HMRC – PHISHING AND E-MAIL SCAMS

Thousands of taxpayers are targeted each year by criminals by using bogus forms of communication e.g. e-mails, text and social media messages.  There are simple steps you can take to check whether HMRC have in fact contacted you.

• E-mail addresses – bogus e-mails usually have e-mail addresses similar to those of HMRC such as Revenue, HMRC or gov. An example of one being refunds@hmrc.org.uk which is there to mislead and can falsify the “from” address to appear legitimate.  To check this hover over the link and at the bottom left hand corner of your browser page to indicate the actual link it will lead to.  If you are unsure of where the message comes from don’t open it or if you do and still doubtful don’t click on any links or downloads
• Links and attachments – if these are within the e-mail don’t open if you are unsure or are suspicious. Fraudsters can make the linked page look very much like the homepage of HMRC’s website or any attachments could contain viruses.  Both have the aim of obtaining personal or confidential information.
• Personal information – HMRC will never e-mail about offering you a repayment, notifying you of a tax rebate, asking for disclosure of personal information or ask you to respond to a non-HMRC personal e-mail address.
• Request urgent action – be wary of e-mails asking for immediate action or needing action within a short time frame e.g. three days etc.
• Common greeting – e-mails from HMRC generally start with your name and inform you of how to report any phishing within the e-mail and will not start with “Dear Sir/Madam”, “Dear customer” or “Hello.”

Forward any e-mails you think are suspicious to HMRC’s phishing team phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and await for their response and guidance.

You can go to www.gov.uk/government/publications/genuine-hmrc-contact-and-recognising-phishing-emails to see up to date information on a current list of digital and other contact issued from HMRC.

Source: The Telegraph “Bogus HMRC e-mails: the official guide to spotting scam.”

Are you a director and unsure whether auto enrolment applies to you?

Auto enrolment does not apply when a company or an individual are not considered an employer.  If you meet one of the following criteria then duties are not owed,

• You are a sole director company, with no staff
• Your company has a number of directors, none of whom have an employment contract, and no staff.
• Your company has a number of directors, only one of whom has an employment contract, with no staff.
• Your company has ceased trading.
• Your company has gone into liquidation
• Your company has been dissolved.
• You no longer employ people in your home (cleaners, nannies, personal care assistants etc).

For information about employment contracts please go to employment status on the GOV.UK website.

If one of the above does apply and you receive a letter from The Pensions Regulator regarding auto enrolment then you need to inform them you are not an employer.  This can be done using an on-line form and you will need the following, letter code, PAYE reference and Companies House number (if you have one).

Should any circumstances change so auto enrolment applies e.g. if a member of staff or at least 2 directors with contracts of employment started working for you, then you have duties in respect of those staff and are an employer.  As such you will need to notify the Pensions Regulator of this change even if none of the said staff meet the age and earnings criteria for auto enrolment.

If the Pensions Regulator find that an employer has provided false or misleading information to evade auto enrolment then this will be considered when taking action against the employer in the future.

Source: The Pensions Regulator

You may, or may not, be aware of recent changes to the Directors responsibility of letting Companies House know when there have been changes to your Company.

Previously, you only had to inform Companies House of any changes annually – this has now changed to notifying them within 14 days/a month of any change to your company.

So, what changes do you need to let Companies House know about?

Within 14 days:

• Changing your company’s registered office address
  • You must tell Companies House if you want to change your company’s registered office address. If the change is approved, they will advise HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
  • Your company’s new registered office address must be in the same part of the UK that the company was registered (incorporated).
  • For example, if your company was registered in England and Wales, the new registered office address must be in England or Wales.

Your address won’t officially change until Companies House has registered it, they will advise you when this happens.

• The address where you keep your records, and which records you keep there
• Changes to Directors (appointing a new one or ending an existing one’s appointment) & or their personal details, like their address
• Changes to Company Secretaries (appointing a new one or ending an existing one’s appointment)

Within One Month:

• You must tell Companies House within a month if you issue more shares in your company.

 Find out more from Companies House about a Directors responsibilities here.

Prior to notifying Companies House, there are some changes that shareholders must approve first:

 You may need to get shareholders to vote on the decision if you want to:

• change the company name
• remove a director
• change the company’s articles of association
• This is called ‘passing a resolution’. Most resolutions will need a majority to agree (called an ‘ordinary resolution’). Some might require a 75% majority (called a ‘special resolution’).

