November 2011 client newsletter
10th November 2011
In: Current news
Closed for Christmas and the New Year
The office will close at 4 p.m. on 20th December 2011 and re-open at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.
Coding notices
From 11th October 2011 HM Revenue & Customs made it possible for me to view coding notices online. If you receive a coding notice please let me know and I can check it for you using this new facility. The main processing run of coding notices happens in January each year.
Late payment of PAYE and NIC contributions
HM Revenue & Customs now charge a penalty for late payment of PAYE and NI contributions.
They vary from no penalty if you are late (not more than 6 months) once in a year to 4% of the amount due for 11 late payments a year.
If you have still not paid a monthly or quarterly amount in full, after six months you may have to pay a penalty of 5 per cent. A further penalty of 5 per cent may be charged if you have not paid after 12 months. These penalties may be charged in addition to the penalties for monthly and quarterly payments described in the previous section and apply even where only one payment in the tax year is late.
Mortgage Verification Scheme
A new scheme to combat mortgage application fraud was launched on 1 September 2011. A by-product of this is a further source of information for HMRC to use in its risk assessment process.
HMRC, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association have worked together on the development of the Mortgage Verification Scheme and see it as an important additional tool to help beat fraud. The National Fraud Authority estimates the cost of mortgage fraud at £1 billion last year, so measures to tackle it are important.
The scheme was announced in the March 2010 Budget and has been refined during a subsequent pilot period. Mortgage lenders will only use the scheme where they suspect mortgage fraud, following their own checks.
However, HMRC is also planning to use this information as part of its own risk assessment process when checking whether the information it has been given on applicants’ tax affairs is correct. This will inevitably lead to tax assessments for undisclosed income.
Changes to NIC Class 2 Payments
From April 2011 the Tax Office changed the way it collects class 2 NICs. The payment will be due in two equal instalments on 31 July and 31 January. The Tax Office will send out separate bills for the class 2 NICs in April and October that demand payment for the amounts due in the following July and January.
If you already have a monthly direct debit set up to pay your class 2 NICs, those direct debits will be suspended from April 2011 to restart in August 2011. You can opt to pay your class 2 NIC bill when the payments become due in July and January, by telephone banking, Bank Giro, at the Post Office, by direct debit or by cheque.
Are you running a web-site?
I have recently discovered a service which is new to me. Zopim (www.zopim.com) allows code to be inserted in a website which allows you to chat online with customers and potential customers; surely a great way of providing a better customer care service and encouraging sales? This costs from only $9 (about £6 a month) so should pay for itself very quickly. You can even try it for free so why not give it a try, there is nothing to lose.
Annual Investment Allowance
When a business buys plant and equipment to use in its activities tax relief is given through capital allowances. The first relief is the Annual Investment Allowance which is the amount of expenditure on qualifying plant which can be wholly written off against tax. This is currently £100,000 but from 1st April 2012 will fall to £25,000. If you need to invest in plant and equipment consider doing so sooner rather than later.
Skype
Skype provides free online video calls, a cheap way to communicate with friends and your accountant! My contact on Skype: wdallsopp
To discuss how any of the above may impact you personally call me on 01530 230360
The office will close at 4 p.m. on 20th December 2011 and re-open at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.
Coding notices
From 11th October 2011 HM Revenue & Customs made it possible for me to view coding notices online. If you receive a coding notice please let me know and I can check it for you using this new facility. The main processing run of coding notices happens in January each year.
Late payment of PAYE and NIC contributions
HM Revenue & Customs now charge a penalty for late payment of PAYE and NI contributions.
They vary from no penalty if you are late (not more than 6 months) once in a year to 4% of the amount due for 11 late payments a year.
If you have still not paid a monthly or quarterly amount in full, after six months you may have to pay a penalty of 5 per cent. A further penalty of 5 per cent may be charged if you have not paid after 12 months. These penalties may be charged in addition to the penalties for monthly and quarterly payments described in the previous section and apply even where only one payment in the tax year is late.
Mortgage Verification Scheme
A new scheme to combat mortgage application fraud was launched on 1 September 2011. A by-product of this is a further source of information for HMRC to use in its risk assessment process.
HMRC, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association have worked together on the development of the Mortgage Verification Scheme and see it as an important additional tool to help beat fraud. The National Fraud Authority estimates the cost of mortgage fraud at £1 billion last year, so measures to tackle it are important.
The scheme was announced in the March 2010 Budget and has been refined during a subsequent pilot period. Mortgage lenders will only use the scheme where they suspect mortgage fraud, following their own checks.
However, HMRC is also planning to use this information as part of its own risk assessment process when checking whether the information it has been given on applicants’ tax affairs is correct. This will inevitably lead to tax assessments for undisclosed income.
Changes to NIC Class 2 Payments
From April 2011 the Tax Office changed the way it collects class 2 NICs. The payment will be due in two equal instalments on 31 July and 31 January. The Tax Office will send out separate bills for the class 2 NICs in April and October that demand payment for the amounts due in the following July and January.
If you already have a monthly direct debit set up to pay your class 2 NICs, those direct debits will be suspended from April 2011 to restart in August 2011. You can opt to pay your class 2 NIC bill when the payments become due in July and January, by telephone banking, Bank Giro, at the Post Office, by direct debit or by cheque.
Are you running a web-site?
I have recently discovered a service which is new to me. Zopim (www.zopim.com) allows code to be inserted in a website which allows you to chat online with customers and potential customers; surely a great way of providing a better customer care service and encouraging sales? This costs from only $9 (about £6 a month) so should pay for itself very quickly. You can even try it for free so why not give it a try, there is nothing to lose.
Annual Investment Allowance
When a business buys plant and equipment to use in its activities tax relief is given through capital allowances. The first relief is the Annual Investment Allowance which is the amount of expenditure on qualifying plant which can be wholly written off against tax. This is currently £100,000 but from 1st April 2012 will fall to £25,000. If you need to invest in plant and equipment consider doing so sooner rather than later.
Skype
Skype provides free online video calls, a cheap way to communicate with friends and your accountant! My contact on Skype: wdallsopp
To discuss how any of the above may impact you personally call me on 01530 230360
