Accountancy professionals have broken in their eye teeth by meeting the filing and compliance demands placed on their clients by legislation. There is value in this service; it keeps the clients clear of penalties and interest charges. Unfortunately, compliance services are generally delivered after the events that make up returns. Which is why clients should

A large company with taxable profits between £1.5m and £20m is required to pay Corporation Tax in 4 equal instalments. These instalments are payable in months 7, 10, 13 and 16 following the start of the relevant accounting period. The actual payments are due 6 months and 13 days after the start of the accounting

When was the last time you had the time to sit down with staff and run through aspects of a client case to facilitate a learning experience? And is this learning by osmosis a worthwhile use of your time? Perhaps the answer to these questions is wrapped up in the statement “what is the value

Many accountants believe they are problem solvers but spend a fair proportion of their time helping clients comply with filing and tax computational issues. From a clients’ perspective, having accounts and/or tax returns completed and filed does solve a problem; its not an activity that they feel qualified to undertake in-house and it helps them

Leading a donkey by dangling a carrot or employing a stick, may keep the poor beast moving, but at what cost? The carrot assumes that there is an incentive just out of reach. Surely this is not a long-term solution to inspire action by your staff. To be effective, incentives need to be attainable. If

The published Notice 12A what you can do if things are seized by HM Revenue and Customs explains HMRC's powers to seize items which include vehicles and other goods. The notice has recently been updated to provide clarification on when you can challenge a seizure made by HMRC or Border Force. Taxpayers who have had items

The title of this post would be viewed differently twenty years ago, when most software packages that firms used to manage clients’ affairs were hosted locally, on staff PCs.  Imagine the disruption if during lockdown, and the necessity for staff to work from home, staff were obliged to transport standalone desktop PC’s, or even worse,

In circumstances where HMRC is unable to collect outstanding debts taxpayers may be visited by debt management and banking field force collectors. These visits can take place at a taxpayer’s home or business premises. Advance warnings are made to taxpayers to inform them that a visit may take place to arrange collection of an outstanding debt.

It seems that current disruptions are not slowing down HMRC’s consultations on future changes to the tax system. Practitioners with time on their hands can read the spring initiative by HMRC on the gov.uk website. Google “HMRC spring consultations”. The seventeen page document makes for interesting reading. Opportunities for advisers increase if the scope or

A new National Insurance Contributions (NICs) holiday for employers who hire former members of Her Majesty’s regular armed forces came into force on 6 April 2021. The policy delivers on the government’s manifesto commitment to introduce this change. The change will enable employers to apply a zero-rate of secondary Class 1 Employer NICs on the earnings