by David Jones | Feb 21, 2020 | Self Assessment
Recent research has revealed that a significant minority of the self-employed have little, or no idea what they can claim for as an expense on their Tax Returns. It’s even worse with PAYE workers, many of whom do not claim for costs or allowances that...
by David Jones | Feb 14, 2020 | Self Assessment
MTD (Making Tax Digital) proved very costly for one taxpayer. Discovering that ignoring an HMRC electronic notice to file landed him with £1,300 in late filing penalties. As part of its broader strategy, the tax department has been encouraging taxpayers to switch to...
by David Jones | Feb 10, 2020 | Business Tax, Self Assessment
An anonymous poster on an ‘Any Answers’ page on a tax forum I subscribe to, asked whether it was permissible for a self-employed individual to claim tax relief on the costs of a therapy dog. This got me thinking about the circumstances in which the self-employed...
by David Jones | Jan 30, 2020 | Business Regulation, Self Assessment, Tax Investigations
This is a case where a taxpayer failed to respond to questions about used car sales, so HMRC plucked a figure of taxable profit out of the air to use as the base for tax and penalty assessments totalling £342,943. Background to the case HMRC asserted that a gentleman...
by David Jones | Jan 24, 2020 | Self Assessment
It’s that time of year again when HMRC release their latest tranche of excuses given by taxpayers, as to why their Tax Returns were submitted late or ingenious attempts by taxpayers to get dubious claims for expenses past the taxman. The lists have always amused...
by David Jones | Jan 17, 2020 | Personal Finance, Self Assessment, Tax Investigations
Picture the scenario: a taxpayer was under investigation for non-disclosure of foreign earnings (income from letting out a holiday home in Spain). The enquiry settlement letter included the following paragraph: “In order to help me consider the behaviour...
by David Jones | Jan 10, 2020 | Business Regulation, VAT
I recently had an urgent SOS call from a client named Marco, who runs a pizza takeaway business. I felt like James Bond being called into action on a high-profile mission: ‘Operation Margherita’, so to speak. The business owner was convinced that if one of his...
by David Jones | Jan 3, 2020 | Self Assessment
Now that we are in Tax Return season, my inbox of questions has started to multiply, so here’s a selection of the questions received in the last few weeks that I hope you will find interesting. The Topics today: Card machine printouts – keep or not? Can I...
by David Jones | Dec 19, 2019 | Business Tax
The 2019 election delivered a resounding victory for the Conservative Party, and the business community, as well as accountants, reacted with demands for an immediate Budget, stability for business and tax reform. The unexpected 77 seat majority, surprised both voters...
by David Jones | Dec 12, 2019 | Business Tax, Self Assessment
Over the last three years, HMRC has provided various “interpretations” of the rules for trivial benefits in the last three employer bulletins, as it apparently views those rules as too generous. From 6 April 2016, the government introduced a new exemption for trivial...
David Jones is the Senior Partner and Founder of Morgan Jones & Company. Born in Liverpool and an Accountancy graduate of the University of Wolverhampton, David spent twenty years working for the Customs & Excise in London then Shrewsbury before starting his own business. David's depth of knowledge of the UK tax system and his ability to communicate this learning has seen Morgan Jones & Company grow into Shropshire's most respected Accountancy Practice. Email David