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How much should you put aside for your tax bill each month?

If you are self- employed then no-one is deducting tax from your income every month as they would be if you were employed, so you need to discipline yourself to put money aside yourself for your tax bill.

But how much should that be?

The general rule is that as the basic rate of income tax is 20%, and the NI that the self-employed pay (class 4 NIC) is 9%, then putting aside 25-30% of your income to cover your tax bill makes sense.  And in a lot of cases this is true.  If you end up having put too much aside, then happy days – you have some unexpected cash!

But in some situations the 30% guide may not work:

If your income isn’t that high:

Everyone has a personal allowance which is the amount of income that you can earn before you start to pay tax.  This year the personal allowance is £12,570 so if your total earnings are around this amount, then you will only have a small amount of national insurance to pay and putting 30% aside would be excessive.  It might mean that your business has been short of cash during the year as you have been frantically saving more than you needed to and you could have put the money to good use in your business.

If you have other income outside your self-employment:

If you have other income of around £50k in the year, then any profit from your self-employment is going to be taxed at 40% rather than 20%.  You may also need to make a payment on account of your tax bill during the year- so you should probably be putting aside 50-60% of your earnings each month to cover your tax bill.

If you have just started trading:

If you have just started trading and your business is generating decent profits from the start, then you could be straight into payments on account (see other blogs for more details about these.)  This could mean that your first tax bill in January is increased by 50% to cover your first payment on account, and you also need to put an additional amount aside to cover this.

 

So in general it is definitely sensibly to put money aside each month to cover your tax bill.  Don’t think that you can cover your tax bill from money that you will earn in the future – this last 18 months has definitely shown that we never know what the future will bring!

Also remember that you pay tax on your profits and not your sales figure.  So having an idea of what your profit is each month will help in determining how much you should be setting aside.  Using accounting software will give you this information and help you manage your cashflow and save for tax.

These figures are for general guidance only and it is always best to get personal tailored advice.
For any further information or help with your personal tax returns, then please contact Rosie Forsyth.

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Tax year end – use or lose your allowances!

Just a couple of weeks to go before we say goodbye to the 20/21 tax year.  Many allowances will roll over on 6 April 2021 and if you have not used them in this tax year, the opportunity will be lost.  Noted below are some of the key areas for you to review to ensure you have been tax efficient in the year. Taking action now will allow you to take advantage of any exemptions, remaining reliefs and allowances before they are lost for the year.

Income tax

Ensure if possible you have sufficient income to use your personal allowance. The allowance is £12,500 for 2020/21. If a family member has unused allowance consider if there are ways for this to be utilised.

If you have a limited company, ensure the £2,000 tax free dividend allowance has been utilised – assuming you have sufficient distributable profits to be able to declare a dividend.  Also remember that dividends are paid “per share” so have to be paid to everyone holding that class of share in accordance with their shareholding.

For married couples/civil partners that are eligible for the Married Couples Allowance, ensure this has been claimed.  If one partner has not used all their personal allowance, and the other is a basic rate taxpayer, then up to £1,250 of the personal allowance can be transferred, saving £250 as a couple.  This can also be backdated to tax years since 5 April 2016 if not claimed previously. The claim is simple and can be done here .

Consider ways to reduce your taxable income if you are within the £100,000 to £125,000 group to prevent a 60% effective charge. Pension contributions and charitable donations are two ways you can reduce your taxable income.

If your income will be over £50,000 also consider ways to reduce this if you have children and are claiming child benefit.  This is clawed back if the higher earning partner’s income is over £50,000, on a sliding scale, and all has to be paid back if your income is over £60,000 in a tax year.

Annual ISA subscriptions should be maximised. The limit for 2020/21 remains at £20,000. The investment return from ISAs is free from income tax and capital gains tax. Talk to an IFA to get advice on utilising your ISA allowance.

Pensions 

Most individuals can make contributions of up to 100% of their earnings, capped at £40,000 each tax year. Pension contributions are tax effective as tax relief is given at source for a personal contribution, but the contribution needs to be made before the end of the tax year for it to qualify.  Very high earners may be limited on the amount they can contribute and need to take individual advice.

If you do not use all your allowance in one year, you can carry it forward for up to three years. Any unused allowance for 2017/18 will be lost after 5 April 2021.

Even if you have no income, you can still make a net pension contribution of up to £2,880 and the government will add £720 basic rate tax relief, which can be a significant benefit.

Again take advice from an IFA as to your personal pension situation.

