TWD Accounting Blog

Following my last blog post on the 22 Feb I am pleased to announce that we have agreed a special offer price for accountancy service with Ideas4Adis. The offer runs from today until the 30 April 2010. The Ideas4ADIs range of training products has received praise from customers and the media alike for outstanding quality and fair prices.

As we are approaching the end of the current tax year keep a look out for further special promotions that we will be running.

Part of the challenge or being involved in a business like TWD Accountants is the challenge in finding new clients.

As a fixed fee service it is very difficult to find target markets where you can price competitively AND have a direct route to the market. One of the areas we are have been marketing to over the last few years has been to Driving Instructors. We have been associated with the Motor Schools Association for many years and also BSM where we have long standing arrangements; this has helped us become specialists in Driving Instructor accounts. We are slowly building up our portfolio of ‘Partners’ in the ADI industry and I am pleased that we have just added a new section to the Driving-Schools-Directory aimed specifically at Driving School Tax.

I know this will not be the last of these arrangements as the marketing team here are working hard in building new relationships. These take time but can be very beneficial to all parties if done correctly.

Keep up the good work!

The HMRC has issued another warning regarding phishing emails, the second since the end of January 2010.

For many people who filed their tax return at the end of last month this is the time they would expect to be contacted by the HMRC regarding a tax refund. Fraudsters are sending out phishing emails, allegedly from the HMRC asking for personal information such as bank details or their HMRC log-on details.
Please do not respond to direct email communication which appears to be from the HMRC, as they do not contact clients in this way.

If you have any questions please call us free on 0800 093 9433.

Also see our Web Scammers article on MSN Money.

For more information on the HMRC warning visit: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/current.htm

A new computer system means that an incorrect tax codes may have been sent by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Taxpayers could be asked to pay up to £108 a month too much, which works out to £1,295 per year, say The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).The Revenue said it had no evidence of a widespread problem but advised taxpayers to check carefully.

The HMRC spokesman has advised that there is no immediate problem but we should all check just in case, “There will be some incorrect tax codes as there always are at this time of year,”

“But the coding notice tells people what the code relates to and tells them to contact us if it is wrong,” he added.

It is not clear how many incorrect tax codes have been sent out, however for most people this will come as a massive shock.

“Most people on PAYE are used to assuming that what the taxman sends them is correct,” said Andrew Hubbard of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).

“But this year, many of them are being given wrong information, and unless they spot it and tell HMRC, their employer will receive the wrong information too.

The computer system which manages the codes started in the first week of January and will continue until the first week of March.

Why not take advantage of associate company’s tax refund service. The Tax Refund company can check your tax code and liaise with H M Revenue & Customs to refund the money you are owed. No rebate No fee.

For more on this article please visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8478271.stm

The deadline for submitting your tax return is fast-approaching. We are no longer able to take new clients, so we have some tips to help make this an easier process.

31 January deadline

If you have a tax return and do not file it on time you will be fined £100.

If the return was issued in April 2009, or any time up to 31 October 2009, it must be submitted by midnight on Sunday 31 January 2010, with a very small number of exceptions.

(If you were sent a return after 31 October 2009, you have three months from the date it was issued. You can file it online or by paper, and the guidance below does not apply to you.)

If HMRC receive your tax return after 31 January you’ll get a late filing penalty of £100.

Avoiding Penalties

If you pay all the tax you owe by 31 January you will not need to pay the penalty.

Submitting your tax return

You will now need to send your return online. If you send in a paper version at this stage, even before 31 January, you will be fined £100.

If you have previously filed online you can use the same system as last time.

You will need your user ID, which was sent by HMRC when you first registered. If you cannot find it, go to the HMRC online filing site where you will be able access ‘lost user id’ or ‘lost password’ services.

You will be asked a number of questions, following which replacement user ID and password can be issued. These may be sent online or by post. If you think you may have lost the details, give yourself plenty of time to get a replacement.

If you can find neither ID nor password you should contact the Online Helpdesk.

Registering to file online

If you have not previously filed online, you will need to register to obtain an activation code. You will not be able to file online without this code.

The code will be posted to you, and to ensure you receive it on time you must register by 21 January 2010.

Tips for online filing

There can be many people trying to file at the same time. In 2008, 200,000 people filed on 31 January. Try to do use quiet periods.

HMRC provide year round online services, 24 hours a day. Avoid delays by accessing them on weekdays after 5pm or before 8am.

There may be maintenance issues. Check the HMRC site for scheduled downtime.

Use the HMRC website for step-by-step guides, and also the built in help available in free HMRC software.

Visually impaired users can access specific help.

Paying your tax

As well as filing your return, whether paper or online, you must pay tax due for 2008-09 by 31 January 2010.

Direct Debit payments are now possible, provided you have registered online. Paying this way allows you to make a payment as soon as you have worked out what it should be.

HMRC now kindly let you manage your finances by setting up regular payments towards your next bill.

Exceptions to online filing

HMRC allow you to submit using a paper tax return after 31 October if:

• Their software cannot handle it, for example non-resident companies.
• You have been told that you cannot!

HMRC are setting up a new tax amnesty aimed at medical professionals.

Find out more on our MSN news pages

I’ve posted a news item on LandlordZone about the Pre-Budget Reports effect on Landlords.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/blog/news/pre-budget-report-%E2%80%93-what-it-means-for-landlords

The article is a quick overview highlighting how Alistair Darlings plans are going to affect UK Landlords.

For a full directory on property taxation please visit:-

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/tax/index.htm

If you have a landlord related query why not contact one of our LandlordZone Topic Experts:-

Ben Tayo - ben@twdaccounts.co.uk.
Joanne Jones - jo@twdaccounts.co.uk.

Or call 0800 093 9433.

I’ve posted a news item on MSN Money about taxing carrier bags.

http://money.msn.taxbuddies.com/newsb.php?id=86

It’s something that has been a bug-bear of mine for quite a while, probably back to the incident I mention in the article.

Why it’s taken so long for it to be introduced here is beyond me. And it’s not even a reality yet. I suspect the oil lobby may have something to do with it, as the bag industry must be a good money spinner for them.

It’s easy enough to put in place, and it would, at a stroke, wipe out all the plastic rubbish blowing around our streets. It’s worked in Ireland, so why not do it here.

As usual I set off for the office last Sunday morning to pinch a couple of hour’s quiet time. Upon arrival I was met by 7 - 8 cars all belonging to TWD staff who were already hard at work at the their desks.

The 31 January filing deadline certainly concentrates the mind and the last two weeks have resulted in a huge number of new enquires. Until the end of October we were still able to offer our standard service to all new applicants without any additional charge to guarantee filing by the due date. With the deadline getting closer all November applicants have the choice of paying an additional fee to guarantee submission. Of course, in all cases we must have our client’s cooperation by submitting their paperwork as requested.

Tonight is bonfire night, so don’t expect me to be here late as I’m doing the fireworks for my two little grandchildren, (Jake 3 and Daniel 3 months) - I can’t wait, I’m the child really.

Fraudsters have been using fear of the tax office to target ordinary taxpayers. They claim to be the taxman, stating that money is waiting to be claimed, then take personal details. This is simply identity theft.

The criminals doing this are playing on people’s lack of knowledge about the tax system in a particularly cruel way. It is something we deal with very seriously, and we will take any action we can to help combat it.

Read more about it here http://money.msn.taxbuddies.com/newsb.php?id=85 on the pages we write for MSN Money. 

If you are a client and have received such an email, please get in touch as soon as you can.