|
 |
Harts NewsJune 2010 Tougher rules on 'Time to Pay' Tax SchemeHarts accountants are warning that there have been further reports that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is taking a tougher line on companies that are asking for longer to pay their taxes under the government's 'Time to Pay' scheme. According to sources, HMRC rejected over 11 per cent of Time to Pay applications during the first quarter of 2010 - more than double the 5.3 per cent rejected in the same period last year. As of 6 April, large companies have also had to shoulder the financial burden of the Independent Business Reviews themselves, in a bid to discourage applications from companies who do not have a genuine need to defer their tax payments. Su Rai, partner at Harts said "HMRC has estimated that around 250 businesses a year would need a review under the new rules, following a recent increase in the number of large Time to Pay requests. It said the reviews would speed up the process of assessing a business's long-term viability and ability to pay, to ensure support was not granted or withheld inappropriately, and that firms did not gain an advantage through using time to pay over firms which had sourced finance elsewhere". This year's Budget also included proposals that, from April 2011, businesses that fail to hand over pay-as-you-earn or National Insurance contributions on time will be asked to provide security against unpaid tax bills. Failure to meet this demand would be a criminal offence, bringing with it a fine of up to £5,000. May 2010 Cancer Care appoint Harts
Beechwood Cancer Care Centre is a day centre now in its twentieth year and provides help to anyone whose life has been affected by the diagnosis and treatment of cancer or other life limiting illnesses. They offer a range of free support; including 1 to 1 talk time; complementary therapies and group sessions to help patients, family members and carers cope with all the problems that they come across. To date they have helped 2,000 family members and over 20,000 cancer patients and carers. During the coming year they hope to expand their range of services as well as their geographical footprint, and are indebted to their supporters, volunteers and staff, who without them could not provide their services for free. One of their main priorities is to find funding of £50,000 per year needed for the Family Support Unit, as this will no longer be funded by Children in Need and the number of families using this service has increased greatly over the past few years. Beechwood, based in Stockport, was recently one of the beneficiaries of the Fashion Kicks event at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in April. Local celebrities were in attendance to watch Manchester City footballers strut their stuff on the catwalk, whilst Westlife provided the entertainment for the evening. Beechwood Cancer Care Centre has recently appointed Harts as their new auditors. The team at Harts, based in Manchester, will be led by Su Rai who has exstensive experience within the charity sector. Harts will deliver a wide range of audit and accounting services, as well as strategic advice and support, which is required by this fast developing charity. Allen Whittaker, Chief Executive of Beechwood, said "We have appointed Harts as we believe their wealth of experience will undoubtedly help in assisting us with our financial reporting and strategy. We are confident that Harts will provide us with the ongoing support and advice we need to deliver our challenging strategy." Su Rai said, "We are delighted to add Beechwood Cancer Care Centre to our portfolio of charity clients and are looking forward to assisting them to achieve their goals and objectives". May 2010 Manchester Chartered Accountants welcome new leaderManchester Chartered Accountants has a new President.
Su Rai, a partner at Harts who heads up their Manchester office, has been made President of the local society of chartered accountants. She takes the reigns from past president Carol Walton, a partner at Usher Spiby & Co, who led the society during 2009 / 2010. Su will support the 4,700 members who make up the society - one of the four founding societies of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Her primary role will be to provide members with support and advice during these continuing testing times as well as ensuring that members engage with the other professional bodies in Manchester to respond to issues facing local businesses. She will be supported in this role by Deputy President Martin Robinson, Executive Chairman of Braemar Group plc and Vice President Alistair Hollows, a Director of IFA Mentor Limited. Su Rai, President of Manchester Chartered Accountants, said: "I am incredibly proud to be able to represent Manchester Chartered Accountants. "During my term in office I hope to raise the profile of the Institute and the local society across Greater Manchester by ensuring that members' views are promoted effectively on accountancy and business issues. "I also aim to build on the excellent work of the society over recent years by continuing to deliver high quality events to help support local members whether in practice or business and especially those affected by the recession" April 2010 Tax dodgers set to be exposedHarts accountants are warning Individuals who do not pay their taxes they face being 'named and shamed' by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from next month if they have avoided paying more than £25,000 of tax. The new policy was announced in last year's budget and will apply to tax dodging committed on or after 1 April 2010 - meaning the first names and addresses are unlikely to be posted on HMRC's website until 2011. Su Rai, partner at Harts said "People who are investigated and found to have deliberately avoided tax can expect to be identified, although they will be given the opportunity to plead any mitigating circumstances before their identities are revealed". Stephen Timms MP, financial secretary to the treasury, said the prospect