Inheritance Tax

Everyone has a £3,000 annual exemption to use each year. This is the amount individuals can give away without any inheritance tax implications.  Any unused exemption can be carried forward for one tax year only. This may be of use to the older generation wanting to help their families in these difficult times.

Small gifts of up to £250 made to an individual are also exempt each tax year.

If you would like any advice about your personal tax position then please do get in touch with Rosie Forsyth@wilkinsco.co.uk

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The Budget 2021

The Budget yesterday was full of announcements and there was a lot to take in.

The furlough scheme was extended and Restart Grants announced for retail businesses as well as hospitality, leisure and personal care businesses.

Although the self employed support scheme was extended to include those newly self-employed who filed a 19/20 tax return, there are still large groups of people who are not able to benefit from the scheme, and there was no help announced for limited company directors who pay themselves predominantly in dividends.

Freezing the personal allowances until 2025/26 will bring many more people into the tax paying regime over time, and more people will start to pay tax at the higher rate of 40%.

The hike in corporation tax to 25% from 1 April 2023 will hit companies with profits over £250,000.  The rate remains at 19% for small companies with profits under £50,000, and companies with profits in between the 2 thresholds will gain marginal relief so will end up with a tax rate somewhere in between 19% and 25%.

The temporary extension for loss relief may be a slightly technical point but means that for businesses that have made a loss, there is more scope to get a tax rebate on tax paid in the past.

So in conclusion – a real mixed bag!

For a detailed summary of what was announced please read my Budget report here:

Budget Summary 2021

As ever if you would like more detailed advice on any of the issues raised in the Budget then please do get in touch with Rosie Forsyth.

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Worried about paying your tax bill at 31 January 2021?

So here we go again.

News of the latest lockdown will only have increased people’s money worries.

Self-assessment tax bills are due at the end of the month, and although in an ideal world, you have put the money to one side for this- as we know, we are in far from an ideal world at the moment.

In addition to the January 2021 normal payment, many people deferred their July 2020 payment so this is also now falling due to be paid.

So what can you do if you are concerned about paying your tax bill by the end of the month?

  1. Review your payments on account.

    Payments on account are payments due at 31 Jan 21 and 31 July 21 on account of your 20/21 tax bill, and are automatically calculated at 50% of your 19/20 tax, based on the assumption that your profit for 2021 will be similar.

    Obviously the period since April 2020 has been a very different year for many businesses, and profits may well be much lower. It could therefore be possible to reduce your payment on accounts and base them on these lower figures.

    If you can provide your accountant with an estimate of your figures for the current tax year, they will be able to advise if you can reduce your payment on account and ask HMRC to do this for you.  If you do your own tax return, you can ask HMRC to reduce your payment on account by logging into your online account.

    You do need to include any SEISS income received when reviewing your 20/21 income levels, as this income is fully taxable.

  2. Set up a payment plan with HMRC

    Self-employed taxpayers can apply to pay their tax bill in instalments. HMRC are allowing you to pay your January bill over 12 months using the Time to Pay service. This can be set up online without the need to speak to HMRC.

    You need to have submitted your tax return for year before you apply, and have no other outstanding returns, tax debts or payment plans in place with HMRC.Your debt needs to be under £30,000 and you can decide how much you want to pay now and how much you want to spread over the year.  HMRC will still add interest to the amount outstanding but this does allow to manage your cashflow over the next 12 months.

    Click here to set up your time to pay.

If you don’t agree time to pay arrangements with HMRC and fail to pay your tax on time, interest and penalties will be charged.

The first penalty is 5% of the tax due is your payment is more than 30 days late, with a further 5% if the tax is still not paid after 6 months.  HMRC have not waived penalties due to COVID-19 or provided any extension to the filing deadline as yet.

Whatever you do, don’t bury your head in the sand and do nothing.  As long as your return is filed, setting up a payment plan is simple and will enable you to manage your finances over the next 12 months.

For more information please contact rosieforsyth@wilkinsco.co.uk

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Why you should be doing your tax return now

I know – doing your tax return doesn’t fill you with enthusiasm but we all know it has to be done.

