March 2023 – Tax breaks on savings

You can save for retirement in a number of ways. The traditional route is via a pension scheme, but you could also use an ISA. Savers aged under 40 can open a Lifetime ISA (LISA) and contribute up to £4,000 per year, which attracts a ...

March 2023 – Review your mix of income

Working at home allowance Where you are required to work at home, your employer can pay you a tax-free allowance of £6 per week (or £26 per month). This allowance is to cover the additional costs incurred by using your home as a workplace, such ...

March 2023 – Give and save

Giving to charity under Gift Aid can result in a lower tax bill for the donor. Making a Gift Aid donation will reduce your tax bill for the year in which the donation is made if your total income is above the 40% threshold (£50,270 ...

March 2023 – Benefits in-kind

Where employees are required to work at home, their employer may provide office equipment or pay to boost the employee’s home internet service. Generally, these costs are not taxable on the employee if there is no significant private use of the asset or service. In ...

Feb 2023 – Stealth tax rises and allowances cut

Last year we had four different Chancellors of the Exchequer and three Prime Ministers. There were three Government fiscal statements this autumn alone and we expect another series of Budget announcements in  spring. In this newsletter we set out what you need to know about ...

Feb 2023 – How to avoid MTD VAT Penalties

All VAT-registered businesses are now required to file their VAT returns using MTD-compatible software and to keep their VAT records in a digital format. This applies from the start of the first VAT period for newly registered businesses. The old VAT portal, which allowed you ...

Feb 2023 – Top five VAT mistakes

VAT can trip you up, with expensive consequences. Here are five situations where it is easy to get the VAT treatment wrong. Services purchased from abroad (e.g. online advertising from a business based in Dublin) won’t show UK VAT. But you do need to calculate ...

Feb 2023 – Submit RTI returns on time

All employers know they need to file their Full Payment Submission (FPS) under Real-Time Information (RTI) on or before the day they pay their employees. If the FPS is more than three days late, HMRC will firstly send an education letter to the employer, then ...

Jan 2023 – New Payroll Manager – Susan Cusick

Clarke Nicklin Chartered Accountants are thrilled to welcome new payroll manager, Susan Cusick to join the team. Susan joins the team at an exciting time for the business and will be working alongside the team to provide payroll services for our clients. Susan who has ...

Jan 2023 – Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD)

At the end of December 2022 the HMRC announced new rules around Making Tax Digital. These will apply to all sole traders and landlords with an income above a certain level and are a new way of reporting property and self-employment income to HMRC. Taxpayers ...

Jan 2023 – R&D claims take longer

Claiming the payable tax credit for research and development (R&D) costs can be very useful for small companies, but HMRC are aware that there are many invalid and inflated claims in this area. From June 2022 HMRC has been making additional checks on each R&D ...

Jan 2023 – Travelling to work

Some workers are finding it difficult to afford the fuel or bus/train fare to travel to work. Employers may be tempted to help out by reimbursing those travel expenses. Unfortunately, the journey between an employee’s home and their permanent work place is treated by HMRC ...