Tag: tax tip

Posted on

The King’s Speech 

At the state opening of parliament King Charles announced the following economic measure on the agenda for the new government 

  • Audit reform and corporate governance – long overdue and something that ICAEW have been pushing for 
  • Using the independent OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) to assess any significant and permanent tax and spending changes – this makes a lot of sense 
  • Great British Energy to accelerate future technologies for clean power – we have a number of clients working in this area who will be pleased to hear that they can move forwards 
  • Streamlining the delivery process for critical infrastructure such as the national grid and renewable energy 
  • Generally improving employment rights – while this may come at a cost to employers the best ones are already doing most of these things anyway 

And lots more

Posted on

Tax Tip

Business Confidence Monitor – Quarter 2 2024
Once a quarter the ICAEW produces a business confidence monitor which is passed to government and other bodies to aid their decision making. You may also find it useful to help predict future growth of your industry.

Minerva Accountants contributes to this for the South West region so please feel free to pass your comments to Della on the sort of issues that are mentioned in this report. Della is an elected member of ICAEW global Council as well as Chair of the West of England.

Posted on

Tax Tip

The special tax rules relating to Furnished Holiday Lets are changing from April 2025. After that date they will be taxed as normal residential lettings. We don’t expect any change in government to affect this decision.

After that date you will no longer be able to claim mortgage interest and certain other costs.

Posted on

Tax Tip

We often get asked whether certain training courses can be claimed against tax and we give the usual accountant’s answer … it depends.

It depends whether the training is to improve an existing business service or to start a new one. Eg a hairdresser wanting to start providing nail service could not claim a course on manicures but the could claim an course on colouring. Similarly an accountant beginning to provide business coaching can not claim the initial course but can claim subsequent courses to improve their coaching service.

Posted on

Tax tip

Business entertaining is not allowed for VAT or Corporation/Income tax purposes.

The only exception is staff entertaining. I’ve written on this separately if you want the detail but it must be below £150 per person per year.

Customer and supplier entertaining are never allowable and this is one of the many adjustments that we make when we prepare your accounts and tax returns.

Posted on

Tax Tip – Tax efficient salary 2024/25

A tax efficient salary for director/shareholders has always depended on your personal circumstances but, for most people, it mainly depended on whether our clients had spare Employment Allowance or not. Now that corporation tax rates have increased and national insurance rates have fallen there are far more things to consider and we will no longer publish a generic rate.

The good news is that we will soon be releasing an app so that you can work out the best rate for yourself. Please let us know if you would like to be informed when this is available.

Posted on

Tax Tip

Client gifts are not usually tax deductible. Here are a few simple rules to ensure that you can claim them 

  1. They can not be food, drink, or tobacco 
  1. They must be under £50 
  1. They can not be cash or cash equivalents eg gift vouchers 
  1. They must carry a conspicuous advert for your company  

Free samples of your products are usually acceptable  

Posted on

Tax Tip

Don’t forget that you can claim some of the costs if your use your home for business.

You can claim £6 per week even if you just use the corner of the kitchen table to do your bookkeeping each week. If you use your home for more than this then contact us for a spreadsheet to see how much you can claim.

Posted on

Tax tip

Cash is king and most small businesses fail due to lack of cashflow. Even if you have a relatively small business you can use accounting software like Xero to:

  • Add a link to your invoices for clients to pay by card using Stripe, Paypal, or similar
  • Plug a small (usually free) card reader (Zettle, Square, or similar) into your phone for clients to pay by card before you leave site
Proudly powered by WordPress