News

Determine COVID effect on profits for 2020-21 and if lower than previous year reduce tax payment due 31 July 2021.

Many of us have been personally impacted by the COVID outbreak, financially and some health-wise. This alert is being sent to all our clients that submit a self-assessment tax return and are due to make a second payment on account for the tax year 2020-21 on or before 31 July 2021. You may have an opportunity to reduce how much you need to pay.

How have you been affected financially by COVID disruption?

The self-assessment tax payment you are due to make 31 July 2021 is presently based on the profits/income you earned during 2019-20. As we all know, COVID disruption started early 2020. Accordingly, many of us have seen a reduction in taxable income in the following tax year 2020-21.

In which case, could you have payments on account rebased on what has happened in 2020-21 rather than the previous tax year? The answer, of course, is yes you can.

Let’s complete your tax return sooner this year

The most effective way to rebase your 2020-21 tax payments on actual data is to complete and file the 2020-21 tax return before 31 July. In this way we can apply – as part of the tax return submission process – to reduce payments on account due 31 July 2021.

But what if you can’t file your tax return before 31 July 2021

If you can produce a realistic estimate of your income for 2020-21, we can lodge a formal request to HMRC to reduce your tax payments for 2020-21 without actually filing your tax return. The downside of this process is that if your subsequent tax return shows higher income levels than the estimate, then interest charges may be applied by HMRC.

What about the first payment on account for 2020-21 made 31 January 2021?

If your taxable income for 2020-21 is lower than that for 2019-20, then any payment on account you may have made in January 2021 my have been too much. By rebasing your income on actual earnings for 2020-21, and if applicable, applying for both payments on account due January and July 2021 to be reduced, any overpayment made in January will automatically be included in the recalculated payment due 31 July. In some cases, this may result in a tax refund.

What to do next

If you have suffered a reduction in income – for 2020-21 compared to 2019-20 – call us now on 01242 370298 or email us office@wfrancisandco.co.uk so we can get organised. There is no point in paying over hard-won cash reserves to HMRC if it is unnecessary.

Deadline to join this scheme is 21st June 2021.

Businesses that deferred VAT payments last year have until 21st June to join the new online payment scheme and spread the impact of deferred VAT payments.

Which VAT arrears can be paid off in this way?

The scheme covers VAT deferred – and is still unpaid – from the period 20 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 under the VAT Payment Deferral Scheme.

How will payments be spread under this scheme?

Businesses can pay their deferred VAT in two to eight consecutive instalments without adding interest if they join online by 21 June 2021.

A first payment will be taken when you join.

How to join this scheme:

Before joining, you must:

  • have your VAT registration number,
  • create your own Government Gateway account (if you do not already have one),
  • submit any outstanding VAT returns from the last 4 years – otherwise you’ll not be able to join the scheme,
  • correct errors on your VAT returns as soon as possible,
  • make sure you know how much you owe, including the amount you originally deferred and how much you may have already paid.

To use the online service, you must:

  • join the scheme yourself, your agent cannot do this for you,
  • still have deferred VAT to pay,
  • be up to date with your VAT returns,
  • join by 21 June 2021,
  • pay the first instalment when you join,
  • pay your instalments by Direct Debit (if you want to use the scheme but cannot pay by Direct Debit, there is an alternative entry route for you).

Time to act

If you still have unpaid, deferred VAT from last year this scheme offers a way to get up to date with payments and minimise the impact on your cashflow.

Claims process for the final Self-Employed Income Support Scheme grant will open next month.

The 5th and final grant under the SEISS will be opened to claims from late July 2021. This grant will cover the five-month period 1 May 2021 to 30 September 2021. To be eligible for the grant you must be self-employed, either a sole trader or member of a partnership.

Conditions to qualify for this grant:

  • You must have traded in the tax year 2019-20 and submitted your tax return for that year on or before 2 March 2021 and traded in the tax year 2020-21.
  • You must either be currently trading but impacted by reduced demand due to COVID or have been trading but are presently unable to do so due to COVID restrictions.
  • To be eligible to claim HMRC will check previous years tax returns to see if your trading profits are no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income.
  • When claiming you must declare that you will continue to trade and that you reasonably believe that your business activity will be reduced in the period 1 May to 30 September 2021.

The 5th grant is different:

The 5th grant will be determined by how much your turnover has been reduced in the year April 2020 to April 2021.

  • If the turnover reduction is 30% or more, you can claim 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits up to a maximum £7,500.
  • If the turnover reduction is less than 30%, you can claim 30% of 3 months’ average trading profits up to a maximum £2,850.

