Category: Limited Companies

What is working from home relief?

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Working from home relief = FREE CASH

Due to the current pandemic, many businesses have been working from home this year (ours included). It looks like those who can work from home will be until March 2021 at the earliest.

We have also seen a change in attitude towards flexible working. It has become the ‘new normal’ and many employees may continue working from home in the future.

What many businesses haven’t realised is that they can get free cash from HMRC for working from home. WOW!

So what is working from home relief?

From 6 April 2020 employers have been able to pay employees up to £6 a week tax-free to cover additional costs if they have had to work from home. Employees who have not received the working from home expenses payment direct from their employer can apply to receive tax relief from HMRC.

Find out full details here –  www.gov.uk/government/news/54800-customers-claim-tax-relief-for-working-from-home.

In a very interesting twist Martin Lewis has reported that even if you work from home for just one week, you can still claim a whole years relief. This is a very public statement from Martin Lewis and we are certain that he has proof from HMRC. However there may be a caveat when HMRC realise what they have said.

Read his article here – https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis–working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus–claim-p6-wk-/

Our advice for employees 

If your employer is not paying the allowance, which they are not obliged to, log into the HMRC portal and make your claim. For basic rate tax payers this is worth £62.40 and higher rate tax payers it is worth £124.80. For 10 minutes of your time, it is worth doing!

Our advice for employers

You do not have to pay the allowance. However as we are coming into the festive season, why not incorporate the £6 per week into a Christmas Bonus? There are no PAYE or NIC deductions for the employer or employee making it a great treat for the end of this turbulent year.

Cyclist - The cycle to work scheme

Is the new electric bike grant right for your business?

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Boris Johnson announces grants for Electric Bikes, but are they a good idea for small business owners?

Bikes (including E-bikes) costing over £1000 will now be included in the Governments ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme. If any of your team members are keen to cycle to work, this is a great opportunity for your business to get involved.

GCI founder Rob Howes said in the Forbes article ‘E-Bikes And Other £1,000+ Bicycles Added To U.K. Government’s Money Saving ‘Cycle To Work’ Scheme’ :

We think the electric bike has an enormous part to play and making it possible to get one using the popular Cycle to Work scheme is a step in the right direction by the Government. We have multiple clients who have given up their cars and swapped to e-bikes, and we have helped lots of people who now have a cargo bike instead of a second bike

Rob Howes

ELECTRIC BIKES

Many cyclists will say that the electric bike is not for the ‘true cyclist’. However for the people who can’t keep up, need a little push up the hills or just don’t want to be sweaty when they arrive at work the electric bike is perfect and keeps cycling inclusive for all abilities.

There is also a myth that electric bikes are heavy, ugly things with wires hanging off the frame linking to a large battery that you have to get your legs around. This is not the case. Paul visited our local bike shop Aerocycles  and he was amazed at how good the electric bikes looked. They are definitely worth checking out.

Electric Bike

WHAT IS THE CYCLE TO WORK SCHEME?

The Governments Green Transport plan aims to reduce pollution, promote healthier lifestyles and makes cycling to work cost effective. All companies in the UK qualify for the scheme (providing they are UK tax payers). Earnings must remain above the level of national minimum wage after the salary sacrifice has been deducted. Unfortunately sole traders do not qualify for the scheme. The scheme gives employees a tax exemption. The savings are typically about 25-39%. You can implement this as a ‘salary sacrifice’ or as a ‘company perk’.

The added health and environmental benefits of cycling to work are huge. We would definitely recommend this scheme to get you and your work force cycling.

For more detailed information please look at Cyclescheme.co.uk https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/get-a-bike/how-it-works

If you have a bike already don’t forget the £50 voucher to get your bike back on the road. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53558629

Happy Cycling

Have you got a government gateway?

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The help and advice that is available from the Government is forever changing. This is the latest update we have on how to apply for the self-employed grant. 

For those who are eligible, you will receive an EMAIL, not a letter as we had thought. Be aware that there are lots of phishing emails out there, HMRC’s email does not ask you to click on anything.

If you are unsure if you are eligible please follow this link –  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme. Please make sure to put capital letters for your NI number otherwise it will fail. If you believe you are eligible but the calculator is failing, please get in touch and we will try and help.   

If you qualify you will be able to claim from the 13th/18th of May. To claim you will need a Government Gateway! 

If you do not have one, please follow these steps to set one up. We recommend you do this NOW to avoid any delays. 

https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account

If you have forgotten your username and/or password you can get these reset with HMRC. 

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/account-recovery/lost-user-id-password/check-email?state=5eb2c2442100008e90c6e413&ui_locales=en-GB 

From what we have seen, we will not be able to claim your grant through our gateway. This could change, but to avoid the delays in getting your grant please make sure your gateway is set up. 

If you need help applying please email jade@1accounts.co.uk 

How to preserve your cashflow during Covid-19

How to preserve your cashflow during COVID-19 crisis

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How to preserve your cashflow during COVID-19

As the saying goes, turnover is vanity, profit is sanity and cash flow is king. And never has that saying been ever truer. Use this tips sheet to help you preserve your cash flow so you are ready and able to trade again as normal when the restrictions lift.

Tip 1: Know when you are going to run out of cash

It is really easy to get caught up in hysteria and believe that your business is going to go bust. When we recently spoke with an insolvency practitioner, they told us that only 5% of the calls they are receiving at the moment are for businesses that are genuinely insolvent. If you haven’t already, it’s time to look at how long your cash will last if the lockdown restrictions remain. (If you need help with this, then let us know) When you know how long your cash will last you then you can take sensible decisions in regards to your business.

