Posts Tagged : Tax

Mayfair Christmas Property Event 2016

This week Atkins & Co were invited to support the Mayfair Town & Country 2016 Property event at Worlebury Golf Club.

The evening was a great success with representatives from many local businesses offering support and free advice in relation to Buying, Selling, Letting Legislation, Investment and Mortgages.

It was good to see such a great turn out and an excellent opportunity to offer tax advice in relation to the forthcoming changes.

The tax relief that landlords of residential properties get for finance costs will be restricted to the basic rate of Income Tax. This will be phased in from April 2017, please see the link below for more information on this.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-tax-relief-for-residential-landlords

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us on 01934 527888 or email your enquiry to admin@atkinsandco.com.

Is your Tax Return scaring you?

lokFinding your self-assessment tax returns scary? Atkins and Co can save you time, stress and maybe even money!

  1. More people than ever have to file one – The record for the number of online returns, set last year when 7.93 million people filed over the internet, was also broken, as 8.48 million were sent online to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This represents 84.5% of all returns received – a record-breaking percentage.With around 10.74 million 2012 to 2013 tax returns due by 31 January, this means 93.4% met the deadlines – 31 October for paper and 31 January for online. This is the highest percentage of on-time returns ever recorded.
  2. Do it on time – HMRC takes a dim view of people who can’t be bothered to stick to their deadlines. A life-threatening illness or the recent death of a partner are accepted as valid excuses; the dog eating your train receipts is not. If you file your return late, you’re automatically subjected to a £100 fine. If your return is more than three months late, you’re fined an additional £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900. And if you twiddle your thumbs for a whole year, you’ll be fined another £300 or 5 per cent of the tax due, whichever is higher. The deadline for paper tax returns is 31st October, the deadline for online returns 31st January.
  3. If you’re self-employed, you can claim lots of things against tax – If you work from home, you can claim a proportion of costs such as lighting, heating, mortgage interest and cleaning. You can also claim for business trips and a proportion of running costs for a car also those with more than one income, and high-income parents who received Child Benefit after 7 January 2013.
  4. Don’t get carried away – You can’t, however, claim for life insurance, home extensions, travel between home and the workplace or a 1st class plane ticket to Bali in which you spent the first five minutes idly scribbling a business plan on the back of the cocktail menu.
  5. Talk to HMRC – Despite their scary advertising campaign, HMRC tend to be jolly friendly, as long are you’re trying to do the right thing. And don’t forget that you can apply to reduce any payments on your account if you expect to earn less this year than last. You can also carry forward losses from one year to another
  6. Thinking about getting an accountant – Atkins & Co provides a personalised service and we understand that each business and individual is very different and has unique concerns, responsibilities and ambitions. As we always aim to get to know our clients personally, we can tailor the services to suit their own specific needs. We provide high level accountancy and tax advice whilst conveying it to you in a straight forward easy to understand language. As registered ‘Chartered Accountants’, we are fully regulated by the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales), you can be reassured of the quality of the service and advice given.

Our specialist military tax and accountancy experience has been acquired from many years and with the family connections to the military – you know you are in safe hands. Rest assured we are well versed in the ‘lingo’ and will go the extra mile to make sure that you feel at ease. We always take the time to explain things in a way you can understand, this is something we pride ourselves on. Every client is important to us.

Contact us today on 01934 527888 or admin@atkinsandco.com

 

WARNING! This may be seriously good for your bank balance!

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This warning may be seriously good for your bank balance! Taking one minute to read this could save you a moments grief should you find yourself in this situation.
We have recently seen an increase in clients seeking our help to sort out the wrath of HMRC and their fines having been left in “unchartered waters” by Tax Refund Companies!

We would just like to advise you that although you may be signing up with these companies that are offering lucrative refunds, your best interest may not be the priority. We have recently had a case where someone signed up to one of these such companies and had an unsuccessful claim, they were unaware that the company had opened Tax Returns for the last four years the company took no further action and the client was not advised further. Very quickly £5000 of fines were racked up as a consequence. The Tax Administration had not been correctly dealt with. The company would take no accountability for this and had built in terms and conditions which exonerated them from responsibility and left the client unsupported. Sadly we are seeing more and more clients in this situation seeking our help.

