by David Jones | Nov 23, 2023 | Self Assessment
With Jeremy Hunt’s ‘Autumn Statement’ just released, the most significant announcement was on changes to National insurance (NI), which has always been an oddball member of the UK’s tax family, with even its name prompting confusion over its status: Is it a tax? Or is...
by David Jones | Nov 16, 2023 | Tax Investigations, VAT
Earlier this year, an intrepid officer from HMRC’s VAT hit squad, visited a small cake and sandwich shop and purely on a couple of hours observation, believed that the shop owners were deliberately minimising their Standard Rate (SR) sales. After a subsequent visit he...
by David Jones | Nov 9, 2023 | Opinion, Personal Finance, Self Assessment
As it’s been over three months since my last Blog on some of the more interesting questions asked by clients and readers of the Blog, here’s my latest selection: I’ve paid the right tax into the wrong account My limited company has been struck off, what can I do? Is...
by David Jones | Nov 2, 2023 | Opinion, Self Assessment
It only seems like five minutes since I last commented on HMRC’s dreadful customer service record, particularly with regard to telephone enquiries. So, fast forward to last week, when HMRC chief Jim Harra had his quarterly grilling at the Treasury Committee. During...
by David Jones | Oct 26, 2023 | Business Tax
Electric cars are becoming ever more common on our roads, and having narrowly avoided been hit by one of these silent assassins (several times), I can concur that their numbers are rising rapidly. The biggest rise in ownership is by businesses, both large and small....
by David Jones | Oct 19, 2023 | Comments on Global News, Opinion
(A round-up of the recent party conferences) So, the dust has settled on another Conservative Party conference and most accountants, economists, bankers were glued to the nightly summary of announcements looking for any clue as to would the Tories cut inheritance tax,...
by David Jones | Oct 12, 2023 | Business Start-up, Business Tax, Tax Investigations, VAT
Last week, VAT specialists VATCalc revealed that the number of UK businesses registering for VAT dropped by over 40,000, the first drop in registrations since 2011. This was surprising, as most experts in the field expected the number to rise, especially as the VAT...
by David Jones | Oct 5, 2023 | Opinion, Pension, Personal Finance
It’s a given, that no-one enjoys paying tax, but most of us recognise that to provide the cash for the NHS, pensions, social care et al, we all must pay a bit. This however is where the arguments start as to what should be taxed and by what amount. A trawl of media...
by David Jones | Sep 28, 2023 | Pension, Personal Finance, Self Assessment
Approaching 50% of income tax self-assessment late-filing penalties are paid by the elderly or the poor, with the common denominator being that they do not owe any tax. So today I’m asking the question; why is HMRC penalising these individuals, when all they are...
by David Jones | Sep 21, 2023 | Opinion
As our ‘wonderful’ tax authority continues with its “digital by default” approach, more and more problems have emerged highlighting a number of fundamental flaws in its approach to move all of its services online. So today I’m looking at which resources should be...