And it was an amazing way to connect with nature. I highly recommend it!

Now let's talk about tax and accounts 😊

Written by Roulon du Toit

We mentioned this in the June newsletter, but we thought it will be worth expanding on this topic a little more.

The employer allowance has increased from £4000-£5000 for the 2022/2023 tax year. This is claimed as part of your monthly payroll and is deducted from the employer portion of the National Insurance contribution if the company qualifies. 

If we do your monthly payroll, then we have activated this allowance if this allowance is applicable, but if you are unsure, please don’t hesitate to ask us. This allowance is on the first £5000, so later in the year when the allowance is used up, your monthly PAYE contributions will increase. 

I would also like to remind our lovely clients that the following expenses are deductible in your self-assessment if you are working from home:

Written by Roulon du Toit

Who will be affected by MTD? Landlords with a taxable income of more than £10 000 per year. This will include rent from both furnished holiday flats and rental properties. Landlords should also include taxable income generated from self-employment activities.

What are the main rules and changes to be aware of?

Landlords must ensure that they are registered for MTD for Income Tax before 6 April 2023.

Landlords who are registered for self-assessment or even registered for MTD for VAT will not automatically be transferred across to MTD for Income Tax.

I am not a social media butterfly and don’t like sharing my life with the world, but this month I want to share something that I have never done before, that made me very proud. I took our 3 kids mountain biking (the blue path so nothing fancy) in the Glenlivet estate in the Highlands, Scotland.

If you know me, you will appreciate how out of my comfort zone that was. And I loved it. That made me think of how important it is to do things that are out of our comfort zone. It makes you see the world differently and appreciate things we take for granted.

Submitting your self-assessment in April might seem strange for some people, but I love being prepared :-).

We are ready, so let's get your self-assessment done and dusted so that 2022 can be awesome!

I would like to encourage all our lovely clients to get their self-assessment done as soon as possible.

If you work through a limited company, it can be very tax efficient to have your limited company make pension contributions directly into your pension scheme. Please note that we are not pension advisors so we cannot give specific pension and investment advice and if you are interested in starting a pension, we would strongly advise that you discuss your specific circumstances with a pension advisor.

To start with I need to explain the difference between pension contributions made personally and contributions made by your company (aka employer contributions).

I was asked again this month to do a presentation for the Acting Out Drama school in Edinburgh for the final year students on what is the best way to trade; as a limited company or as a sole trader.

I thought it might be useful to show the differences in a table format.

This table is only a summary, and you should read and consider the facts on the Government Gateway or consult with an expert before making a final decision.