Companies House has more details about the types of changes and resolutions you must report to them.

Changes you must notify directly to HMRC:

You must tell HMRC if:

• your business’ contact details change – for example, your name, business name or your personal or trading address
• you appoint an accountant or tax adviser

With only a few weeks to go before the deadline, is it vital that you file your self-assessment tax return online (for tax year 2016/17) by 31^st January.

You must also pay what you owe or you could face penalties.  The deadline for paying the tax for the 2016/17 tax year and your first payment on account for the 2017/18 tax year is also 31^st January 2018.  Your second payment on account being due on 31^st July 2018.  Penalties apply if you miss either of these deadlines.

Late filing penalties:

• One day late, a penalty of £100 is applied, even if no tax is due.
• Three months late, there is a daily charge of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900.
• Six months late, the penalty is 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater.
• Twelve months late, is a further 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater.
• In particularly serious cases, you may have a higher penalty of 100% of the tax due.

If you are in a self-assessment partnership, penalties apply to both the late submissions of the partnership return and the individual partner’s return.

Late payment penalties:

• 5% of tax unpaid after 30 days
• Another 5% of tax unpaid after 6 months
• Another 5% of tax unpaid after 12 months

It is your responsibility to declare all sources of income on your self-assessment tax return.  If you do not, you could face penalties, possible court action or even criminal convictions.

HMRC offers a wide range of help during this stressful period. Help and advice on filing your return is available from the GOV.UK website or the Self-Assessment helpline on 0300 200 3310 (open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 8am to 4pm and Sundays 9am to 5pm).

If you are concerned about your tax return and require any assistance call us on 0113 2864486.

SME trade shows can be a sea of blue and grey suits.  So, if we are saying we are different, this is a great opportunity to show we are.

At a trade show, we are looking for conversations.  Conversation with people who have businesses. These allow us to show people that we are knowledgeable, personable, helpful…. but this interaction is at its most valuable if we are memorable.

If the people we meet remember us, then our attendance was great PR.  But, what if we want to get something more out of taking a stand at a show?  The following up of leads is an opportunity to generate real value.  If we follow up with a call and they remember us, we have a much greater chance of securing a meeting, which may then lead to us doing business together.  So, how do we get people to remember us?

This is where your branding really comes in.  For us, the orange is a great hook.  When I make a follow up call and say, “we were the Accountants wearing orange”, they immediately know who we are.

So, what makes you memorable?

Your hook needs to be personal to you.  Something you believe in and are passionate about.  Something reflective of you and what you stand for!

So – What is your hook?

As from 4^th September HMRC is no longer issuing paper copies of form SA302.

An SA302 is evidence of earnings and may be needed, for example, if you are applying for a mortgage and you have your own business. It is the self-employed equivalent of a P60 (a statement of earnings from employment for the tax year to 5^th April).  They can be printed 72 hours after you have submitted your tax return and are available if you do your own tax return from either HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s online services) or commercial software.

If you are using HMRC online services then you log in in the normal manner, go to Self-Assessment, then More Self-Assessment details.  If you or your accountant are using commercial software you will need to use that software to print your tax calculation.  If you still require a tax year overview then this can be done via your HMRC online account.

A list of lenders or mortgage providers who accept a SA302 printed from online accounts or from the commercial software used to submit returns can be found at https://www.gov.uk

It’s that time of year again when we are counting down to the man in the red suit paying us a visit.  Make sure that it is not the tax man visiting you in the New Year, by understanding the guidelines on treating your team to a party, night out or bonus.

Bonuses

Employers providing Christmas bonuses to their employees have tax, National Insurance (NI) and reporting obligations.

A cash bonus is the same as any other earnings from a tax and NI perspective and deductions need to be made based on the individual’s coding notice and pay for the period in which the bonus is paid.

That said, a bonus is always well received.

Goods

If you give goods as Christmas gifts to employees or clients,

• HMRC will allow you to give a business gift worth up to £50 to any one person in any one tax year.
• The gift must be a business gift, e.g. business diary and must not be food, alcoholic drink or tobacco or vouchers which are exchangeable for food, drink or tobacco.
• The gift must carry a conspicuous advertisement for your company in order to avoid being classified as entertainment expenses which would not be allowable.
• If the gift costs more than £50, HMRC will disallow the whole amount, not just the amount over £50!