HMRC have said they will provide more information by the end of June to help you work out how your turnover will be affected.

When can you claim:

HMRC will contact you mid-July to give you a date to make your claim.

We can help

If you need help deciding if you can make a claim contact us on 01242 370298 or email us office@wfrancisandco.co.uk when HMRC issue their extended guidance notes later this month.

In this update we have listed some of the tax incentives you may be able to claim if you choose or are required to work from home.

If you are employed:

  • Employers can provide the equipment and supplies that an employee needs to work from home, such as office furniture, stationery, a computer and suchlike, without a taxable benefit arising, if ownership of the equipment remains with the employer and private use is not significant.
  • Employers can also pay employees a tax-free allowance of £6 per week (£26 per month) to cover the cost of additional household expenses incurred because of working from home.
  • If employers do not pay the above allowance (£26 per month), employees can claim an equivalent deduction from their taxable income.

If you are self-employed:

  • If you are self-employed and working from home, expenses are deductible if they are wholly and exclusively incurred for the purposes of the business. This will apply to costs incurred in running a home office, such as cleaning, heat and light, Wi-Fi costs etc.
  • If you don’t want to keep a track of actual costs you can claim a tax office approved flat rate deduction. This ranges from £10 to £26 per month and depends on hours of business use.

If you run a company from home:

  • Directors can charge their company a rent for use of a home office, but rents received in this way may be taxable.
  • A company can meet costs paid by a director that are exclusively for business purposes.
  • Beware claiming for the exclusive business use of space in your home as this may create a capital gains tax charge when you sell your home. This can be avoided if there is a duality of use, i.e., your home office doubles as a spare bedroom or storage area.

Need more help on this topic?

If you want to capitalize on the tax-free perks that are available to home workers, but you are unsure how to set up the arrangement in the most tax efficient way, please call us on 01242 370298 or email office@wfrancisandco.co.uk, we can help you consider the options available.

This applies to any person taxed as a self-employed trader during 2020-21 – it includes non-incorporated property businesses (buy-to-let owners for example).

Did you make a loss or suffer reduced profits during 2020-21?

If you are self-employed and suffered a loss or reduction in profits taxable during the 2020-21 tax year, we need your co-operation to access your accounting records as soon as possible.

The trading year applicable will be the year ending 31 March 2021 (5 April 2021) or if your trading year is not the end of March, then the records for the year ending between April 2020 and March 2021, for example, 31 December 2020.

Why we are making this request

There are two reasons for making this request:

  1. If your taxable, self-employed earnings are less for the tax year 2020-21 – as compared to 2019-20 – we may be able to file an election with the tax office to have any self-assessment tax payments due 31 July 2021 reduced or possibly eliminated. We may also be able to recover some or all of any payment on account you made 31 January 2021.
  2. If you actually made a tax loss during 2020-21, we may be able to carry the tax loss back and recover tax paid in earlier years.

 What we need from you

If you keep manual records, perhaps on a spreadsheet, let us have the information you usually send as soon as you can. The year we need to cover is to 31 March 2021 or the trading year that ends during the tax year 2020-21.

If your accounts are kept on a computer, and we have access to the data, we will just need your confirmation that all transactions are completed for the relevant year.

If your records are computerized and we do not have access to the data, please send us copies of the reports we usually receive from you.

Support grants received during 2020-21

Do not forget that any support grants received during the last year will be taxable. For example, payments received under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.

We can help

Please call if you feel that this applies to your circumstances, but you are unsure what information we require, or if you need clarification of the information we need.

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Perhaps the most innovative give-away in the recent budget was “Super-deductions for investment expenditure”.

What does this mean?

Companies that invest in qualifying plant and machinery in the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2023 will benefit from enhanced capital allowances. Investments in assets that qualify for the main rate of capital allowances of 18% will benefit from a 130% first-year allowance. This means that for every £100 that you spend, you can deduct £130 in computing your taxable profits. This is equivalent to a tax saving of 24.7%.

What this does not mean?

What this change does not mean is the notion that you can deduct 130% of the cost of a qualifying purchase from your tax bill. The deduction is made from your company’s taxable profits.

