Blogs

We haven’t done a newsletter in a while, and I honestly can’t tell you why not 🤔. It has been a hectic few months of ups and downs in the United Kingdom and there is so much uncertainty that the best answer was that I couldn’t write about tax matters as they were changing by the month (or week)!

The change regarding tax seems to have stabilised for now and I can get back to my routine of writing about relevant matters. I hope our clients and community have been doing well and luckily I have been in touch with my clients on a monthly basis.

Making Tax Digital is part of the government’s plans to make it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs. We think it encourages business owners to take their accounting processes more seriously and use the numbers to improve their business.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is not a new concept and we have been filing VAT returns for businesses since 2020. But from the tax year starting 6 April 2024, all sole traders/self-employed businesses and landlords whose income or turnover is over £10,000 will need to also use MTD to file their returns.

I thought it might be useful to show the differences in a table format.

This table is only a summary, and you should read and consider the facts on the Government Gateway or consult with an expert before making a final decision.

The team is hard at work at making our clients' lives easier and, we hope, better. Loads of business owners want to do their own accounts, but don’t know how Xero works, or want to have an accounting practice to help them to do it properly and accurately themselves, because they want to learn.

We have supported businesses in the past with a Xero (an accounting package) training session where Irelene would help business owners and bookkeepers, via Zoom or in person, understand how the program works and how to use this effectively and efficiently in their business.

Remember back in April I said I am going for a surfing lesson? It went well, but gosh did I work some muscles! The idea behind it was to do something out of your comfort zone. Surfing, I realised, isn't just out of my comfort zone, it is also the best way to get completely away from everything.

When you are in the water, waiting for the next wave, you can’t think of anything else except surfing or how to get yourself standing on the board. And it was an amazing way to connect with nature. I highly recommend it!

Now let's talk about tax and accounts 😊

Written by Roulon du Toit

We mentioned this in the June newsletter, but we thought it will be worth expanding on this topic a little more.

The employer allowance has increased from £4000-£5000 for the 2022/2023 tax year. This is claimed as part of your monthly payroll and is deducted from the employer portion of the National Insurance contribution if the company qualifies. 

If we do your monthly payroll, then we have activated this allowance if this allowance is applicable, but if you are unsure, please don’t hesitate to ask us. This allowance is on the first £5000, so later in the year when the allowance is used up, your monthly PAYE contributions will increase. 

I would also like to remind our lovely clients that the following expenses are deductible in your self-assessment if you are working from home:

Written by Roulon du Toit

Who will be affected by MTD? Landlords with a taxable income of more than £10 000 per year. This will include rent from both furnished holiday flats and rental properties. Landlords should also include taxable income generated from self-employment activities.

What are the main rules and changes to be aware of?

Landlords must ensure that they are registered for MTD for Income Tax before 6 April 2023.

Landlords who are registered for self-assessment or even registered for MTD for VAT will not automatically be transferred across to MTD for Income Tax.

We did it!

We have created an application that will help individuals work out whether they are tax resident in the UK. The app is completely free, but there is an option to make an appointment with someone at Anlo if, having used the app, you think your tax affairs require further discussion.

This was something that I wanted to do a year ago. I wanted to help people like me that have moved to the UK and are unsure of their tax status, and uncertain if they are classed as tax resident.

I am not a social media butterfly and don’t like sharing my life with the world, but this month I want to share something that I have never done before, that made me very proud. I took our 3 kids mountain biking (the blue path so nothing fancy) in the Glenlivet estate in the Highlands, Scotland.

If you know me, you will appreciate how out of my comfort zone that was. And I loved it. That made me think of how important it is to do things that are out of our comfort zone. It makes you see the world differently and appreciate things we take for granted.

Submitting your self-assessment in April might seem strange for some people, but I love being prepared :-).

We are ready, so let's get your self-assessment done and dusted so that 2022 can be awesome!

I would like to encourage all our lovely clients to get their self-assessment done as soon as possible.

It has been a while since I have sat down and thought about Anlo’s newsletter and what I would like to write to all our wonderful clients.

People that have gone through grief told me that you don’t feel yourself for a period, and I used to listen and sympathise, but I could not really imagine how long that feeling will last, or how deep it will hurt, until now.

With the love and closeness of wonderful people, I am slowly getting there.

If you work through a limited company, it can be very tax efficient to have your limited company make pension contributions directly into your pension scheme. Please note that we are not pension advisors so we cannot give specific pension and investment advice and if you are interested in starting a pension, we would strongly advise that you discuss your specific circumstances with a pension advisor.

To start with I need to explain the difference between pension contributions made personally and contributions made by your company (aka employer contributions).

Welcome to 2022. We wish you a very happy and merry new year!

Please remember to send us your self-assessment information if you haven’t done your 2020.2021 self-assessment and would like Anlo to assist with your return.

The deadline is the 31st of January 2022 to file your return. But HMRC has issued correspondence that they will allow taxpayers until the end of February 2022 to file their tax returns without any penalties if they have a reasonable excuse to file the return late.