We are urging you all to read the small print and T’s & C’s however it may be written. You may have to go looking for it! Be aware of what you are signing up for.
If you are in this situation or have been fined by HMRC and you are not sure why please don’t leave these fines to escalate into huge fine’s let us know so we can help you resolve it today!

Atkins are a fully regulated, fully qualified team of Chartered Accountants and can deal as such with all aspects of accountancy and tax. We have your best interest at heart and we won’t leave you high and dry in “unchartered waters”.

T: 01934 527888         E: admin@atkinsandco.com        W: www.atkinsandco.comICAEW_CA_logo

Ask Atkins: How do I get tax back on my mileage?

Ask atkins

 

how do i

MOTOR MILEAGE CLAIMS – also known as Get you home (GYH) and Home to duty (HDT) mileage refunds is our specialty. These Military tax rebates are called a number of things such as MOD tax refund and Armed forces tax refund. We have even heard it called Tax back on fuel claim and the rift refund.
It doesn’t matter what you call it! The search leads you to the same destination …. HOW DO I GET TAX BACK ON MY MILEAGE?

Atkins & Co can help you make a Motor mileage claim and here’s how:
– Firstly download and print the Atkins military mileage claim pack link. You can find this on our website.
– In this pack you will find 8 documents. Please read through the information sheet page 1, these are the rules & regulations of the claim and are in accordance with the HMRC criteria. If you are in doubt please let us know we are more than happy to guide you through the setting up process.

Tel: 01934 527888 Email: admin@atkinsandco.com

– You will also need to fill in two HMRC forms, the 64 – 8 and the SA 1. These will need to be sent to us as hard copies. Please ensure you sign these documents before sending. If you need help filling out these forms out please call the office using the above details.
– If you do not have access to a printer – no worries! Just let us know your address so we can arrange to Post them out to you! Once received, sit back and we will ‘square the admin away’!

We pride ourselves here at Atkins on great service and are proud to be conveyed as “Military friendly Accountants”. We have very close links with the Military, especially the Royal Marines! So you are in safe hands.
We prefer to over deliver and under promise.  We want YOU to keep and enjoy your refund which is why we charge a FIXED FEE unlike others that take a %! With an average 4 year claim we could be saving you up to £490… So what will you spend your savings on?

For more Q&A’s visit our website www.atkinsandco.com/services/military.tax-refunds

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Ask Atkins: Landlords! HMRC are closing in on your undeclared Rental Income!

Ask atkins

 

Do i need to

 

The Revenue is on the trail of £550m missing tax and is urging landlords to come clean or risk higher penalties.
Don’t get caught out by the following common rental income misconceptions:Rental blog ad

  • I’m in the armed forces, so we don’t need to declare our rental profits…
    Wrong – you do still need to declare them.
  • I don’t need to declare my rental profits as I only rent my house out because I’m drafted overseas…
    Wrong – you still need to declare them.
  • I don’t make a profit, so I don’t need to tell HMRC…
    But are you making a profit in the eyes of the tax man!  If you have a repayment mortgage then it is quite likely you are actually making a profit. And if you are genuinely making a loss then it is in your advantage to report this to HMRC.
  • My Wife / Partner doesn’t need to declare it because I have…
    Wrong – if a property is jointly owned you each need to declare your share of the income.

HMRC are running a Let Property Campaign to encourage landlords to come clean and tell them about their rental property before they track you down.
HMRC can contact letting agents for a list of landlords, scrutinise ‘property to rent’ websites/ newspapers and they already hold information on those who receive tenants housing benefit directly and those who have used the Deposit Protection Schemes, so if you are a landlord then act now.
It will be in your best interest to volunteer the information than if you try to ignore it and HMRC catch up with you!

Contact us now or download the RENTAL income & expenses form and send it back to us! – We can HELP!

Institute of Chartered Accountants Members
Military Tax Refunds
Our Accountants Office
  • 7 Morston Court, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 8NG
  • 01934 527888
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