For example…

If your company invests say £5,000 in qualifying plant it will be able to write off £6,500 (£5,000 x 130%) against its taxable profits. If your company has taxable profits more than £6,500, it will save £1,235 (£6,500 x 19%) in corporation tax. Which means:

  • Your tax saving is 24.7% (£1,235/£5,000) of your investment cost, and
  • The net cost of your investment is effectively £3,765 (£5,000 – £1,235)

Beware the fine print

As you would expect, there will be circumstances – grey areas – where the legislation that maps out the do’s and don’ts to claiming this relief will deny you the 130% deduction. In their notes describing the proposed changes HMRC said:

“Certain expenditures will be excluded…, there will be exclusions for used and second-hand assets and expenditures on contracts entered into prior to 3 March 2021 even if expenditures are incurred after 1 April 2021. Plant and machinery expenditure which is incurred under a Hire Purchase or similar contract must also meet additional conditions to qualify for the super-deduction…

And there are alternatives

Even if you cannot claim this 130% Super-deduction, your expenditure may qualify for the existing 100% Annual Investment Allowance, a 50% or 100% First Year allowance or a range of writing down allowances.

Check out if you could claim

However, this is a significant incentive to invest if your company is likely to be profitable from 1 April 2021. To ensure that any significant investment you may make will qualify for the Super-deduction or to discuss other tax options, please call us on 01242 370298.

Since April 2020, all UK residential properties disposed of by UK resident taxpayers – that create a taxable gain for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) purposes – will have to be reported to HMRC within 30-days of the disposal. Any CGT payable will have to be paid over to HMRC in the same 30-day window. Generally, this will include sales of second homes and buy-to-let property.

What if I sell a property and don’t make a taxable profit?

The new 30-day disclosure deadline only applies, in practice, to property disposals that create a taxable gain. For example, if you sell a buy-to-let property and make a loss on sale you will not have to make a return within the 30-day window.

Does this mean I have to submit a tax return every time I sell a property?

Effectively, yes it does, although restricted to details of any property disposal that creates a chargeable gain. Penalties may apply if you file outside the 30-day window.

How do I work out how much tax is payable?

As part of the 30-day submission to HMRC, you are required to estimate the amount of CGT payable based on your present understanding of the factors that affect this liability. As your other earnings will determine if the CGT you pay is at 18% or 28% – or a mix of the two – estimating these other earnings and getting the number crunching right will be no mean feat.

During the 30-day window you will need to: prepare a formal computation and a calculation of the CGT due, and submit both to HMRC, and pay any CGT this computation reveals.

At the end of tax year during which you made the disposal you will also need to include the computation again as part of your actual return. This annual confirmation of the gain may result in an over or under payment of tax as the annual return will be based on actual data and not the estimated data used to comply with the 30-day rule.

We can help. Read the section that follows.

Advise us in advance if you intend to sell a chargeable property

  1. Prior to the completion date, advise us which property is to be sold and the estimated selling price and sales costs.
  2. We will immediately draw together the data we have about the property and confirm with you that this is correct. This will not only include the purchase price, but also improvements made since you bought the property.
  3. We will use this information to prepare a draft computation (based on our prior knowledge of your tax affairs) and advise you of the possible CGT payable 30-days after the sale completes.
  4. When the sale does complete, we can then adjust the numbers for any final changes in the sale particulars and agree the computation with you.
  5. Once agreed, we can file the CGT computation with HMRC and advise you when and where you should pay any tax due.

To meet these relatively new reporting regulations, we will need to move quickly to meet the 30-day deadline and would request that you contact us immediately if you are planning to sell.

Benefits and the tax consequences

At the end of each tax year, you will usually need to submit a P11D form to the tax office for each employee you have provided with expenses or benefits, for example, a company car.

The total taxable benefits you provide to all employees will also create a Class 1A employer’s NIC charge, and this will need to be reported to HMRC by filing a further return, P11D(b).

Note: If HMRC have asked you to submit a P11D(b), but you have no taxable benefits to report, you can tell them you do not owe Class 1A NIC by completing a formal declaration via your online government gateway account.

What are the filing deadlines for 2020-21?

What you need to do

Deadline

Submit your P11D forms online to HMRC

6 July 2021

Give your employees a copy of the information on your forms

6 July 2021

Tell HMRC the total amount of Class 1A National Insurance you owe on form P11D(b)

6 July 2021

Pay any Class 1A National Insurance owed on expenses or benefits Must reach HMRC by 22 July 2021 (19 July 2021 if you pay by cheque)

Note: You will be charged a penalty of £100 per 50 employees for each month or part month your P11D(b) is late. You will also be charged penalties and interest if you are late paying HMRC.

Talk to us before you file your P11D returns

There may be tax saving opportunities you could discuss with employees that would save them income tax and you the additional NIC charge. We have outlined two ideas for company car drivers you could consider below.