of bad publicity was intended to be an added deterrent to tax fraud, on top of the existing financial penalties. March 2010 Budget presents mixed picture for businessesLocal accountancy firm Harts has welcomed the measures to help small businesses contained in this year's Budget, while expressing disappointment at the Chancellor's failure to reverse the proposed increase in National Insurance due next year. The Chancellor announced a number of pre-election sweeteners for struggling firms, including a one-off reduction in Business Rates for 12 months starting in October and a doubling in both the Annual Investment Allowance for plant and equipment and the lifetime limit on Entrepreneurs Relief from Capital Gains Tax. As widely predicted, a 'green' investment bank will be set up, with £2billion to invest in green energy and transport projects, while the partially state-owned RBS and Lloyds will provide another £94billion in small business loans this year. The 'time to pay' scheme, where struggling firms can ask for more time to meet their tax bills, will continue for the whole of the next parliament. Harts, a member of the UK200Group of independent accountancy and lawyer firms, said that while there were some pleasant surprises for businesses, the continuation of the 1% NI hike, despite opposition from business groups, risked undoing some of the good work. David Taylor, partner at Harts said: "All in all this was definitely a pre election budget although there were some pleasant surprises for small businesses. "The doubling of the Entrepreneur's Relief lifetime threshold to £2 million and the 12 month reduction in Business Rates for smaller businesses are most welcome and the announcement of a new Investment Corporation (UK Finance for Growth) to oversee help for small businesses sounds good in principle but may just be the reshuffling of existing quangos into another body. "Forecasts for reducing the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement were more bullish than in the past even though his growth forecasts have been trimmed back slightly. This implies that the borrowing reduction will largely be achieved by spending cuts - what we still don't know in detail is where or how. "The major disappointment for both businesses and individuals is the failure to reverse the intended 1% National Insurance rises due in 2011." February 2010 Taking your tax pot abroadHarts Accountants are reminding that anyone looking to retire abroad may wish to consider transferring their UK pension overseas as well, in order to benefit from a low or tax-free pension income. Crucially, by using a Qualified Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS), it is not necessary for the pension to be registered in the holder's country of residence so they could, for example, retire to a popular retirement destination such as France or Spain, but move the pension to a light-tax jurisdiction like Monaco or the Channel Islands. Su Rai, partner at Harts said "This has the potential to significantly reduce tax paid on pension income - for example in Spain, annuity income is taxed at a rate of up to 2.66%, while in countries which do not have a tax treaty with the UK, tax on pension income would be deducted at source. However, once a pension is transferred to a QROPS, the lack of a tax treaty becomes irrelevant, and the only tax charged (if any), will be that levied at the country in which the QROPS is held". Apart from tax havens, many other countries have lower top rates of tax than the UK - for example, the top rate in Singapore is 20%, while in Hong Kong it is 16%, although in the latter country, foreign pensions (including QROPS) are not taxed at all. It is also possible to transfer to a QROPS in a country where there is no requirement to purchase an annuity on retirement, which may be of interest in some circumstances, although if a pension is taken as a lump sum, care needs to be taken not to breach HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regulations. Januray 2010 Government scheme helps over 5,000 firmsHarts accountants are reporting that over 5,000 small businesses secured loans under the government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme during its first year of operation, with over £580million lent during 2009. The scheme, introduced in January 2009, sees the government guarantee up to 75 per cent of loans to companies with an annual turnover of up to L25million, which are looking to borrow up to £1million. Those funds can be used for investment in the business, or to refinance existing borrowing. Su Rai from Harts said "A recent report by Durham University into the effectiveness of the scheme found that 94 per cent of respondents said the loan had improved their business prospects, while 84 per cent said it had improved their prospects of survival." Trade, Investment and Small Business Minister Lord Davies said, "These impressive results show the Government is providing real help to businesses when they need it, helping to secure jobs and give businesses the capital they need to invest and grow. "The Enterprise Finance Guarantee has been welcomed by business and, following its recent extension, it will continue to play a vital role in encouraging enterprise and investment and driving productivity and growth throughout the UK economy." In last month's pre-Budget report, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced that the EFG would continue for at least another year, with another £500million being made available. January 2010 Where giving to charity is a win-win situationHarts accountants are advising tax payers to take advantage of the government's Gift Aid system, where donors are invited to tick a box confirming that they are a UK taxpayer, allowing the charity to claim back a 25p tax credit for every £1 donated. Su Rai, partner at Harts said "This has provided a welcome boost for many good causes, but there is an additional benefit for higher-rate taxpayers, who can claim higher-rate tax relief (currently 40% minus the basic rate of 20%) on