Accountancy and finance jobs and careers:
Public Sector and Not for Profit Finance and Accountancy Jobs
Successful entrepreneur seeks : web designer wizard and marketing & sales guru for exciting new internet business venture! 07th July 2008 contact us
Your ad here! contact us
OUR SERVICES
Bond Street Accounting Services Limited provides services in three specialist areas:
For small and medium sized companies, services include:
accounts preparation
corporation tax return
VAT
PAYE and payroll
business advice
For individuals, services provided by Bond Street Accounting Services include
For public sector organisations, services include:
- Management accounting, including budget setting, budgetary control, variance analysis and forecasting
- Departmental and service costing and analysis
- Advanced spreadsheet modelling and data management
- Financial accounting, including detailed P&L and balance sheet analysis and reconciliation, ledger management, and year end closing procedures
- Grant management, partnership working and contract evaluation
Film, tv and drama
Individuals and companies involved in film, television, performing arts and new media particularly welcome.
Please note - if you are an individual working as an actor/ actress or as part of a film or television crew in any capacity you must complete your tax return for 2007/08 by 31st January 2009 or else HMRC will penalise you. Also, have you considered working through a company? There may be some tax advantages for you. Call for a no obligation chat - we're very friendly!
ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE
We recommend Quickbooks as a good value and very capable accounting package. It's much more user friendly than MYOB, and about half the price of the comparable sage line 50. Also, you can set up multiple companies on Quickbooks (useful if you have more than one co., sister cos. or even just want to do your personal accounts on it too) and they won't charge you a penny extra (as opposed to sage who we believe rip people off by chatging an extra £150 per company). All the clients who've acquired quickbooks have been very happy with it!
Tax Deductible Expenses - Keeping Track
By Marianne Wolff
Did you have all your receipts for tax-deductible expenses this year? If not, here are some easy ways to keep track of all kinds of receipts. Often when we get a receipt we are in a hurry. We stuff the paper into our pocket, purse or wallet and forget about it. The receipt then joins all the other pieces of paper, which clutter up our lives.
The easiest way to assure receipts don't get lost is to keep a manila envelope with a clasp in your purse or briefcase (for a wallet designate one section for receipts only). At the end of each week (or every few days if you tend to accumulate a large number of receipts) sort through your receipts and place them in an accordion file with letter tabs under the appropriate category. Categories can be as follows: tax deductible expenses, reimbursable expenses, retail items, large ticket retail items, gifts (in case they need to be returned), and car repairs. An easy way to stay motivated to do this is to give yourself a reward each time you make a deposit in your accordion file. The reward might be something good to eat or make up a point system for yourself and give yourself points when file receipts. When you get enough points buy yourself something nice.
If you have only retail and repair expenses you may use a coupon organizer to store your receipts. If you are required to produce copies of your tax deductible or reimbursable expenses you may want to paste these into a spiral notebook or insert them in page protectors and keep them in a binder. If you own a scanner you can also scan them into your computer.
Check out our post on How-To-Avoid-Being-Audited at Womanwork.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marianne_Wolff
Bad News for the UK Non Domicile - No Let up by Darling Budget 2008
By Rajesh Kohli
The £30,000 Annual Charge
The pre budget report announced that the £30,000 annual charge will apply to those resident in the UK for more than seven years. It was later announced that taxpayers using the remittance basis will now not be required to make any additional disclosures about their income and gains arising abroad.
Effect on Foreign and UK Investments
Following the introduction of this tax charge, the UK non domicile will now be hesitant to invest abroad as it would no longer be advantageous from a tax point of view when assessing such investments. Such individuals may now look to keep their funds in the UK and could contribute to the revival of the UK property market, where the tax treatment would be on a level playing field between UK and worldwide investments.
Non Domiciles and Businesses Exiting the UK
There is much talk about non domiciles and foreign business exiting the UK after the introduction of these non domicile reforms. London became a refuge for the super rich with approximately 115,000 people having non-dom status. The majority of these people came from the US, Germany, Switzerland and France.
By such individuals leaving the UK they may well qualify as non UK residents and therefore be relieved from further taxes such as capital gains tax if they remain non-resident for five or more years, as well tax on higher rate dividend if they remain outside UK for one full tax year.