Avoiding the car fuel benefit charge

Employees not only pay additional tax for the use of a company car, but they also pay a hefty additional tax charge if their employer pays for private fuel. The car fuel benefit charge can be avoided if the employee records actual private mileage and repays their employer based on an agreed rate per mile.

Were company car drivers furloughed during 2020-21?

If any of your employees that had the use of a company car were furloughed during 2020-21, and the car was not made available for private use during this period, you can advise HMRC of the “not available” period when you complete their P11D. This will reduce any benefit charges for 2020-21.

Let us help you crunch the numbers

Please call if you would like to discuss options to reduce BiK tax charges for your employees or prepare and file the necessary returns. And do not forget, if you can reduce income tax charges for employees you will not only boost their moral, but you will also lower the amount of Class 1A NIC that you will have to pay as their employer.

 

You will be contacted by HMRC – here’s why…

If you commenced self-employment after 5 April 2019

If you started your self-employment after 5 April 2019, you were initially denied support under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and the first three quarterly pay outs to 31 January 2021.

Thanks to a change in the recent Budget, you may be eligible – for the first time – to grants that will be made available for the quarter end 30 April 2021 and a final period to 30 September 2021.

 HMRC are adding a further security check

To counter fraudulent use of the SEISS scheme, HMRC have decided to contact taxpayers who became self-employed during 2019-20, and who submitted a self-assessment return for that period.

What will the letter say?

The letter will tell you to expect a telephone call on the number provided on your tax return. If our contact details were added to your return, HMRC will ask us to pass on your contact number.

On this occasion we cannot deal directly with HMRC and they will need to speak with you to obtain proof of identity and evidence of trade in the form of bank statements.

Why a letter and then a phone call?

Here’s what HMRC said:

We are aware of increased scam activity related to HMRC’s coronavirus support schemes. The purpose of the letter is to explain to you that this is a genuine call, and to give customers details on how to recognise it as such.

Worried about HMRC calling you?

HMRC’s reason for this added layer of security seems to be to exclude fraudsters from making claims. but if you have any concerns regarding this process, please call us on 01242 370298.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, presented his 2021 Budget on 3 March 2021. The extent to which the measures will affect you will depend on your personal circumstances.

Impact on individuals 

Personal allowance and income tax thresholds frozen

The personal allowance is increased in line with inflation to £12,570 for 2021/22. However, it will remain at this level for the next five years, until April 2026. The basic rate band will also remain at £37,700 for the next five years, freezing the starting point for paying higher rate at £50,270 until April 2026.

If your income increases during this period, for example, your pay rises in line with inflation, you may find that you move into the higher rate band, paying tax on some of your income at 40% where previously you were a basic rate taxpayer.

The basic rate of tax will remain at 20%, the higher rate at 40% and the additional rate at 45%.

Covid support continues

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is extended until 30 September 2021. This means that if you have been furloughed or flexibly furloughed, you will continue to be paid 80% of your normal wages for your unworked hours, subject to the cap of £2,500 per month.

If you are self-employed and your business has been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, you will be able to claim two further grants under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Pension lifetime allowance frozen

The pension lifetime allowance will not be increased in line with inflation over the next five years. Instead, it will remain at its current level of £1,073,100 for 2021/22 to 2025/26. This may affect you if you already have pension savings at or near this level. If this is the case, you should review the amount of your pension pot before making further tax-relieved contributions.

Pension savings more than the lifetime allowance are taxed at 25% if the excess is taken as a pension, and at 55% if it is taken as a lump sum.

SDLT threshold to remain at £500,000 until 30 June 2021

The temporary increase in the SDLT threshold to £500,000 will remain in place until 30 June 2021. It will then fall to £250,000 until 30 September 2021, returning to the standard amount of £125,000 from 1 October 2021. If you are looking to move to a new house or to buy an investment property, there is still time to benefit from the higher threshold.

These comments refer to rates in England and Northern Ireland, the devolved administrations of Wales and Scotland may set alternative rates.

Inheritance tax nil rate band to remain at £325,000

The inheritance tax nil rate band will remain at its current level of £325,000 until April 2026. The residence nil rate band, available where your main residence is left to a direct descendant, also remains at its current level of £175,000 until April 2026. This should be considered when undertaking inheritance tax planning.

Impact on the self-employed

Two further grants available under the SEISS

If you are self-employed and you continue to be adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, you will be able to claim two further grants under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

The fourth grant under the scheme covers February to April 2021. It is worth three months’ average profits capped at £7,500. It can be claimed from late April.

