1 July 2016 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 September 2015.

 6 July 2016 – Complete and submit forms P11D return of benefits and expenses and P11D(b) return of Class 1A NICs, and give copies of the information to your employees.

 19 July 2016 – Pay Class 1A NICs (by the 22 July 2016 if paid electronically).

 19 July 2016 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 July 2016. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 July 2016)

 19 July 2016 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 July 2016.

 19 July 2016 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 July 2016 is payable by today.

 1 August 2016 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 October 2015.

 19 August 2016 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 August 2016. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 August 2016)

 19 August 2016 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 August 2016.

 19 August 2016 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 August 2016 is payable by today.

The “phishing” emails sent by nefarious individuals, purporting to be from HMRC, have now been joined by bogus phone calls.

We have received information that taxpayers are being called, apparently by HMRC, and advised that they have significant tax bills to pay and the caller encourages the offended taxpayer to settle the bill during the phone call.

We have reproduced below a warning issued by Action Fraud involving the use of iTunes gift cards:

Action Fraud is warning people of a new trend that has hit the UK where fraudsters contact victims claiming to be from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and trick them into paying bogus debts and taxes using iTunes gift cards. 

Victims are being contacted in a variety of methods by fraudsters claiming to be from HMRC and are told they owe an outstanding debt. In the hundreds of cases reported to Action Fraud in the past month, the fraudsters all ask for payment in iTunes gift card voucher codes. 

Fraudsters are now moving onto iTunes gift cards to collect money from victims because they can be easily redeemed and easily sold on. The scammers don’t need the physical card to redeem the value and instead get victims to read out the serial code on the back over the phone. 

Fraudsters are contacting victims in three ways:

• Voicemails: Fraudsters are leaving victims automated voicemails saying that they owe HMRC unpaid taxes. When victims call back on the number provided, they are told that there is a warrant out in their name and if they don’t pay, the police will arrest them.
   
• Spoofed calls: Fraudsters are cold calling victims using a spoofed 0300 200 3300 number and convincing them that they owe unpaid tax to HMRC. 
   
• Text messages: Fraudsters are sending text messages that require victims to urgently call back on the number provided. When victims call back, they are told that there is a case being built against them for an outstanding debt and they must pay immediately.  

How to protect yourself: 

• HMRC will never use texts to tell you about a tax rebate or penalty or ever ask for payment in this way.
• Telephone numbers and text messages can easily be spoofed. You should never trust the number you see on your telephones display. 
• If you receive a suspicious cold call, end it immediately.

You can also report a fraud and receive a police crime reference number, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

ISA investors may be interested to read the following guidance issued by HMRC regarding the transfer of ISAs from one provider to another.

What you can transfer

You can transfer a cash ISA to another cash ISA with a different provider. You can do the same with stocks and shares ISAs. You can also transfer a cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA or vice versa.

If you want to transfer money you’ve invested in an ISA this current year, you must transfer all of it. For previous years, you can choose to transfer all or part of your savings.

Check with your provider for any restrictions they may have on transferring ISAs. They may also make you pay a charge.

How to transfer your ISA

To switch providers, contact the ISA provider you want to move to and fill out an ISA transfer form to move your account. If you withdraw the money without doing this, you won’t be able to reinvest that part of your allowance again.

Deadlines and complaints

ISA transfers should take no longer than:

• 15 working days for a cash ISA
• 30 working days for a stocks and shares ISA

If your transfer takes longer than this, contact your ISA provider. If you’re unhappy with the response, you can take the matter up with the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Financial Ombudsman Service
Telephone: 0845 080 1800
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Saturday, 9am to 1pm

Basically, you can claim for most expenses that are incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of a trade. Unfortunately, most of the decision making by HMRC on this topic is guided by tax law, which has been inconsistent.

That aside, the following will provide you with guidance in areas where the outcome is reasonably predictable:

1. Professional fees, your accountant for example: allowable in most cases unless the fees relate to:

• The purchase of a property or other business asset (in which case they can be used to reduce any Capital Gains Tax liability when the asset is sold).
• The costs of settling tax disputes.
• Fines for breaking the law, for example, parking or speeding fines.

