COMPANY SECRETARIAL

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Unfortunately, tax disputes do arise.  Disputes are usually over a specific point whereas enquiries and investigations are more wide ranging.

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The first things to know are:

• HMRC is not always right
• There is something you can do about it- you don’t have to accept a wrong HMRC judgement
• We are in your corner and will help you to fight back.

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As a taxpayer, you have many rights and we will ensure that these are not forgotten or overlooked by HMRC.

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DISPUTES CAN ARISE OVER A RANGE OF MATTERS INCLUDING:

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• Employment status disputes- e. are you employed or self-employed? This is not as simple as you making a decision. There is much case law surrounding the difference between an employee and someone who is self-employed.  This can have a major impact on the tax you pay and we can help guide you.
• IR35- This is tax legislation which is used to combat tax avoidance. It looks to differentiate between genuine businesses and workers who, for all intents and purposes, are a temporary employee
• Valuations needed for tax purposes

• Repairs and maintenance vs capital disputes- repairs and maintenance work count as expenses whereas capital investment comes under your capital allowance- there can be disputes over which is which
• Private usage adjustments- how much are you using something for personal use and how this is dealt with.
• VAT segregation of a business to avoid registration– some companies split the business into parts so to stay below the VAT threshold and keep their prices lower

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With disputes, it is usually the facts of the case that are in question but sometimes it is the legislation itself. Tax isn’t always black and white and where this is the case we are happy to argue your case in the strongest possible terms.

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We have the specialist tax knowledge to assist you with a wide range of tax disputes.  Contact us today for support.

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HMRC investigate businesses at random as well as for specific reasons.  A full investigation is unpleasant and without an expert defence it is possible to get trampled all over.

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It is an unfortunate fact of business life that you may well come under enquiry by HMRC through no fault of your own or of your accountant.

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If you are selected at random, you will need an accountant who knows how HMRC works and thinks and is prepared to fight your case. We make sure that HMRC keeps to their own internal guidelines and don’t over step the mark.

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We will talk you through the enquiry process, tell you what to expect and support you throughout the ordeal.

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THE POWER OF ANTI-INVESTIGATION SCANNING CHECKS

Whilst with random investigations anyone can come under enquiry, you can help to avoid the chance of an investigation into your affairs for other reasons.

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We know the triggers that often give rise to enquiries if not fully explained to HMRC when submitting returns to them. Every tax return or set of accounts goes through an anti-investigation scanning check to identify any areas that may lead to an enquiry before being submitted to HMRC.

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This greatly helps to minimise the chances of you being on the wrong end of an enquiry.

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THE PENALTIES

There are various penalties HMRC can seek to impose following an enquiry for undeclared income. As well as having to pay the tax, you can find them seeking penalties up to an amount equal to the tax, so doubling your tax bill.

Interest on the late payment of the tax is also part of the arrangement which is not a pleasant experience. We can help you minimise these penalties as much as we possibly can.

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TAX INVESTIGATION FEE PROTECTION

You can take out insurance which will pay our fees in the event of a tax investigation.  The accounting costs of dealing with a tax investigation can be substantial. With the ever-increasing risk of full tax enquires and investigations, it is worth protecting yourself from the accounting costs of dealing with it.

Even if HMRC finds nothing wrong as a result of their investigation, you will still have unexpected professional fees to pay as a result. We cannot prevent you from being investigated by the taxman, but we can help to ensure that you get the best possible support and advice without having to worry about the cost.

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You can get cover for:

• Self-Assessment enquiries
• VAT Enquiries
• IR35 Enquiries
• PAYE and Benefits enquiries

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If you would like the peace of mind which comes with tax investigation insurance then contact us today.

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Many individuals, self-employed people and sole traders own business property or are landlords.  Property tax is a bit of a maze but we can help you to legally reduce your liability.

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We can advise you on a range of issues including:

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• Stamp duty planning
• Tax reduction strategies for rental income
• What constitutes repair and maintenance and is tax deductible and what is capital expenditure
• When to use a Limited Company to save tax
• Trading income versus Capital Gain considerations and advice
• Capital Gains rollover and holdover considerations

• Tax efficient mortgage structures
• VAT considerations of property deals
• Making the most of the Principal Private Residence election
• Tax issues on the sale of part of your residence
• Second homes
• Inheritance Tax angles

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This is a tricky area but we can help you take the right actions so that you remain compliant and legally reduce your tax bill.

