Diary for Tax Return Dates

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DATE WHAT’S DUE
19 December  PAYE & NIC deductions, and CIS   return and tax, for month to 5/12/2014.
(22 December if you pay electronically)
1 January Corporation tax for year to 31/3/14
19 January  PAYE & NIC deductions, and CIS return and tax, for month to 05/01/2015
(due 22 January if you pay electronically)
31 January Deadline to file 2014 Self Assessment (SA) tax return online
31 January Income tax balancing payment for 2013/14, plus CGT for 2013/14
31 January Income tax 1st payment on account for 2014/15
VAT

VAT ‘mini one stop shop’ (MOSS)

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Are you one of the 60% of SME’s (Small Medium Enterprises) unaware of VAT changes coming from the start of next year? For businesses that provide ‘digital services’ to consumers that include downloaded apps, music, games and e-books, VAT will no longer be charged based on where the company is located, but the EU country where the customer is based.
Digital services include telecoms, satellite TV, the downloading of computer software, music, books and manuals. From 01 January 2015, the UK trader will need to identify where in the EU their non-business customer is located and apply the VAT rate for that country, instead of UK VAT. The customer’s location will be where the consumer is established, has their permanent address or usually resides.

The VAT Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) has been introduced to save these businesses from having to register for VAT in every EU Member State in which they supply their services.

 Businesses can now register for the online service from 20 October 2014. Registration for the service has to be carried out by the business itself. Once registered, you can authorise us as your agent to act on your behalf for VAT MOSS. Please contact us if you think you may be affected by these new rules.

As 2015 approaches planning ahead is vital

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Two-thirds of business leaders say they simply don’t have enough time to step back from day-to-day tasks to focus on a long-term strategy, according to a new report from GrowthAccelerator.  And yet those who have taken the time to plan say it has put them, on average, ten months ahead of where they would have otherwise been.  Other findings include:
  • The survey also finds that half of business leaders are unable to describe their business objectives for the next 12 months “off the top of their head”.
  • only 16% of business leaders spend the majority of their time planning for growth;
  • nearly half (47%) of business leaders are not working regularly, or at all, on their business strategy;
  • 36% only revisit their business plans occasionally;
  • 3% don’t even have a business plan.

Business owners are unsure how to grow their business according to the report, with 44% saying that a key challenge is knowing how to grow and with 30% saying that defining a clear strategy for growth is an obstacle.

The ‘Working On Not In’ report from GrowthAccelerator shows that this is made more difficult for the business leaders who do not have enough time to step back from the day-to-day to focus on a long-term strategy.

Simon Littlewood, director at GrowthAccelerator, said: “For business leaders, knowing the best way to achieve growth is a sizeable challenge and an added pressure in changeable economic times. This, combined with the time-consuming demands of ensuring a business is running smoothly on a day-to-day basis, means looking forward with longer term planning can slip down the to-do list, but it is essential for success.”

Meanwhile, new research by digital marketing agency, Engineered Marketing, finds that the majority (64%) of UK small businesses do not have a documented marketing plan. And women in business are more likely to ‘wing it’ than their male counterparts, with 70% of women saying they did not have a marketing plan compared to just 62.2% of men.

 

LIRIC can work with you to help you identify your goals, document them and achieve them. Contact LIRIC  to see how our business growth programme can work for your business.
Hour Glass

Auto Enrolment

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The Pensions Regulator has started to send out letters for businesses with staging dates in May 2017!! That seems a long way off but you need to start taking action now – have you received this letter? – see here – please make sure you keep it and let LIRIC have a copy if you wish us to register on your behalf.  DO NOT delay in registering.

 

Santa

Santa’s Sizeable Sleigh

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When Santa Claus does his Christmas Night travels, folklore suggests that he stops the world clock for 2 minutes while he delivers all the parcels and presents to children around the world.  This cannot be true.  It is reported that there are  2.3 billion children around the globe.

Science tells us that the volume of presents to a child is on average at Christmas is 2.3 cubic foot.  Given that volume and the number of children it makes Santa’s sleigh 245m long, 167m wide and 40m deep.  Allowing a reindeer of some stature can pull a load of 1/3 of a ton that would mean that not 8 reindeer pull the sleigh, but 1,260.  –  This actually means that the world is stopped not for 20 secs but 364 years!  I really should get out more!

Managing Difficult Employees

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Effectively managing difficult employees can be a challenging prospect. Whether it is the employee who is consistently late, who complains incessantly or who seems to constantly upset their co-workers, every company must deal with difficult employees.These situations drain management’s time and energy, impact on the morale of co-workers and interfere with overall workplace productivity. The key to effectively addressing such situations begins with an understanding of the issues and a clear identification of the actual source of the problem.