2. Entertaining: even though entertaining produces new business, all expenditure under this category is deemed a non-allowable expense for tax purposes.
3. Motoring costs: the costs of running a business car for business related journeys are allowable. The costs of private motoring with a business vehicle are not. Home to work journeys are generally considered private.
4. Travel expenses: All business related travel costs are allowable. Home to work travel costs are not tax allowable.
5. Bank and credit card charges: bank charges and bank interest charges on loans or overdrafts taken out for purely business purposes are tax allowable. The capital repayment of these loans is not.
6. Cost of goods: goods bought for resale by your business, or that are consumed during the day-to-day business activities are tax deductible, goods taken for private use are not.
7. Cost of assets: the cost of plant, vehicles and equipment purchased for business use is held on your balance sheet as assets. The cost is gradually written off against your profits by making a depreciation charge – this writes off the asset cost over the useful life of the asset. Even though this depreciation charge is a reduction in profits it is not allowed as a tax deduction. Instead, HMRC grant a capital allowance, which can vary from 8% to 100% of the allowable asset cost, or its written down value for tax purposes (if you acquired the asset in previous years).
8. Bad debts: if a customer fails to pay an invoice and the debt is considered irrecoverable the sales value can be written off for tax purposes. Debts relating to assets or general provisions for bad debts are not allowable.

Obviously, this is only a sample of the range of costs and expenditure you may need to layout when running your business. If you are unsure if a future cost will qualify for tax relief, please call to discuss the matter.

Is it better to file your Self Assessment tax return as soon as possible after the end of the tax year?

You are not obliged to file your tax return for 2015-16, online, before the 31 January 2017. However, if you leave the process of completing your return until close to this date, it will not give you much time to calculate and fund the amount of tax you may owe on the same date, 31 January 2017.

 When we prepare a Self Assessment tax return for clients there are four distinct phases:

1. Gathering the information from clients to complete the return.
2. Completing the return and considering any explanatory narrative.
3. Agreeing the submission with our clients, and
4. Filing the return.

It makes good sense to move through the first three phases as quickly as possible after the end of the tax year. For the 2015-16 year, it should be possible to collect and process the relevant data by midsummer, say 31 July 2016. Clients who facilitate this sort of timetable should then be in a position to know what their balance of tax owing (or tax overpaid) is several months before the 31 January 2017 filing and payment deadline.

It is possible to delay the actual filing of the return to any date up to and including 31 January 2017. There may be good reasons for doing this. For example:

Higher rate tax payers have an opportunity to carry back gift aid donations to the previous tax year. In order to do this, they must pay the donations and include the appropriate election before they file the tax return for the tax year they are carrying back to. I.e. in order to secure extra tax relief for 2015-16, the gift aid donations made after 5 April 2016 must be completed before the 2015-16 tax return is filed.

On the other hand, self-employed business owners whose profits have been falling during 2015-16 (compared to 2014-15) may find that the actual tax and NIC that is due is less than the payments on account being made 31 January 2016 and 31 July 2016. If this is highlighted by completing the return early in the tax year, an application can be made to reduce the second payment on account due 31 July 2016.

Readers should also note that HMRC have 12 months from the date they receive your return to raise enquiries regarding the return. Early filing starts the enquiry “clock” ticking sooner.

Clients who are concerned by the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote should contact us. There are steps we can all take now that will ease our progress through the transition.

Essentially, we need to be financially fit. The areas of our businesses that we should fine tune are:

1. Record keeping. There has never been a time when fast access to financial data has been more important. If you don’t use accounting software now may be a good time to research what is available.
2. Cash flow. Maintaining liquidity, cash in the bank, or spare capacity in your overdraft facility will make it easier for your business to weather the storm. Credit is likely to harden as time progresses. Dust off your credit control procedures and offer a selection of payment options including payment by credit card.
3. Reconsider investment decisions and focus on those that will enable you to increase sales or reduce costs.
4. Take a hard look at costs and trim any “gym membership” type expenditure that no longer makes a positive contribution to your business.
5. Cast around for alternate suppliers that offer a better price deal.

And last but not least, take advice. If you have any concerns about the effects of the vote on your business, please call.

In a decision that has staggered the rest of Europe, the UK has voted to leave the EU.