This year, more than ever, it is a good idea to get your tax return completed and filed early. Here are a few reasons why:

  1. Budgeting
    You will know now what your tax bill is going to be at 31 January 2021 and you can start budgeting to be able to pay this on time. Submitting your return now does not mean the tax is due any earlier
  2. Tax refunds
    If you are due a refund of tax, this will be repaid to you as soon as your return is submitted – you do not need to wait until 31 Jan for this
  3. Availability of Information
    You will have the information to hand. P60’s should have been received recently and other financial information that you may receive in relation to your income is normally sent to you in April or May, so put it altogether now, before you have a chance to lose it!
  4. Accounts
    If you are a sole trader, you will need to prepare your accounts to 5 April 2020 (usually) and again this may require you finding information and answering queries from your accountant. Not only may this information still be fresh in your mind, but if you are not working at the moment, you may have some more time to be able to complete this task now.
  5. Tax Credits
    The tax credits renewals form has to be completed by 31 July, and being able to produce accurate figures will ensure your claim is accurate for the year, and you won’t end up having to repay amounts you were not entitled to.
  6. Tax Code
    If you have your tax collected via an adjustment to your tax code, submitting this early will help ensure that your tax code is accurate, and you are not over or under-paying tax during the year.
  7. Relief
    Finally and possibly most importantly- its done! One less thing to worry about towards the end of the year.

Don’t forget that any payment that you were due to make on account of your 19/20 tax bill at 31 July 2020 can be deferred.  You don’t need to request a deferral with HMRC, it will be done automatically if you do not make the July payment.

So although it may not be your favourite job, there are lots of good reasons to get it out of the way now.  Call it a project to do alongside your kids doing their school work and set yourself a deadline.  Then give yourself a large gold star when it is done!

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The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme – Everything you need to know

Here is our summary of all the information currently available about this scheme to help the self-employed.

Who qualifies:

You can apply if you are self-employed or in a partnership.

Directors of limited companies, even if you are the only person in the company, are not self-employed, and you do not qualify for this support.

To qualify, you must meet ALL the following criteria:

  • Have traded in the 2019-20 tax year
  • Still be trading when you apply (or would be, if it were not for CV-19) and intending to continue to trade in 2020-21
  • Have suffered a reduction in profit due to CV-19
  • Have submitted your 2018-19 tax return. This was due to be filed by 31 January 2020.  If for some reason, you have not yet done so, you have 4 weeks now to get it in – before 23 April 2020.

What income do I need to have had to qualify?

Your self-employed trading profit must be less that £50,000 and more than HALF of your total income must come from your self-employment.

This is worked out by at least one of the following 2 conditions being true:

  • Your trading profit in 2018-19 was less than £50,000, and these profits were more than half your total taxable income in 2018-19
  • Your AVERAGE trading profits in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 were less than £50,000, and these profit were more than half your average total income in the same period. (If you have been trading for less than 3 years, you use the length of time you have been trading instead)

It is presumed that HMRC will take the figures from your previously submitted tax returns to work our your eligibility, so you can check your SA302’s if you need to check your eligibility.
(SA302 is the tax calculation sent to you with your tax return)

How much will I get?

You will get a taxable grant which will be 80% of the average profit for the tax years:

  • 2016-17
  • 2017-18
  • 2018-19

HMRC will add up the trading profit for 3 years, divide by 3 and use this to calculate a monthly amount.  The maximum will be £2,500 for 3 months.

It will be paid into your bank account in one instalment.

It is important to note that this is a taxable grant, so although it does not need to repaid, it will go as income on your 2020-21 tax return.  If you claim tax credits, you’ll need to include the grant in your claim as income.

When Will I Get It?

This is the contentious issue at the moment.  HMRC have said the money should be available in early June.

This is not HMRC being difficult or delaying on purpose.  It would normally take months of planning, if not years, to set up this system, and HMRC are trying to do it a few weeks.

How do I Apply?

YOU DON’T.

HMRC already have your tax returns and they will contact you if you are eligible for the scheme.  You will then complete some details online and subject to final checks, the money will be paid into your bank account.

Summary

This is a massive help for 95% of the self-employed.  As with all schemes, it doesn’t work for everyone.  Anyone starting self-employment since 6 April 2019 is not covered, nor is anyone who has been self-employed, but now made the transition to a limited company.
Businesses that have grown in 2019-20 will not have these increased profits taken into account when calculating the payments due.  But for many, it is the help that was being requested.

If you require any more information about the scheme, or other help that may be available to you in these difficult times, then please get in touch with Rosie Forsyth at Wilkins & Co.

 

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Going self-employed? 5 things you need to do

Setting up a new business can be daunting and the To Do list endless.  Here are 5 things that you need to do to get the financial side of your business up and running:

  1. Register with HMRC

    You need to tell HMRC that you have become self employed.  You can do this online here.  You will receive your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) in the post within about 2 weeks from HMRC.  This is a 10 digit number which you need to keep safe, as you need this to be able to file your tax return.

    You should register with HMRC as soon as possible after you start trading, and by 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you started self-employment at the latest.

