XACT ACCOUNTS LTD
We prepare and submit tax returns on behalf of our clients. In doing so we act to minimise our clients tax liabilities within the law. If your tax return is simple you should be able to do it yourself and if you just want some simple advice you can call or email us and get some free advice to help you do your own tax return
However if your tax affairs are more complex you are probably better off talking to an accountant as tax law is quite a complicated subject and there are significant penalties, often much higher than the tax liability itself, for either submitting your tax return late or for failing to comply with the law.
Any business with a turnover in excess of £85,000 must register for VAT and submit VAT returns quarterly. If your turnover is less than £1.3(M) you may elect to file annual VAT returns. You have thirty days from the end of your VAT quarter to submit VAT returns which is extended to sixty days for those who operate the annual scheme.
Almost all businesses must file VAT returns using paid for third party software. Details of all individual transactions supporting the VAT return must be filed with it so your business must be resourced to do so. There are significant financial penalties for failure to file VAT returns accurately and on time.
We offer a cloud based payroll service to our clients. It is highly flexible as it enables businesses to run their payroll themselves or to get us to run it for them. And when we run it for them they can log on 24 hours a day to review the status of their payroll or get any payroll reports they need such as a copy of a payslip or a report of gross payroll cost and deductions for a week or a month, or any period they choose. Our most common service is where the business reports the hours worked for employees up to each Sunday night and we pay them on the next day, Monday. We do all of the work including issuing a statement of payroll costs for the week and payslips to the employer for their records. We also pay out the net pay to the employees, issue them directly with payslips.
We also offer ancillary services such as autoenrol pensions and pay over statutory payroll deductions such as PAYE and NIC deductions, pension deductions and payroll attachment deductions to all relevant statutory bodies.
It is important to have a current,valid will preferably witnessed by a solicitor. You should periodically review your will in the event of major changes to your status including marriage, divorce and material changes in assets held. You can also make lifetime gifts to reduce your taxable estate. A gift to an individual is exempt from inheritance tax if the donor survives for seven years from the date of the gift. Therefore, you should consider making gifts as early as possible, although you have to pay Capital Gains Tax when you make the gift. But the Capital Gains Tax is likely to be less than the future Inheritance Tax.
IHT efficient investments or financial products are available which can substantially reduce your Inheritance Tax exposure. Business assets qualify for 100% relief from Inheritance Tax, normally after a two year ownership period. Let agricultural land and buildings (including farmhouses and cottages) can also have favoured status for Inheritance Tax but you need to take professional advice before enacting any scheme to avoid taxes.
A recent study of inheritance tax cases concluded that the beneficiaries of a will got about 50% of what they expected after taxes and solicitors fees were paid. If there is a legal dispute between any of the beneficiaries the take for the beneficiaries can drop to 10%.