their gifts by entering any donations made over the course of the tax year in the 'gift aid' box on their self-assessment tax return. "Therefore anyone who is set to be caught by the new 50% tax rate, or the withdrawal of personal allowances from April next year could benefit from holding back any donations, where possible, until the tax can be reclaimed at the increased rate. An additional benefit comes from charities which offer products with Gift Aid in mind, such as the National Trust's gift aid membership scheme - the tax rebate allowed on a family membership at £105 would certainly be worthwhile for anyone who makes regular visits to the organisation's properties". The tax relief does not just apply to cash donations, and can also be claimed on physical gifts, such as donations of unwanted items such as clothes, DVDs or CDs to a charity shop. If the shop records the gifts in the taxpayer's name, the charity can claim the extra 25% and the donor, if a higher-rate taxpayer, can claim tax relief on the value of the gift, in the same way that they would with a cash donation. December 2009 Pre-Budget fails to tackle debt mountainHarts has expressed disappointment that this year's Pre-Budget report has done little to tackle the UK's spiralling public debt, while increasing tax complexity for higher earners. The Chancellor announced a series of measures to reduce the budget deficit, with a further rise in National Insurance from 2011, additional restrictions on tax relief for the pension contributions of high earners and a temporary 50% tax on bankers' bonuses. But there was some good news for business as a proposed 1% rise in Corporation Tax for small businesses was postponed, the Enterprise Guarantee Scheme which guarantees bank loans to small firms was extended for another year and a £500million fund to invest in small companies was announced. Harts, a member of the UK200Group of independent accountancy and lawyer firms said the report gave some crumbs of support for businesses, but warned further tax hikes were likely to follow after the election. Su Rai, Partner at Harts said: "The statement doesn't do a great deal to fill the gap in the government's finances, or reassure international investors that the government has a plan to bring it down, and whoever wins the next election, further tax rises are inevitable. It is a relief that VAT has not gone up any further than the widely-predicted return to 17.5%, and nor has Capital Gains Tax been increased, as some thought it might. Unfortunately the additional rise in National Insurance from 2011 will put an additional burden on businesses at a time when many will be trying to recover from the recession. One potential boost is the announcement of a £500million Growth Capital Fund for smaller businesses, but like almost everything else in the PBR we have to wait until the New Year to see the detail." November 2009 Harts – Runner up in the UK200 Group Firm of the Year 2009We are delighted to announce that we are runner up in the UK200 Group’s ‘Firm of the Year’ award 2009. The UK200 Group is the leading UK quality assured membership association of practicing accountants and lawyers serving the SME business sector. Established in 1986 and with a membership of some 110 firms, together with international associates in nearly 50 locations, the UK200 Group has a membership structure that creates a client focus environment, ensuring the consistent delivery of high quality service by member firms. This achievement demonstrates that Harts is a firm who is highly regarded within the Group and is fully committed to a high quality service to its clients. Harts consistently achieves very high grades in the annual independent peer review, which ensures that the high standards set by the Group are being met. We continually offer proactive, innovative solutions and by encouraging staff development we maintain our high levels of commitment and performance which is reflected in the service we give to our clients. Su Rai, Partner at Harts comments: “We are delighted to be the runner up for this prestigious award and this is a testament to the hard work and commitment made by everyone at Harts”. September 2009 A New Partner joins Harts
Harts opened their Spinningfields office earlier in the year to focus on the plethora of owner-managed businesses looking for a quality alternative to larger, more impersonal accountancy firms. Su’s primary responsibility will be to develop the Firm’s offering to the mid-corporate market in Manchester and the North West. Anne-Marie Naylor, Managing Partner said “Su’s appointment and our expansion into Manchester is a very important step in the Firm’s strategic development. We have found an increasingly high demand for our services in the Manchester market and therefore expanding our office in Spinningfields was a natural move. I am delighted that Su has joined the team and we are sure that she will play an important role in our future growth and development”. July 2009 Introducing Our Independent Mortgage Adviser
Abby comes to us with a wealth of experience, and will provide the high standards that we continually strive to deliver to our clients. This is particularly pertinent in the current challenging mortgage environment for consumers. If you have a mortgage that is due for renewal or you are thinking of buying a house, then please contact Abby who will be able to provide you with excellent independent advice. You can contact Abby by phone on 01625 669669 or email her at abby.baker@hartsllp.com |
Site Map | Help | Disclaimer | © |
Su Rai has been appointed to head up the rapidly expanding Manchester office of Harts. Su has spent most of her career with KPMG. She currently holds the post of Deputy President of the Manchester Chartered Accountants and will become President next year.
We are delighted to announce the recruitment of an Independent Mortgage Adviser to Harts Wealth Management - Abby Baker. Abby joined us in July and will be advising both our personal and commercial clients on new borrowing and remortgages.