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Strategic planning is vital.  Your strategy outlines your long-term objectives and how you will achieve them.  We all know that to be in control of your business, you must know where you are, determine where you want to get to and work out a route map to get there.

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Few businesses do and often they end up where their competitors want them to be! Instead of intentionally planning and working towards their goals, many business owners:

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• Rely on their intuition– this usually leads to you veering off-course. Intuition and gut instinct is helpful but should not be relied on when making long-term decisions.
• Waste time and money on taking actions which don’t benefit your business (e.g. an ineffective marketing campaign, developing a new product or service that no-one wants etc.)
• Take unnecessary risks– this is inevitable if you rely on intuition and don’t have a plan.  You will be taking risks with one bad decision often leading to other risky decisions in an effort to fix the arising problems.

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Let me ask you:

• Do you know where you want your business to be in 1,3 and 5 years’ time?
• Do you have a clear idea of the turnover and profit you want to achieve?
• Do you have a growth strategy which will allow you to achieve your targets?
• Have you decided on an exit strategy? Do you know how you want to exit your business?  Will you sell your business and if so who to?

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While you might not have started your business with the end in mind, it is a good idea to know where you ultimately want to end up

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Once you have determined your business strategy, then you need to turn it into a plan which outlines what actions need to be taken and when to bring about your envisioned success.  They will also help you to identify and determine the policies, processes and procedures which need to be in place for your expansion.

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Business plans are vital as without them you are unlikely to reach your preferred destination.  They are the map on your business journey.  However, you need two types of business plan:

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• A short plan that can be easily shared and updated.  This is usually a few pages and is something that can be reviewed by you and your directors every quarter.  This is the plan you use to steer your business.
• An in-depth business plan which you need to secure finance.

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We can help you to develop both types of plans.

The first plan needs to contain the important numbers that need to be monitored and the key actions that need to be taken to move your strategy forward.  This plan needs to be easily shared and it must be reviewed by you and your directors on a regular basis.  It cannot just sit in a desk drawer and not be looked at.

The second type of business plan makes your financial application much more likely to succeed.

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We can help you to produce a tight business plan which attracts interest and funding.  Your plan will include:

• Business strategy and goal setting
• Budgets
• Cash flow forecasts
• Profit forecasts
• All written elements of the plan such as business background, marketing plan, SWOT analysis, markets, competition and all the other key elements that need presenting in the most suitable way to lenders.

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After you’ve produced the plan, you need to monitor how you are doing against the plan and we can help you with this.

Business plans are more important than most people think.  They do not need to be complex and unwieldly. In fact, the key points can be put on one or two pages.

Contact us today and let us show you how you can grow your business with effective planning.

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Management accounts and systems are the best way to steer your business forward and increase your profitability.  If you can measure it, then you can manage it and your management accounts and systems will help you to do both.

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If you use digital accounting, then you have a dashboard which clearly shows what is in your bank account, what is outstanding and gives you an idea of where you are going.  This is a very useful starting point. However, to get the full picture, you need a set of management accounts to be produced monthly or quarterly.

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These consists of:

• A balance sheet
• A profit and loss account (an income statement)
• A cashflow forecast

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Your management accounts help you to make decisions and show you where your profit is generated so you can really grow that area.

They give you up-to-date and relevant information.  You can see quickly where you are performing well and what areas need attention.

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The cashflow forecast shows if everything is running smoothly or will give you advanced warning if problems are on the horizon.  So, you can either relax or act now to avert a major problem coming to light in the next few weeks or months.

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These useful accounts allow you to:

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• Isolate and report on the key performance indicators which really drive your business- it is vital that you know and keep on top of these as they will give you an idea of your future performance
• See actual performance compared to budgets and forecasts– we can break this down by divisions and teams so you can clearly see
• Supply management information to lenders and investors- this is vital for raising funding

• Monitor costs including break-even turnover levels
• Spot and deal with any “holes” in your business
• Locate and strengthen the profit-making parts of your business
• Help with in house systems for you to produce your own information

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We will train you on how to get the most out of your management accounts and really grow your business.

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If you want to move your business to the next level, then regular management accounts will help you to get there.