The fifth and final grant covers the period from May to September 2021. The amount of the grant will depend on the impact that Covid-19 has had on your profits. If your turnover has fallen by 30% or more because of Covid-19, you will be able to claim a grant equal to 80% of your average profits for three months, capped at £7,500. However, if your turnover has dropped by less than 30%, you will be entitled to a reduced grant of 30% of three months’ average profits, capped at £2,880. The final grant can be claimed from late July.

Remember, you can only claim the grant if you have been adversely affected by the pandemic.

Grants received under the scheme are taxable and must be considered in working out your profits.

Help for the newly self-employed

Support under the SEISS was not available to traders who commenced self-employment in 2019/20 – to qualify a tax return had to be filed for 2018/19. However, as the deadline for filing the 2019/20 tax return has now passed, you may be eligible for the fourth and fifth grants if your 2019/20 tax return was filed by midnight on 2 March 2021. To qualify, your business must be adversely affected by the pandemic and your profits from self-employment must be at least 50% of your income and less than £50,000.

Carry-back period for losses extended

The period for which losses may be carried back is temporarily extended from one year to three years. For unincorporated businesses, the extended carry-back will apply to losses made in 2020/21 and 2021/22. Losses must be set against a later period before an earlier period.

If you have suffered losses due to Covid-19, carrying back losses for up to three years may generate a most welcome tax repayment.

Impact on small companies

Tax-efficient extraction of profits

For 2021/22, the primary threshold for Class 1 National Insurance purposes increases to £9,568, the secondary threshold to £8,840 and the personal allowance to £12,570.

If you extract profits by taking a mix of salary and dividends, the optimal salary level for 2021/22 (assuming you have not used your personal allowance elsewhere) will be equal to the primary threshold of £9,568 (equivalent to £797 a month) if you are not entitled to the employment allowance. This will be the case if you are a personal company with only one employee who is also a director. At this level, you will have a little bit of employer’s National Insurance to pay, but this will be outweighed by the associated corporation tax deduction.

If you can claim the employment allowance, for example, if your company is a family company with at least two employees, the optimal salary for 2021/22 is equal to the personal allowance of £12,570.

Any further profits can be extracted as dividends but remember you can only pay dividends if you have sufficient retained profits to pay them from. Dividend tax rates remain at 7.5%, 32.5% and 38.1% for 2021/22.

Three-year carry back for losses

Companies, like unincorporated businesses, can benefit from a measure allowing losses to be carried back for three years, rather than for one year. For companies, this applies to losses incurred in accounting periods ending between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 and to losses for accounting periods ending between 1 April 2021 and 30 March 2022. Losses carried back must be used against a later period before an earlier period.

This measure may provide you with earlier relief for losses suffered because of the Covid-19 pandemic and generate a useful tax repayment at a time where cash flow is tight.

Super-deduction for investment expenditure

Companies that invest in plant and machinery in the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2023 will be able to benefit from enhanced capital allowances. Investments in assets that qualify for the main rate of capital allowances of 18% will benefit from a 130% first-year allowance. This means that for every £100 that you spend, you can deduct £130 in computing your taxable profits. This is equivalent to a tax saving of 24.7%.

Investments in assets qualifying for special rate capital allowances benefit from a 50% first year allowance (although claiming the annual investment allowance instead where this is available will be more beneficial).

If you are looking to invest in plant and machinery, it can be advantageous to do so within this window to benefit from the super-deduction. However, it is not available where contracts were agreed before Budget day.

Future increases in corporation tax

To help meet some of the costs of the pandemic, companies with profits of £250,000 or more will pay corporation tax at a rate of 25% from 1 April 2023. A lower rate of 19% will apply to companies with profits of £50,000 or less. Companies with profits of between £50,000 and £250,000 will pay corporation tax at the 25% but will be able to claim marginal relief. The thresholds will be proportionately reduced to take account of associated companies and short accounting periods.

Extension of the Coronavirus job Retention Scheme

If you have furloughed or flexibly furloughed employees, you will be able to continue to claim grant support under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until the end of September.

Until the end of June, you can claim 80% of your employee’s normal pay for their unworked hours, subject to the cap of £2,500. However, while your employees must continue to receive 80% of their normal pay for their furloughed hours, you can only claim 70% from the Government in July and 60% in August and September. You must pay the remaining 10% in July and the remaining 20% August and September. As now, you must meet the employer’s National Insurance and employer pension contributions on all payments to employees.

The scheme will come to an end on 30 September 2021.

 

If you need any more information regarding matters discussed in this report, please call 01242 370298 or email office@wfrancisandco.co.uk