This was clearly not a well thought of reform and we will see the repercussions of these changes many years in to the future. The effect of such tax introductions will certainly not help the already very fragile and volatile UK economy that currently needs all the help it can get rather than such ill thought off tax raising strategies.
Rajesh Kohli is a Chartered Accountant Southampton working with Power Accountax Ltd as a Managing Principals for a firm of accountants in southampton. Rajesh Kohli qualified with PricewaterhouseCoopers, then went to setup his own practice in 2000. Since then he has a well established practice, providing invaluable advice to owner managed businesses including all aspects of accounting services.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rajesh_Kohli
Business Tax Reform In The UK Introduces Annual Investment Allowance
By Terry Cartwright
When a business buys a long term fixed asset it is normal to depreciate that capital asset over a number of years to smooth out the effect on net profit. Depreciation being a management decision is not allowed as a deductible taxable expense and while being deducted to arrive at the management net profit is written back in the accounts for the calculation of tax.
Capital allowances are set by the government at fixed rates at which a business can claim the expenditure on fixed assets against the taxable profit. Prior to the financial year commencing 1 April 2008 capital allowances included a first year allowance at the rate of 50 per cent of the original cost for self employed and small limited companies plus a writing down allowance in subsequent years of 25 per cent of the reducing balance. The rate of first year allowance for medium and large limited companies was 40 percent of the original capital cost.
From the 1 April 2008 for small limited companies and from the 6 April for self employed business the 50 per cent first year capital allowance is replaced by an annual investment allowance at the rate of 100 per cent of the investment subject to maximum expenditure of 50,000 pounds in the financial year and an amount pro rata to that if for a small limited company financial year straggles the 1 April 2008.
The writing down allowance is also changed from April 2008 being reduced from 25 per cent of the reduced balance to 20 per cent of the reduced balance.
The annual investment allowance applies to all assets categorised as plant and machinery which includes most fixed assets including plant, equipment, fixtures and fittings, computer equipment and commercial vehicles. As first year allowances could not be claimed on motor vehicles not classed as commercial vehicles the annual investment allowance also do not apply to motor vehicles which are now subject to a reduced writing down allowance in the first year of 20 per cent.
A self employed business operating a standard financial year of 6 April to 5 April 2008 is entitled to the full 50,000 annual investment allowance. If, as is the case of many small limited companies the financial year straggles the 1 April 2008 then prior to this date the first year allowance can be claimed and in respect of expenditure on fixed assets after the 1 April 2008 the annual investment allowance can be claimed with the maximum claim limited on a time based pro rata basis.
Where the financial year for example is 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 the capital allowance claim in the first 3 months would be the first year allowance at 50 per cent of capital expenditure. After the 1 April 2008 the annual investment allowance of 100 per cent of the capital expenditure can be claimed subject to a maximum claim of 9/12ths of the 50,000 being 37,500 pounds.
Where capital expenditure exceeds the annual investment allowance maximum limit the additional expenditure will added to the existing unwritten down value of the assets and the reduced writing down allowance of 20 per cent may be claimed against the net taxable profit.
The annual investment allowance does not replace the 100 per cent first year allowance schemes currently applicable to various green and environmental schemes and approved research and development projects. The annual investment allowance is complimentary to these schemes.
In addition for the financial year starting April 2008 small businesses which have a written down balance for tax purposes of under 1,000 pounds will be entitled to write off the total written down value as a capital allowance.
Terry Cartwright, CEO DIY Accounting, a qualified accountant in the UK, designs Accounting Software on excel spreadsheets and Payroll Software for small to medium sized business providing a complete accounting solution and also supplies Company Formation packages for new limited liability companies
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terry_Cartwright
A UK Employee Can Claim Tax Relief Using Their Vehicle For Work
By Terry Cartwright
It is common practise for a UK employer to pay an employee expenses when that employee uses his own vehicle for business journeys. Often the amount paid is based upon a standard rate per mile which varies from employer to employer. There are tax issues every employee should be aware of to maximise tax free expenses and minimise income tax payments.
The nature of the business journeys must adhere to certain rules in order for these expense payments to be tax free. Not usually an issue when an employee is paid expenses but nevertheless something each employee should be aware of.