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Managment Systems

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In addition to management accounts, a company of any size needs to have effective management systems.  These help you to steer your company, maintain your profitability and deal with under-performing areas.

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We can:

• Review your current financial management information systems
• Determine any needed changes or improvements
• Develop processes to help you use and get the most from your systems- including understand and interpreting the information that you get.
• Give you back control of your business

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We can help you with all types of financial management systems including:

• Budgeting
• Cash controls
• Cost controls
• Debtor control
• Financial reporting systems
• Purchasing systems
• Stock control

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Reliable management information allows you to react quickly to changing business needs, contact us today to find out more.

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If someone is working for you on a regular basis, they do not have other clients and you dictate the hours they work, then the chances are they are employed by you.  This is not a clear-cut area and you need to take advice when offering people self-employed contracts as it can be very costly if you get it wrong.

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• Employees and employer’s national insurance payments- including interest and penalties
• Holiday pay
• Maternity pay
• Sickness pay

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If it is later determined that they are employed by you, then you will need to pay any relevant:

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These can be costly and it is highly unlikely that you will be able to recover back tax from your employees. We can review your existing arrangements and give you our opinion on whether it will stand up to attack from the taxman and what steps you should take to minimise the risks.

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If you are challenged, it is important to remember that the taxman is not always right in his determination.  He does not have the final say on whether somebody is legally employed or self-employed.  This is decided by the law and there is plenty of case law around this area. If you are challenged, we can argue your case and take it before the Tax Commissioners for you.

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Our PAYE health check service will uncover any PAYE issues before the taxman does.  Rather than have the worry of a tax inspection, which may result in an unexpected tax bill including interest and penalties, let us give your PAY the once over.  We will:

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• Review and sample check your payroll records for errors
• Check for the most common errors that the PAYE inspectors look for
• Statistically analyse your completed PAYE returns
• Sample check the completion of PAYE returns
• Compare your PAYE returns against your annual accounts
• Sample check leavers and starters to make sure they are correctly dealt with

• Review statutory maternity pay, statutory sick pay, student loan deductions and working tax credits
• Identify any workers where status issues may be a concern
• Check completion of end of year returns
• Review benefit in kind and expenses disclosures and calculations
• Check expenses dispensations
• Identify any PAYE planning opportunities

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You can rest assured that our team will uncover and deal with any issues before they become a problem

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If you are a contractor, then we can advise you on the tax advantages in various scenarios.  We have a good understanding of professional service contractors and how to help them.  You can benefit from help with:

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• Company formation
• Annual Accounts
• Company tax returns
• Personal Tax Returns

• Company secretarial service
• Book-keeping
• VAT Returns
• PAYE Returns
• Tax computations

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We can also help you with the notorious IR35 tax legislation.  This legislation aims to distinguish genuine businesses from temporary employees and so tax individuals at the appropriate PAYE rate.

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This has major implications for many contractors.  However, there are various factors to consider in determining if someone is self-employed or an employee including:

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• Control
• The right to get a substitute or helper to do the job
• Mutuality of obligations
• Provision of equipment
• Financial Risk
• Basis of Payment

• Opportunity to profit from sound management
• Right of dismissal
• Employee benefits
• Intention of the parties
• Length of engagement

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These are often matters of general employment law, and not specific tax legislation. There is an enormous amount of case law in this area and the taxman is not always right. They do not have the final say on whether somebody is caught by IR35 or not. We can argue your case for you.

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We offer you:

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• Review of contracts for IR35 status
• Provision of anti IR35 draft contracts
• Dealing with IR35 disputes

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If you are a contractor, then you are invited to get in touch and we will ensure that you are covered.

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If you are concerned about a VAT inspection then our VAT health check is right for you.  This has been designed to find any VAT issues before the VAT man does.

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Our health check:

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• Reviews and sample checks your accounting records for errors
• Sample tests the most common errors that VAT inspectors look for
• Analyses your completed VAT returns
• Checks the completion of VAT returns
• Compares your VAT returns against your annual accounts

• Checks the VAT treatment of your sales
• Considers whether you are making best use of relevant VAT schemes
• Ensures you are correctly applying the rules of VAT schemes
• Identifies VAT planning opportunities

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We can help you to deal with these disputes and produce you with guidance on your options. We always strive to maintain good relationships between you and the VAT man which ensures that inspections go smoothly and minimises the risk of VAT disputes.

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