George Osborne emerged today to reassure us all that everything was under control. This, in the face of continuing political hiatus: our prime minister has resigned, almost, and the main opposition party is locked in internal, leadership wranglings.

George Osborne said:

“Today (27 June 2016) I want to reassure the British people, and the global community, that Britain is ready to confront what the future holds for us from a position of strength. That is because in the last six years the government and the British people have worked hard to rebuild the British economy.

We have worked systematically through a plan that today means Britain has the strongest major advanced economy in the world. Growth has been robust. The employment rate is at a record high. The capital requirements for banks are ten times what they were.

And the budget deficit has been brought down from 11% of national income, and was forecast to be below 3% this year. I said we had to fix the roof so that we were prepared for whatever the future held. Thank goodness we did.

As a result, our economy is about as strong as it could be to confront the challenge our country now faces. That challenge is clear. On Thursday, the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. That is not the outcome that I wanted or that I threw everything into campaigning for.

But Parliament agreed that there are issues of such constitutional significance that they cannot solely be left to politicians, and must be determined by the people in a referendum. Now the people have spoken and we, in this democracy, must all accept that result and deliver on their instructions.

I don’t resile from any of the concerns I expressed during the campaign, but I fully accept the result of the referendum and will do everything I can to make it work for Britain. It is inevitable, after Thursday’s vote, that Britain’s economy is going to have to adjust to the new situation we find ourselves in.

In the analysis that the Treasury and other independent organisations produced, three particular challenges were identified – and I want to say how we meet all three.

First, there is the volatility we have seen and are likely to continue to see in financial markets. Those markets may not have been expecting the referendum result – but the Treasury, the Bank of England, and the Financial Conduct Authority have spent the last few months putting in place robust contingency plans for the immediate financial aftermath in the event of this result. We and the PRA have worked systematically with each major financial institution in recent weeks to make sure they were ready to deal with the consequences of a vote to leave.

Swap lines were arranged in advance so the Bank of England is now able to lend in foreign currency if needed. As part of those plans, the Bank and we agreed that there would be an immediate statement on Friday morning from the Governor, Mark Carney. As Mark made clear, the Bank of England stands ready to provide £250 billion of funds, through its normal facilities, to continue to support banks and the smooth functioning of markets.

And we discussed our co-ordinated response with other major economies in calls on Friday with the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G7. The Governor and I have been in regular touch with each other over the weekend – and I can say this this morning: we have further well-thought-through contingency plans if they are needed.

In the last 72 hours I have been in contact with fellow European finance ministers, central bank governors, the managing director of the IMF, the US Treasury Secretary and the Speaker of Congress, and the CEOs of some of our major financial institutions so that collectively we keep a close eye on developments.

It will not be plain sailing in the days ahead. But let me be clear. You should not underestimate our resolve. We were prepared for the unexpected. We are equipped for whatever happens. And we are determined that unlike eight years ago, Britain’s financial system will help our country deal with any shocks and dampen them – not contribute to those shocks or make them worse.

The second challenge our analysis identified in advance was the uncertainty that a vote to leave would bring in the coming months and beyond as Britain worked with its European allies to create a new relationship. The Prime Minister has given us time as a country to decide what that relationship should be by delaying the decision to trigger the Article 50 procedure until there is a new Prime Minister in place for the autumn.

Only the UK can trigger Article 50, and in my judgement we should only do that when there is a clear view about what new arrangement we are seeking with our European neighbours.

In the meantime, and during the negotiations that will follow, there will be no change to people’s rights to travel and work, and to the way our goods and services are traded, or to the way our economy and financial system is regulated.

However, it is already evident that as a result of Thursday’s decision, some firms are continuing to pause their decisions to invest, or to hire people. As I said before the referendum, this will have an impact on the economy and the public finances – and there will need to be action to address that.

Given the delay in triggering Article 50 and the Prime Minister’s decision to hand over to a successor, it is sensible that decisions on what that action should consist of should wait for the OBR to assess the economy in the autumn, and for the new Prime Minister to be in place.

But no one should doubt our resolve to maintain the fiscal stability we have delivered for this country. To all companies large and small I would say this: the British economy is fundamentally strong, we are highly competitive and we are open for business.

