Back to Blog

National Insurance Cuts 2024

From 6th January 2024, the main rate of National Insurance for employees was cut from 12% to 10% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270. For any income over £50,270 a year the NI will remain at 2%.For the average employee on a salary of £35,400, the reduction is worth £450 a year. There has been no change to the employer's rate of National Insurance. For those who are self-employed, you currently pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions at £3.45 a week if your profits are £12,57...

HMRC rolls out "Side Hustle Tax"

Sites like Airbnb, Ebay, Vinted and Depop will begin to share information with HMRC and this will allow them to home in on anyone who should be declaring income but isn’t. The threshold for income is set at £1000 a year and anything taken above this means sellers must register as self-employed and file a self-assessment tax return.What do you need to do?If you are an online seller who already pays tax, you don’t need to do anything.If you are an online seller and your sales are more than £...

Voluntary NIC payment deadline extended

HMRC have announced they will give taxpayers an extra 2 years to plug gaps in their NIC record from April 2006.This deadline was originally set at 5 April 2023, but has been extended until 5 April 2025.Normally, individuals can only make voluntary contributions to fill missing weeks for the previous 6 years but HMRC is at present accepting voluntary payments for gaps between April 2006 and April 2017.This means you now have longer to consider whether making voluntary contributions to boost your ...

HullJady's fundraising for The Brick

At HullJady, we wanted to show our support for a brilliant local charity, The Brick. The Brick's mission is to empower people and ultimately help them end reliance on charitable and statutory support. The staff at HullJady decided to produce a cookbook that consists of 25 recipes ranging from soups, starters/sides, mains and desserts which are loved by their family and friends. HullJady have covered all the costs of production and distribution so be assured that 100% of your donation will benefi...

Autumn 2022 Budget - What You Need To Know

...

Buying property for rental purposes

There’s a lot to consider, whether you’re thinking of buying one or just a few properties or your aim is to build a sizeable property portfolio. Here’s a summary of what you need to know before you take the plunge. As always, no blog can cover everything you need to think about, so do ring us if you want to have a chat about your specific plans. A big decision is whether to trade through a limited company or as a sole trader? There is usually no easy answer and before you decide, you need ...

Further Extension to SEISS

We have advised you in previous updates on the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) designed to provide grants to self-employed workers who are ineligible for other support schemes such as the Job Retention Scheme. The Chancellor has now extended the scheme from 1st November 2020 until April 2021.To be eligible for the grant extension self-employed individuals must:currently be eligible for the SEISS (though they do not need to have claimed the grants)confirm that they are currently tra...

Job Retention Bonus Scheme

You probably saw on the news that the Chancellor has announced an additional feature to the Job Retention Scheme, namely the payment of a bonus to employers who keep employees in work until at last 31st January 2020. We thought we'd send a circular round setting out the main points of the scheme for your information.The bonus is a one-off payment to any employer that has used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.To be eligible the qualifying employees must:earn at least £520 per month on averag...

SEISS Extension

On 20th May 2020 we advised you about the Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) designed to provide grants to self-employed workers who are ineligible for other support schemes such as the Job Retention Scheme. The original scheme covered a 3 month period which expired on 13th July 2020 and claims for that period can no longer be filed.However the scheme has now been extended for a further 3 months running from 14th July 2020. Eligibility for the second grant will be determined in the sa...

CJRS changing from 1st July

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is changing from 1st July. We thought we'd remind  and update you on the key points:the last day that a furlough claim can be submitted for any period ending on or before 30th June is 31st Julyno claims for periods beginning 1st July onward can be submitted before 1st Julyfrom 1st July furloughed workers can be brought back on a part-time basis, for any amount of time and any shift pattern and their employer can claim a CJRS grant for th...

Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme

HMRC has announced further details and guidance in relation to the SSP rebate scheme. These are as follows:The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will repay employers the current rate of SSP that they pay to current or former employees for periods of sickness starting on or after 13 March 2020.Employers who pay more than the current rate of SSP can only claim the current rate amount.The repayment will cover up to 2 weeks starting from the first day of sick...

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

More detail provided on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)As originally announced the CJRS was, perhaps understandably, lacking in detail but HMRC has now provided more details of the scheme. These include:government to cover employer National Insurance and pension contributions of furloughed workers – on top of 80% of salary and over and above the £2500/mth/worker capsalary (or wage) does NOT include fees, commission or bonusesthere is no requirement to ensure that furloughed employ...

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

The government has now announced new measures designed to provide support for the self-employed, including members of a partnership, who have been adversely affected by Covid-19.Full details of the scheme can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-schemeThe main points are:Applications cannot be made yet. HMRC will contact you if you are eligible for the scheme and invite you to apply onlineAccess to the scheme is O...

