These are teams of tax investigators who target particular trades in defined geographical areas with one-to-one visits. A typical taskforce team will include specialists to cover the taxes the business pays: VAT, PAYE, and corporation tax. It may include a computer expert to help with the computerised business records or the till. The Tax Offi...

A lot of businesses have made significant losses in the current recession and will continue to make losses for a while yet. Where those losses are made outside of a company they can generally be set-off against the entrepreneur's other income, or in some cases their gains, without limit. There are restrictions on the use of losses made from a ...

Have you signed-up with the Tax Office to submit your VAT returns online, or agreed that we will do this online filing for you? If neither applies then you will shortly receive a letter from the Taxman reminding you of your online filing obligations. Almost all VAT businesses are now required to submit their VAT returns online for periods star...

When a company fails to pay over the PAYE and NIC which should have been deducted from salaries paid to the employees and directors, HMRC can issue the directors and shadow directors of the company with personal demands for the tax due. A shadow director is not registered as a director of the company with Companies House, but he or she will e...

Homes Worth Over £2 million! top The Government wants to clamp down on tax avoidance by people who purchase their homes through companies, or other structures like trusts or partnerships, (known as non-natural persons). It is proposing new tax charges will be applied follows: a) From 1 April 2013 an annual charge will apply ...

Buildings are generally exempt from VAT, but there are a lot of exceptions to this. A person who holds an interest in a building (freehold or leasehold) can opt to tax the building, such that income from selling or letting the building is subject to VAT. If you purchase a building and the purchase price includes VAT, you do not have to opt to t...

Company Money in Personal Account top Here's a nice problem to have: your company holds a lot of money, but you want to leave it there for now. Perhaps you don't want to be taxed personally if you take the money out of the company. The company may also have long-term plans for the funds, such as acquiring another bus...

The Taxman is determined to target tax evaders, so has been running several campaigns to target particular business sectors, such as doctors, electricians and e-traders. The latest campaign is aimed at individuals who should be paying tax at 40% or 50%, but who have not submitted a tax return when requested to do so. These people will be offer...