How to set up and run a small business
Our Main Tax Guides
Tax Rates
Book Keeping / Accounts
Value Added Tax Guides
As more and more people choose to work from home, the question of how you can reclaim any home office expenses is frequently asked.
The general HMRC rule for claiming tax relief on business expenses is that you can only reclaim costs that have been ‘wholly and exclusively’ incurred in connection with your trade.
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Few people start a new business so they can do paperwork. Spending time adding up receipts or pushing invoices around a desk is nobody’s idea of fun (unless you’re starting up as a book-keeper or accountant!).
Unfortunately it’s a necessary evil and something you need to stay on top of in your new business. Being disorganised and putting off paperwork just isn’t an option. Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will fine you if you’re late getting essential information to them. And the longer you leave it, the worse the problem gets. So here’s what every small business owner needs to know about book keeping.
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Tax isn’t the most exciting part of running your own business, but it is an issue that you will have to tackle at some point.
To help you to quickly get to grips with the subject, here are some handy tax tips based on our findings of working with small businesses over the past decade, and from our own personal experience at the ByteStart team.
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In this article, we look at the role accountants play, and how to ensure you choose the right firm for your business.
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HMRC have provided a range of special schemes that apply to smaller businesses. They are designed to reduce administration, but also (in some cases) to assist cash flow.
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This guide outlines how VAT registered businesses should charge VAT on their goods and services, and how to reclaim VAT on purchases and costs.
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In the first in a short series of Value Added Tax bulletins for small businesses, Les Howard looks at what VAT is, and when you must register your business.
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If you choose to set up a limited company when you start your business, there’s a lot more paperwork involved.
It’s one the downsides of going limited (the biggest upside of course being that you limit your liability should the business go under).
One of the many pieces of paperwork you will have to generate on at least an annual basis is a balance sheet.
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If you are a limited company shareholder, you may have to pay personal tax on any dividend income you receive. This article outlines how company dividends are taxed.
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Small businesses, and the individuals who run them, are subject to a wide array of taxes – from Corporation Tax to National Insurance. This is an overview of the main taxes you will encounter as a small business owner, together with links to our more in-depth guides.
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Your business should register for VAT if your “taxable supplies” over the past 12 months has exceeded the VAT registration threshold. From April 2013, the VAT registration threshold is £79,000 (previously it was £77,000).
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Many rates and allowances changed on 6th April 2013, as the new personal tax year began. This year, the RTI (Real Time Information) payroll rules also came into effect.
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Accurate bookkeeping is a necessary evil when you run your own business.
There are three reasons you need to be on top of the money coming in and going out. HMRC will need information from you at some point (whether you are a sole trader or run a limited company); you need to know if you have enough cash to get you through the month (cash flow); and finally it’s good to know whether or not you are actually making a profit!
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National Insurance is a deduction from earnings, set up originally to fund various State benefits such as the NHS, the State pension and other welfare-related schemes.
In reality, it is just another tax. In fact, as standard income tax rates have remained constant for many years, NI rates have soared.
In this article we look at how NI works, and what your National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be as a small business person. The guide has been updated with the 2013/14 tax year NIC rates.
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Following the 2013 Budget, here is our summary of the main tax rates, tax bands, and allowances for the 2013/2014 tax year, with particular reference to data which will affect the typical small business owner.
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Large firms are set to enjoy another Corporation Tax cut following Budget 2013, but while the headline rate has been reduced significantly under the current Government, small companies will not benefit.
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The most talked-about small business announcement from Budget 2013 is the implementation of a new ‘Employment Allowance’, which will reduce firms’ Employers’ NI bills by up to £2,000 from April 2014.
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Are you a self-employed individual? Do you regularly travel on business, and does that travel ever entail an overnight stay away from your home? Do you know exactly which of the associated expenses you can legitimately claim back?
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With the tax year end on the horizon once again, and significant changes to tax rates taking effect from April 2013, we examine how individuals can make the most of the currently available tax reliefs.
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Whether you are a business person, property landlord or pay significant amounts of tax as an employed or retired person, there is now a short window of opportunity to examine your likely earnings for the 2012-13 tax year, and more importantly, see what can be done to minimise those liabilities.
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