  2. Set up a Separate Bank account

    It is always a good idea to have a separate bank account that you just use for your business.  Not only does it make preparing your year end accounts easier, it makes sure that you account for all your business expenses, gives you a clearer idea of how your business is doing, and if HMRC were ever to enquire into your affairs, gives them less scope to start asking other questions!

    As a sole trader, you don’t need to set up a “business” bank account.  You just need to have an account in your name that you use solely for business purposes.  If you have any business related DD’s (mobile phone/subscriptions) move them over to this account.

  3. Set your prices

    Presumably you want to make money out of your business, so you do need to think about what you are going to charge people for your services.  I’m not going to cover various pricing strategies here, but it is important to have think about all the different types of costs that are going to be involved with running your business, and to make sure that your prices will generate enough income to cover them.

    You also need to consider the amount of “admin” time that is involved in running a business.  Running that “hour workshop” won’t just take an hour of your time, you need to plan it, advertise it, deal with the finances of it, follow up etc so you need to build all this time into your pricing strategy.

  4. Keep your records

    You need to get this organised from the start.  Unless you are going to be raising only a handful of invoices and have very few expenses, I would definitely consider using a cloud based accounting package.  These are subscription based, so you need to take this cost into account, but packages start at under £10 a month, so are well worth the cost. At Wilkins & Co, we use Xero with our clients, but there are many others to take a look at as well.

    Make sure you are aware of the types of expenses that you can claim against your business and keep records of all these, as you will need them to prepare your accounts for HMRC, or to pass to your accountant.

  5. Put Money Aside for Tax

    Being self employed as opposed to employed, no-one pays your tax for you!

    It is your responsibility to pay HMRC your tax and NIC.  You will do this by preparing a set of accounts for your business and sending HMRC a tax return. Your accounts will generally be prepared to the end of the tax year (5 April), and then you have until the following 31 January to submit your tax return and pay your tax and NI.

    It is therefore a good idea to put money aside as you go along to pay your tax bill.  It is very easy to see money in your business bank account, and take it out and spend it – and then realise you have a tax bill to pay at 31 January that you have not budgeted for. How much you should put aside does depend on your personal situation, and what other income you may have in a tax year, but 20-30% of your profits put aside should cover your tax bill for the year.  Do check with an accountant though for personal advice on this.

  6. Did I say 5 things – oh well!

    No 6 could be the most important – talk to an accountant!!!  You can contact me at rosie@wilkinsco.co.uk.

 

 

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Smile! 10 reasons to get your tax return done NOW!

Your tax return for 18/19 needs to be filed by 31 January 2020, but can be done NOW.

Here are 10 great reasons to get it out of the way before the heatwave arrives (OK – wishful thinking, but you never know)

  1. Smugness
    It’s done- hooray!!!! Enjoy Christmas and find something else to moan about in January.  Peace of mind is a wonderful thing.
  2. Budgeting
    You will know now what your tax bill is for the year. Filing your return early does not mean that the tax is due any earlier, so the tax for 18/19 is due at 31 January 2020 whenever you file your return.  Knowing what that figure is now gives you plenty of time to make sure the money is put aside.
  3. Get your refund due sooner
    Although the tax payment date does not change from 31 January, if you have actually overpaid tax for 18/19, then as soon as your return is filed and processed, the repayment will be sent out to you. The earlier you file your return, the quicker you get any money back!
  4. Confirming your 31 July 2019 payment
    For some people, payments on account of tax have to be made in the year, at 31 July.  The amount that is due is initially calculated from the year before’s tax liability and is really therefore an estimate.  If your total income is lower in this tax year, you can make a claim to reduce this payment on account at 31 July, to ensure that you don’t over pay tax.  Submitting your tax return before 31 July will ensure the tax man doesn’t take too much of your hard earned cash.
  5. Tax credits
    The renewals forms have to be completed by 31 July, and being able to produce accurate figures will ensure your claim is accurate for the year, and you won’t end up having to repay amounts you were not entitled to.
  6. Tax code adjustments
    If you pay any tax owed by an adjustment to your tax code, so it is taken from your monthly pay, then you want this code to be correct. Having the correct code early in the tax year will avoid large adjustments at the end of the tax year, which could impact significantly on your pay packet.
  7. Access to information
    We all know its going to be easier to find the information you need soon after you receive it, rather than in January, when you realise your filing may not be quite as good as you thought!
  8. Memory issues
    If you are producing accounts for your business, you are much more likely to know the answers to your accountant’s tricky questions now, rather than 6 months down the line! What was £x for again in Nov 2018????
  9. Lower accountant’s fees and no fines
    Many accountants will increase their prices as the filing deadline approaches, as good old supply and demand comes into play.  Working weekends and into the wee small hours all through January is expensive!  Returns not filed by 31 January have an automatic £100 late filing penalty – so don’t run the risk!  HMRC don’t really care about computer problems, lost post, bad weather, Winter colds – if your return is late, expect a fine.
  10. Happier, healthier accountants – see point 9!! January is depressing enough for most people, but when you still have a whole pile of tax returns to chase up and get filed, dry January just ain’t going to happen!!