In order that the payments are free of tax are three general rules. First the payments must be made to yourself and not to a third party, for example another company receiving the money on your behalf. The use of the vehicle must be a work journey and excludes travel to work where it is considered that work place is a permanent place of work. And finally the amount paid must be within the mileage allowances fixed by the government and part of the Inland Revenue rules on the limits for mileage payments.
Any other payments relating to the use of your own vehicle which do not fall within the above rules are regarded as additional income and subject to income tax and national insurance deductions as would be other forms of payment. Also any payments made in respect of non work journeys fall outside the rules and would be taxed as additional income.
A work journey is one which you must carry out as part of doing that job including when requested by the employer to conduct a specific business journey on its behalf. Visiting suppliers, clients, delivering goods and attending meetings outside the normal workplace would all be considered work journeys.
A journey to a normal place of business would not be considered a work journey and that rule also excludes detours during the journey for example to visit a client or drop off goods. However if the detour on the way to work is significant then the excess mileage covered would be allowable and the expenses paid not subject to tax.
The approved mileage allowance for cars and vans in the UK is 40p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p per mile for each business mile over 10,000 miles in each tax year. The approved mileage allowance for motor cycles is 24p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 24p per mile for each business mile over 10,000 miles in each tax year. The approved mileage allowance for bicycles is 20p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 20p per mile for each business mile over 10,000 miles in each tax year.
These rates are the maximum levels of expenses an employee can receive tax free during a tax year, were set in the financial year 2002-03 and still fixed at that level in the financial year 2007-08. Employees are not due any tax free payments on any other vehicle running costs. For example if you break down on a journey and your employer assists with the financial cost of repairing that vehicle any amounts paid over and above the maximum mileage rates quoted above would be taxable.
The bad news is if your employer pays you more than the above mileage allowances then the excess amount paid is taxable as additional income. If for example your employer pays 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles then it would be normal for that employer to include the different between 45p and 40p in your wage slip and deduct income tax from the 5p.
The good news is if your employer pays you less than the mileage allowances then you are entitled to claim mileage allowance relief on the shortfall. If for example your employer pays 35p per mile then less than 10,000 miles you are entitled to claim the mileage allowance relief on the number of miles at 35p multiplied by the 5p shortfall.
To claim the mileage allowance tax relief employees must maintain a record of the work journeys and the amounts paid. Those records should state the date, mileage covered, a brief note of the journey and the amount paid by the employer, records which may be required to substantiate the mileage allowance relief. To actually make the claim for relief this can be done by sending a letter with the details to the Inland Revenue at the end of the financial year or alternatively request and complete the Inland Revenue form provided for this purpose.
Using different vehicles during the tax year is not relevant. The total mileage of all vehicles used is the relevant figure. However being paid a mileage allowance by more than one employer is relevant.
If during the financial year an employee has been paid a mileage allowance by more than one employer then the total paid from all employers must be added together to produce the total amount paid. For example if one employer paid 30p per mile for 1,000 miles and a second employer paid 35p per mile for a further 2,000 miles then the total payment would be 1,000 pounds (300 + 700) and the mileage allowance would be 1,200 pounds (400 + 800). The mileage allowance tax relief in this example would be 200 pounds at the employees maximum tax rate.
If an employee has not claimed mileage allowance relief in past years then application can be made to the Inland Revenue to reclaim the relief for a period up to six years after the year the claim was not made. When making a claim for unclaimed tax relief in previous years the Inland Revenue are likely to request some evidence of the claim which your previous employer may be able to provide.
Good luck with your claim for mileage allowance relief. If you found this article useful please copy and submit the article to forums and blogs across the internet to make as many people as possible of the money out there waiting to be claimed. If posting this article then the author signature and links must also be included in the posting.
Terry Cartwright, qualified accountant in the UK designs Accounting Software providing complete Small Business Accounting solutions for small business including automated mileage allowance software and specialist Taxi Driver packages.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terry_Cartwright
Contact details:
Please use the form on the contact us page
web: http://www.bsasl.co.uk
and at http://www.bondstreetaccounting.com
This page was last modified on July 07, 2008
Online dating guide for men and women http://www.datezine.co.uk
Online lingerie and sexy apparel guide for the modern woman http://www.myknickerdrawer.com