The third and final challenge I spoke of was that of ensuring that Britain was able to agree a long-term economic relationship with the rest of Europe that provided for the best possible terms of trade in goods and services. Together, my colleagues in the government, the Conservative Party and in Parliament will have to determine what those terms should be – and we’ll have to negotiate with our European friends to agree them. I intend to play an active part in that debate – for I want this great trading nation of ours to put in place the strongest possible economic links with our European neighbours, with our close friends in North America and the Commonwealth, and our important partners like China and India.

I do not want Britain to turn its back on Europe or the rest of the world. We must bring unity of spirit and purpose and condemn hatred and division wherever we see it. Britain is an open and tolerant country and I will fight with everything I have to keep it so.

Today I am completely focussed on the task in hand as Chancellor of the Exchequer to bring stability and reassurance. In conclusion, the British people have given us their instructions. There is much to do to make it work. We start from a position of hard-won strength. And whatever the undoubted challenges, my colleagues and I are determined to do the best for Britain.”

The following change in Companies House (CH) filing requirements will apply from the end of June 2016. The following post sets out the changes that will apply:

From 30 June 2016, the annual return is being replaced. Instead, you’ll now file a confirmation statement at least once a year. You need to check and confirm the company information CH hold for you and let them know if there are any changes.

To complete the confirmation statement, you will need to:

• check the information CH hold on your registered office, directors and location of registers – if there’s been any changes, you’ll need to complete a separate form before filing your confirmation statement
• check and if necessary update your shareholder information, statement of capital and your standard industry classification (SIC code)
• check and confirm your record is up to date
• pay the £13 fee to file online or £40 by paper

You can update your record as many times as you need to, but you’ll only be charged once a year. For most companies, this will also be the first time you will notify CH of your people with significant control (PSC). New companies will provide this information on their incorporation documents.

CH will send you an email alert or a reminder letter to your company’s registered office when your confirmation statement is due.

The due date is usually a year after the incorporation of your company or the date you filed your last annual return. You can file your confirmation statement up to 14 days after the due date.

If your made up date is between now and 30 June 2016, you’ll still need to file an annual return. For example, if your made up date is 20 June 2016, you’ll have until 18 July 2016 to file your annual return (due to the annual return’s 28-day grace period).

This article was posted three days before the UK decides if it wants to stay or leave the EU.

It feels as if everything is on hold pending this result. Government departments are being unusually quiet: no press releases, no announcements, no changes in legislation.

It is a well-quoted cliché, but it really does feel like the calm before the storm.

Whichever way the result goes, will businesses, politics or our daily lives ever feel the same again?

How will we unstitch VAT and other taxation regulations from the grip of EU legislation, if Brexit wins the day? Will life carry on as usual if we vote to stay?

The huge raft of smaller businesses that depend on overseas investment will have fingers crossed that whatever the outcome, the businesses that fill their order books will not up-stick and move to Europe – and the perceived larger market inside the open market – leaving UK subcontractors with gaping holes in their order books.

Will the optimism of the Brexit campaigners bear fruit and will the rest of the world open its doors to UK goods and services; more than making up for any loss in trade to the EU?

Change can be stimulating, but on this scale will we avoid the inevitable fall-out, the slowdown in activity, as political and legal systems and alliances adjust? If our national output does fall, will this mean higher taxation or increased borrowing?

Before we post our next articles, the result will be known and we will start to assess the consequences, whichever way the vote goes.

Many of us have received emails purporting to be from HMRC that urge us to provide personal information in order to receive an outstanding tax refund. Sometimes, these “phishing” communications include veiled threats: send information or you will be pursued for large, outstanding tax liabilities.

The perpetrators of the emails want you to respond, the “pot-of-gold” they are seeking is your bank account information or other useful personal details that can be used for nefarious purposes.

Readers should be aware that these email campaigns have now been extended. There are reports that tax payers have been receiving bogus telephone calls, urging taxpayers to provide the same personal information and for the same reasons.

In both cases these emails and phone calls should be ignored. Advise HMRC by email that you have received a suspicious call. You can do this at phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.

Under no circumstances should you part with any personal data.

If you are concerned by all means call and we will help you send the necessary email to HMRC.