    So if you are inspired to get your return done early this year and need some help, then please do get in touch.  You can contact us here at rosieforsyth@wilkinsco.co.uk

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How to Budget for your personal tax bill

Was your tax bill in January a shock?  Were you scrabbling around to find the money to pay it – or not able to pay it all in one go?  This blog sets out how to budget for your personal tax bill so you are prepared next January.

The best way to budget is to pretend that you are employed. One of the big advantages of employment is that your income tax is taken out of your pay via PAYE before you receive it. You don’t have to worry about putting money aside, as it is done for you.

Putting a chunk of money aside each month from your self employment income is important to save for your tax bill.

The big questions is how much do you need to put aside? This will depend on your personal circumstances but there are some general steps to follow to work out how much to save:

 

1: Allocate your Personal Allowance

We all have a Personal Allowance – this is the amount we can earn before we pay income tax.  In 18/19, this amount is £11,850 and for 19/20 it will be £12,500.  If you are employed as well as being self-employed, your personal allowance is used against this income first, and anything left is used against your self-employment.  So, if you have employed income of £8,000 per year, you won’t pay tax on this, as you have used £8,000 of your personal allowance against it, leaving £3,850 this year to set against your self-employment.

If you are only self-employed, then you have the whole personal allowance to use against business profit.

 

2: Estimate your profit

You pay tax on your business profit – not your sales.  So you need to have an idea what your profit is, to be able to estimate your tax bill.  This is one of the reasons cloud-based accounting packages are useful, as you can see at any time the profitability of your business in real time.

If you not using an accounting package, then you need to estimate your profit by taking into account the costs of the business.  It doesn’t need to be 100% accurate at this stage, as you are only using it for guidance.

 

3: How much to put aside?

You have 2 amounts to pay on your profit.

  1. Income tax – currently at 20%
  2. National insurance. Being self employed you pay a flat rate of £146 for this year (class 2 NIC), but then you also pay class 4 NIC of 9% of your profit over £8060.  This often gets forgotten and can be a reason why your tax bill is higher than expected at the year end.

So in broad terms, you pay 29% in tax and NI of your business profit, after fully utilising your personal allowance.  For some, putting aside 30% of estimated profit is a good way of ensuring their tax bill is covered.

 

If this is your first year of self-employment, or you have earned more profit this year than last,  then you do need to think about payments on account of tax.

I have explained these in more detail in another blog (https://wilkinsco.co.uk/payments-account-tax) but in basic terms, self-assessment works on a system where we pay tax during the tax year on account of the current tax year.  We make payments in January and July on account of the tax year we are in.  If your first year of self-employment is coming to an end at 5 April 2019, you will calculate your profit and pay the tax due on that profit at 31 Jan 2020.

BUT at that time, you will also pay your first payment on account of your 19/20 tax bill, and that is calculated as half your tax bill for 18/19.  So at 31 Jan 2020, you have a double whammy and pay 150% of the tax you thought you were going to pay.   This is where you can be caught out if you haven’t budgeted as you go along!

 

Top Tips for Budgeting for your tax bill

  1. Get into the mind set that even though it’s in your bank account, it’s not all your money.
  2. Have a separate bank account for your every day business transactions (a good idea for SO many reasons!)
  3. Have a separate bank account where you save for your tax bill (any bank account will do)
  4. Put something aside each month – putting 25-30% aside is generally sufficient,but think about payments on account in your first year of business. Remember- putting anything aside is better than nothing!
  5. Once you have put it aside – forget about it. Don’t dip into just because it’s there – you won’t thank yourself in January!
  6. Use cloud accounting – not only will this help you estimate your tax bill, it makes your bookkeeping during the year so much easier
  7. Get your tax return done early. Doing it as soon as you can after the end of the tax year (5 April) will mean you know what you are going to owe the following January.  And your accountant will love you!

For more information, or for help with your sole trader accounts and your tax return, contact Rosie Forsyth at Wilkins & Co.

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