HLAS

With exam results still fresh in the minds of the students currently recovering from their hangovers and the new Bondholders’ ‘where it begins’ campaign kicking off this month, we knew exactly who we wanted as our August feature blog. The little sister of the renowned digital marketing company Strawberry – who sit proudly at C4DI, Strawberry Too is just as sweet. As you know, I’m an accountant, not a writer and so I don’t think there is anything I could write that would do an organisation like Strawberry Too the justice they deserve. When we think of that little red [...]

If you make a payment on behalf of a customer for goods and services used by them, you may be able to treat them as ‘disbursements’ for VAT purposes. But what is a VAT disbursement? The definition of a disbursement, in simple terms, is a payment you make to a supplier for a customer and then pass the cost on to them (via an invoice) You may be able to leave these payments out of your VAT calculations because it is the customer (not you) who buys and receives the goods / services. See it as you acting as an [...]

Being self-employed was becoming less popular with all the advantages around dividends and tax efficient ways of withdrawing funds from limited companies. But with the increase in dividend tax and a reduction in tax free dividends, we don’t know what is round the corner - soon may see an increase in self-employment again.   The government has a plan. As always, it’s not set in stone. But the plan is to abolish Class 2 National Insurance contributions from April next year. But we all know what these plans are like, with 8 months to go, it’s clear, its concise and [...]

Exempt, Zero Rated, No VAT – It’s all the same right?! Wrong. Don’t get stung because of a little misunderstanding. I recently read an article about the differences between exempt and zero rated VAT and it got me thinking that they seem to be much of a muchness. It wasn’t till I read the story of a guy who sold motorbike equipment - who got a whopping tax bill (over £25K) - did I realise the severity of not understanding the terminology. In this particular story he assumed all his sales were exempt, safety equipment is (and rightly so) but [...]

Following on from such an overwhelming community feeling on Sunday at the Hull 10km run, we figured you may want to know how you can give tax efficient charity gifts. Gift Aid Let’s start easy, you’ve all heard of it and probably hesitated with the pen wondering if you tick the box at the bottom of a donation slip or side of a sponsorship form. If you pay tax, tick the box. It’s that simple. It won’t cost you an extra penny and will be worth 25% extra to the charity. Written declaration must be made if gift aid is [...]

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Charity Number 232225 Built almost 80 years ago and added onto over the years, the needs today for the iconic Clough Road building are a world apart to those in 1938. You’ll have all heard of the RSPCA, national campaigns on the TV and the charity shops scattered across the country. But did you know the Hull branch rely on around 50 volunteers to ensure they can keep providing an excellent service. What a lot of people don’t realise is that each branch is almost a separate entity to the national [...]

(Part 3 of a 3 part blog series) The Conservative party were the final of the three main contenders to reveal their manifesto. The early bird catches the worm… The second mouse gets the cheese… But does slow and steady win the race? The manifesto began by describing a plan through Brexit to build a stronger and fairer Britain. I mean, Theresa doesn’t strike me as the type you would find pumping iron in the gym but the word ‘strong’ became a tedious read. 30 times on the first 10 pages!! Income Tax Firstly, they are sticking with their commitment [...]

(Part 2 of a 3 part blog series) The Lib Dem’s were the second party to reveal their manifesto last week, ahead of the snap election on the 8th June. The early bird catches the worm… But the second mouse gets the cheese… This time, the theme was to provide voters with an ‘’opportunity to change Britain’s future – by changing the opposition’’ and they didn’t hold back on dissing our current Prime Minister. The B Word was thrown all over the shop. Brexit. A second referendum to be held on the Brexit deal was the highlight point for the [...]

(Part 1 of a 3 part blog series) Labour were the first party to reveal their brightly coloured manifesto on 16th May for the 2017 general election. The early bird catches the worm… But will they fly away with the election or get stuck in the mud? The party want to prove they are ‘’the party of low taxes for middle and low earners’’ So, let’s start with the good news. There is no NI or VAT increases. Income Tax Labour have insisted that the income tax rise will hit just 5% of earners. They want to reduce the current [...]

The ‘IR35’ rules are designed to prevent the avoidance of tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) through the use of personal service companies and partnerships. So basically, to prevent you setting yourself up a limited company and charging your boss through it to reduce or eliminate any tax and NI payments you would owe as an employee. For example, an individual operating through a personal service company but with only one customer for whom he/she effectively works full-time is likely to be caught by the rules. On the other hand, an individual providing similar services to many customers is far [...]