Covid-19 Update

New, additional, measures have been introduced to provide support to businesses and their employees and also more detail has now been provided on some of the measures already unveiled. These are as follows: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme providing grants to businesses to cover 80% of the salary of PAYE employees who would have otherwise been laid off as a result of the crisis Deferral of the next quarter’s VAT payments until the end of June 2020 Deferral of income tax payments due in July 20...

Why use a Chartered Accountant?

Unbelievably, anyone can call themselves an accountant, with absolutely no qualifications, and set up in practice to look after your financial affairs and those of your business. So why would you use a Chartered Accountant? Especially because they might seem more expensive than the “accountant“  down the road? Here are some compelling reasons why: Chartered Accountants have to undergo at least three years of rigorous on-the-job training and pass a series of demanding exams in order to u...

Wigan Business Awards 2019

Once again HullJady are excited to be sponsoring the Wigan Business Awards for 2019 and we're particularly happy to again be sponsoring the Family Business of the Year Award.  Family businesses make a huge contribution to our local economy and we at HullJady are proud of our long association with this important award. The award will recognise and celebrate the unique contribution family businesses have made to Wigan borough's economy, history and culture.  The judging panel will look a...

Wigan International Jazz Festival 2019

We are delighted to be sponsoring the Wigan International Jazz Festival again this year.  The Festival was formed in 1986 in response to the region’s growing audience for jazz and big band music created in part by the Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra. Featuring many of the world’s finest jazz artists, many of iconic status, the event quickly a gained a reputation for being one of the finest jazz Festivals in Europe.  We are proud to have been associated with the festival for many years, ...

Making Tax Digital update

Making tax digital for VAT is now a reality. It on 1 April 2019 with MTD for VAT. From that date, VAT-registered businesses with turnover above the threshold of £85,000 will have to keep digital records and submit VAT returns using compatible software. The new rules apply to the first VAT period starting on or after 1 April 2019 Click here to visit our MTD page for more background information. We are recommending that clients file VAT returns on the platform we are all used to for as long as th...

RBS Business Banking Switch

Many RBS business banking customers are being offered financial incentives to move to other banks.   These incentives include cash payments ranging from £750 to £50,000 depending on turnover, additional cash payments based on lending balances and periods of free or discounted bank charges moving forward.If you are an RBS business customer you should have had correspondence from the bank bringing this to your attention, but we have a least one client who thought it was a scam. It isn'...

Making Tax Digital

Background VAT registered businesses are receiving another letter from HMRC regarding Making tax Digital for VAT.  It recommends that you talk to your accountant about MTD. We agree but we thought it would be helpful to summarise the position in this article. Making Tax Digital begins on 1 April 2019 with MTD for VAT (it applies to the first VAT period starting on or after 1 April 2019) . From that date, VAT-registered businesses with turnover above the threshold of £85,000 will have ...

HMRC issue late filing penalties in error

Early in January 2019 HMRC issued late filing penalties to many self-assessment tax payers in error.  One of our clients received the notice of the fine despite that fact that the return had been successfully filed electronically and deadline date had not been reached. We understand that HMRC have reviewed their records and attempted to correct the error but if anyone has received a late filing penalty which they believe to be incorrect they should contact HMRC immediately. We are able to a...

Maximising the benefits of Mileage claims and VAT on mileage

Here are a few simple pointers on how much you can claim.How much mileage can I claim? If you use your own car to make journeys solely for business purposes during your employment,you can claim tax relief on your mileage up to the current rates allowed by HMRC. For cars and vans, the current rates of mileage claims allowed are: 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year 25p per mile for any miles over 10,000 in the same year the rates are published by HMRC...

HMRC Visits: Trouble in store?

Many businesses dread a visit from HMRC; there is always the worry that something may arise, which results in paying more tax. There is also an understandable sense of dread at the potential disruption it could cause in the run up to, during and even following the visit. However, there are a number of things you can do to make the experience far less stressful. Preparation Most HMRC visits are pre-arranged, either by telephone or by letter. If the appointment is made by telephone, ask the offi...

Making Tax Digital – a bold vision or a complete nightmare?

You might have heard about “Making Tax Digital” (MTD), HMRC’s plan for getting most businesses and many individuals to make returns of income and expenses to them on a quarterly basis, using digital software which HMRC will not provide. The plans are still under discussion, but with HMRC’s announcement that they’d like to see MTD start in April 2017, it’s clear that they mean business, even if the detail is not yet clear. Many returns are already filed digitally and we’ve been usin...

Quotes in Xero

Xero have really increased the pace of their product updates over the past year introducing a host of useful and innovative features. One of the key upgrades has been introduction of sales quotes to the platform.Quoting is a critical function for businesses and having a professional, transparent, traceable process can significantly improve both revenue and customer satisfaction. It is now simple to create, send and track your quotes in Xero allowing you to respond quickly to new sales opportunit...