Christmas Parties/Multiple Annual Events

Are you treating your team to a fancy ball or taking them to the local for a few drinks on Christmas Eve?  You will need to think about other social events you have held, if you invited all staff and how much you spend per head because it all relates to employee benefits and you may need to report it to HMRC.

To be exempt, the party or similar social function must be:

• £150 or less per head
• open to all your employees

If your business has more than one location, an annual event that is open to all staff based at one location still counts as exempt. You can also put on separate parties for different departments, as long as all of your employees can attend one of them.

If you have multiple annual events as long as the combined cost of the events is no more than £150 per head, they’re still exempt.

If any of the events you provide are not exempt, you will have to report the costs to HMRC and pay NI on them.

For multiple or more annual events costing less than £150 per head, you may be able to count these costs as exempt. However, you cannot do this if you’ve already used up the £150 exemption on another event.

However, you’ll have to report and pay on the full costs of any additional events that go over this limit, even if they cost less than £150 per head on their own.

If you allow people to attend an event who are not employees, then you need to take care if you are planning on reclaiming VAT, as you cannot reclaim the VAT on the money spent on the people attending who were not employee’s.

If you would like any further assistance and guidance on this, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0113 2864486.

HMRC are making some changes to the way that customers can make payments to them, to make it more secure and convenient to you.

As from 15^th December 2017 you will no longer be able to pay at the Post Office and from 13^th January 2018 you will no longer be able to pay by personal credit cards.

There are many other ways in which you can pay,

• Direct Debit
• Online or telephone banking (including Faster Payments, BACs and CHAPS)
• Debit/Corporate Credit cards online or by telephone.
• At a Bank or Building Society, ensuring you have an HMRC paying in slip
• A cheque through the post
• For your Self Assessment bill you can use the above, your PAYE tax code or a budget payment plan

For National Insurance contributions you cannot use a debit/credit card.

For BACS and cheque payments please allow 3 working days for HMRC to receive payment.  Faster Payments usually reach HMRC on the same or next day, including weekends and bank holidays, with CHAPS payments reaching HMRC the same working day depending if payment is sent within the bank’s processing times.

GOV.UK has further information about paying HMRC as well as more guidance on paying your self assessment tax bill.

If we can help with any queries regarding payments and how to pay then please do not hesitate to contact us on 0113 2864486 or admin@businessworksuk.co.uk

Our chosen local charity for Business Works UK this year is Give a Duck.  For every new client that comes on board we’ll Give a Duck.  But not just any duck.  This Duck supports children with cancer.

The Give a Duck charity was hatched in Leeds by Andrew and Karen Phillips when their son Harry was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2012.  The Ducks are used to support and educate children and their families during the diagnosis and treatment for cancer.  With the support of Candlelighters in Yorkshire, enough money has been raised to supply every child in our county with a Chemo Duck.   How fantastic is that?

However, this is just the start.  The aim and intention of the Give a Duck charity is to ensure that every child diagnosed with cancer in the UK is given this unique programme to help them through treatment.

At Business Works, we are donating a Duck each time we sign up a new client (so every time we get something we want, we give something to a worthy cause) and we’ve started with this flock.

To find out and read more about this inspiring charity then go to www.giveaduck.org.uk

Proud to be 2017 Firm of the Future UK winners.  Please vote for us (each day if you can) to help us become Global Firm of the Future 207 by following this link http://bit.ly/FotFUK voting closes Sunday 29^th October.

You may be aware that we have won a competition run by Quickbooks and are the UK 2017 Firm of the Future!

We have now recovered from the shock of winning this prize and are focusing on the Global Firm of the Future competition, for which we are a finalist after winning the UK prize.

We are up against firms in Canada, Australia and USA and we need your help.

The next stage is a public vote!

It’s incredible to think that a firm of Accountants from Garforth could be the global winners, but we can’t do it without you.

Voting is easy, and once you register and vote for the first time, you can actually vote once per day from 16th to 30th October.

If you would vote for us, then that would be amazing.  If you would ask someone else to also vote for us, or vote on more than one day, then that would be even better.

If you really want to vote for us every day, but know you will get really busy and forget – we can set up a daily text reminder, if that would help!  Please let us know if you want this as we don’t want to be guilty of spamming…

Please use this link to vote: bit.ly/FotFUK

Thank you so much