HLAS

It's so important to know exactly how the budget is going to impact on YOUR pocket! As we all know, there is a certain amount of money the government so kindly allows us to earn before we must pay income tax. This is called our personal allowance. From April 2019 that is increasing from £11,850 to £12,500. In monetary terms, as that is the threshold before we start being taxed at 20%, it means an extra £130 in your pocket each year. There had been talks of this previously, but the chancellor has decided to introduce this a year early [...]

With the school holidays over (finally!!) Its time to get back into the swing of things. But do you know what funds you are taking from your business and how you plan to do it!? For many, September is almost like a second new year. I don’t mean in terms of the financial year, but it’s the time you get back on track and start fresh. People start heading back to the gym and getting into a normal routine again. One of the most common questions I get asked, mainly from new start- ups, is ‘how much can I take [...]

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 [...]