Money bag

Tip 2: Make sure your books are up to date

Book

I know we accountants are always telling you to keep your books up to date. But it now more important than ever to know the true picture of your finances. If you don’t know what you owe and what is owed to you then, you can’t take the right decisions. For those of you still relying on spreadsheets or desktop software for your books, now is the time to go onto the cloud. We, as a firm, can’t easily advise you if we are looking at out of date figures. And the benefit of the cloud is we can see exactly what you can see.

Tip 3: Look to take advantage of all the government financial help which is available right now

The best type of borrowing is the borrowing you don’t have to pay back. And there are grants worth £10k or £25k for most small businesses with premises who pay rates or who get small business rates relief. If you haven’t already claimed your grant from your local authority then give us a call. Once you’ve checked this look at the following to see if your business is eligible:

  • Deferment of VAT payments
  • Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
  • Paid sick pay
  • Business rates relief
  • Accessing a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan

Tip 4: Analyse your business costs and pare it back to the bare essentials

Now is the time to examine your overheads. What exactly can you eliminate or cut back on and still be, either able to trade, or be able to trade when the restrictions are lifted?

pound symbol

Tip 5: Do you have an opportunity to reduce your wage bill?

arrows pointing inwards

Wages are often a business’s biggest costs. Which of your employees can you Furlough or make redundant in order to save costs? If you believe you wouldn’t be able to employ your whole team again after the lockdown restrictions are lifted, you may be better off in making them redundant now.

Tip 6: Prioritise actions which are the quickest ways to generate cash

Normally they are in this order:

  • Chase late payers
  • Change your payment terms to get paid quicker with current customers or clients
  • Give long-term customers/clients the opportunity to pay in advance for work (potentially with a discount added?)
  • Bill any customer/client with outstanding work which can be invoiced
  • Focus your sales team on your warm leads
  • Consider what can be your business equivalent of a ‘toilet roll’, i.e. what can you change about the product/service you deliver or how you deliver it which will make it an ‘in-demand’ item?

With all these cash flow tips, we can help you take balanced and rational decisions about what to do to preserve your cash flow in these very difficult trading conditions.

No one wants a Tax Investigation.

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No one wants a Tax Investigation.

It is true that as business owners we don’t want HMRC asking awkward questions and taking up our precious time by visiting us on a routine (or not!) compliance visit.

This week two of our clients have been subject to compliance visits from HMRC, one for PAYE and CIS, and the other for VAT. Understandably, our clients in both cases were worried by a visit from HMRC and needed our support from start to finish.

PAYE Investigation

In the case of the PAYE compliance, which included CIS, we were able to speak to our client before the meeting, attend the meeting along with our client, and reply to HMRC’s request in order to close the enquiry. We dealt with the issues and questions raised in the meeting successfully and HMRC could see that we had a good handle on our client’s business. They have now closed the case without penalty or further tax charge.  Our client was very happy that we were able to attend and support them at the meeting as it gave them extra peace of mind.

VAT Investigation

The VAT visit was very similar. We briefed our client before the meeting and attended the meeting with the VAT officer. One item was picked up by HMRC and a small adjustment will be made on the next return. In this case HMRC were complimentary about our business set up and the service that we provide our client, especially in understanding the business from the client’s point of view. This client is also really pleased with the service and were reassured by the fact that we were able to attend the meeting and deal with any questions that came up.

We have you covered

We insure ALL of our clients to cover our fees for dealing with HMRC from start to finish in these situations.  We often have clients tell us that they are covered by The Chamber of Commerce or The Federation for Small Businesses, however the cover from both organisations does not allow us to deal with any investigation that may occur, and so our support is limited. It is for this reason that we took the decision to fully cover our clients for no additional charge.

We appreciate that no one wants a Tax Investigation, however if a client does have an investigation it is really important that we are there, as we can help the client to deal with HMRC effectively. In both cases this week HMRC didn’t find anything of significance and both of our clients were very happy with our service. They were especially happy that our fees for assisting with the visits are covered by the insurance policy benefit that we have taken on their behalf and that there was no extra cost to them.

Tax Building Blocks

Making Tax Digital – Are You Ready?

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Making Tax Digital – Are You Ready?

July 2019 marks the period that you have to submit your VAT returns using HMRC’s new Making Tax Digital (MTD) regime. Already Accountants, VAT registered businesses and HMRC are struggling to cope.

Take a look at Accounting Web’s report on how HMRC’s systems were already struggling in May – Read report here

If you have not addressed MTD you need to do this NOW!

Your accountant should have been in touch to make sure your systems allows you to send HMRC compatible VAT returns. You may have been offered a bridging software to read from Excel (or other non-compliant accounting products) to then transfer to HMRC. In our opinion this is a sticky plaster over an open wound and not a long term solution. You have probably been given this type of software because your accountant does not understand or is overstretched.

Our recommendation is that you use Xero or SageOne to manage your businesses finances. Both pieces of software are fully compatible with MTD. 1 Accounts are Making Tax Digital certified and can help you transfer your business over to software that will not only be compliant but save you heaps of time to.

You should make sure your accountant can help you through the process of transitioning you to online software, registering you for MTD and maintaining your VAT returns. HMRC have some guidance on their website we recommend reading – Read article here.

If your VAT return (period ending 30th June 2019) is not filed by the 7th of August 2019 you may get a fine from HMRC. It is unknown to us if HMRC’s systems will be able to cope with this months filings. Our advice would be don’t leave it till the last minute.