Even the best employee can have an off-day (or week, or month). Before deciding if an employee is difficult, managers must first step back and neutrally assess the situation. The first question to ask is whether the behavior is critical enough to implement a formal HR process. Another important concept to consider is that ‘different’ does not equal ‘difficult’. There will always be employees that a manager does not gel with, understand or even like. However, this is not enough to deem an employee difficult. To constitute a “difficult employee”, behavior must exceed acceptable standards, policies and procedures or interfere with productivity.

Define the Problem

When addressing the problems created by difficult employees, the focus should always be on job performance. It is management’s duty to clearly explain why the issue is a problem, and how the problem is adversely impacting the company. At this stage it may be useful to refer to the employee’s job description and the company handbook.Clarify Roles
It is important that both the manager and employee are absolutely clear on individual roles. The manager’s role is to ensure business success by leading, coaching and supporting employees. The employee’s role is to meet predefined performance and behavior standards, and function as a cooperative team member. A key concept that employees must grasp is that it is not only the level of their performance that is important, but also how their performance affects the functioning of their team, department and the company overall.

Identify Expectations
This is where the manager should clarify four things – the employee’s performance, responsibilities, impact of their behavior and the consequences if it dozen’t change. A follow up and ongoing review should be scheduled and regular updates between the manager and the employee will help to move things forward and get the employee

New statutory amounts announced for 2015

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The Department for Work and Pensions has announced the proposed new rates for statutory sick pay (SSP), statutory maternity pay (SMP), statutory paternity pay (SPP), statutory adoption pay (SAP) and statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) for tax year 2015/16.
The proposed revised rates are as follows:
  • The standard weekly rates of SMP and SAP and the weekly rates of SPP and ShPP will increase from £138.18 to £139.58 – it is assumed this will be for payment weeks commencing on or after Sunday, 5 April 2015
  • The prescribed weekly rate of Maternity Allowance will also increase from £138.18 to £139.58.
  • The weekly rate of SSP will increase from £87.55 to £88.45 from 6 April 2015.
  • The lower earnings limit applying to National Insurance contributions, below which employees are not entitled to SSP, SMP, SPP, SAP and ShPP, will increase from £111 to £112 per week from 6 April 2015.
These rates are subject to Parliamentary approval, so changes are possible, but unlikely.
Tax 31 January image

Make January 31st 2015 and Save £100

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This date looms ever closer – we have completed and submitted  95% of our clients tax returns., If you still have not provided the information to enable LIRIC to prepare your return ( you know who you are!) then it may not be too late, but we cannot guarantee meeting the filing deadline! There is an automatic £100 late filing penalty – even if no tax is due.
HMRC have started to send out the statements for tax due 31 January  – these should tally with the figures we have previously advised you – if you are in doubt please ask us.  If there is no figure shown in the tax due box, this does not  mean there is not  tax to pay!! HMRC will have started running these statements several weeks ago and if they have not received they your tax return by that time then the tax requested may not be correct  Please pay what LIRIC advised to:-

HMRC Cumbernauld
Sort code 08-32-10
Account 12001039
Reference is your 10 digit UTR (Unique Tax Reference) followed by the letter K

 Please ensure you use the correct UTR as otherwise HMRC may not allocate the payment correctly to your account. and it will take a considerable time to identify payments that end up in HMRC “suspense” account.
2015 picture

Website update for 2015

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LIRIC announce that a brand new website will be ‘live’ in January of 2015, this will enable us to instantly update our clients on any breaking financial and tax related news.
LIRIC hope that the existing Newsletter will direct potential and existing clients to visit the LIRIC website to keep updated of those new items.  Our 20% introductory offer has realised 15 new clients since its introduction!

Autumn Statement

The Chancellors Autumn Statement

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Find out what the Autumn Statement means to you and your Company

LIRIC are pleased to attach our guide to the Autumn Statement 2014.

LIRIC’S guide offers a summary of the key business, tax and financial measures that were unveiled, along with some of the forthcoming changes that may affect you.

It was an interesting statement, clearly some political motivations with the general election looming. It was positive to hear the economy is doing well, in fact better than expected.

There are some radical and interesting changes including the headline grabbing changes to stamp duty on residential property. Other major topics include an additional increase to the personal income tax allowance, and a review of business rates.

For tailored advice on any of these topics, and how they may impact your business or personal finances, please give us a call on 01763 853633 or email lisa@liricaccountants.com.

Remember, LIRIC offer more than the traditional tax and compliance requirements: we can advise you on strategies designed specifically to minimise your tax bill, improve profits and make the most of your personal wealth.

LIRIC look forward to hearing from you.

Autumn Statement 2014