Harnett Accontants

Tag: tax tips

  • Your Accountants Twickenham – Useful Advice On Tax Inspections.

    Accountancy

    Your Accountants Twickenham – Useful Advice On Tax Inspections.

    We have a team of 7 accountants and serve businesses thorought the Richmond borough and West London.

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    What Is Covered

    Recently, one of our accountants – Twickenham – had a query regarding tax inspectors. Like many areas covered by our accountants Twickenham is a thriving business community with its fair share of business advice needs; non more concerning than that dreaded knock on the door from the tax inspector.

    What can you expect and what are your rights? Our Twickenham accountant sets the record straight:

    —————– The Taxman has wide powers to inspect your business, but he is supposed to give you at least seven days notice to check on your business property, computer or business records. He is permitted to turn up without warning, but only if tax is immediately at risk, such as where fraud is suspected.

    In spite of these strict rules, tax inspectors do try to examine business records without a prior appointment, or where an appointment has been arranged, the officers may turn up hours early before the tax adviser has arrived. If the Taxman pitches up at your workplace and demands access to your business records, know your rights:

    – Ask to see the inspectors’ ID, which they must carry and check this ID is genuine by telephoning the HMRC office they claim to be from – You don’t have to let the tax officers into your building, and their rules say they must not gain entry by force – You and your staff are not obliged to answer the tax officers’ questions – You are required to provide access at any reasonable time to any computer you use for your business, and help the tax officer extract the computer records, but that’s where your responsibility ends – The tax officers are not supposed to rummage around in your stuff. They can examine materials and records brought to them but they do not have search powers.

    Remember if you have any concerns that tax officers may turn up unannounced, offer a free – no-obligation consultation. Just contact us http://www.harnettaccountants.co.uk

    Key Considerations

    And you can . Additionally, you can keep reading our daily blogs.

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with property tax advice?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • Do You Work From Home? Here Is A Great Tip From Harnett Accountants West London

    Tax Insights

    Do You Work From Home? Here Is A Great Tip From Harnett Accountants West London

    Did you know that if you work from home you may be able to claim a deduction to cover part of your home expenses. You can claim up to £3/week without producing any written bills. However if you believe that the actual cost is higher (based on the cost compared to the amount of time spent at home working) then there is a possibility a bigger claim could be made, but in order to do this you may need to produce bills.

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    Practical Tips

    Don’t forget to check out all our handy tax tips video on our YouTube channel

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with accounting and tax?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • Harnett Accountants West London Offer This Video Tip On Holiday Homes

    Accountancy

    Harnett Accountants West London Offer This Video Tip On Holiday Homes

    If you have a second property, then it should be working for you to reduce your tax bills. Harnett accountants west london offer this new video tip explaining how your second property could do just that if your accounts are managed correctly.

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    Key Considerations

    So why not get in touch with us, and we will advise you on whether properties you own could entitle you to receive extra tax relief. Contact us, and we will arrange a one hour no obligation consultation to discuss all of your accounting and financial planning needs. Also you can . Additionally, you can keep reading our daily blogs.

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with property tax advice?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • Barclays Pension Shortfall Soars By A Further £1.1bn Despite Moves To Correct The Problem

    Accountancy

    Barclays Pension Shortfall Soars By A Further £1.1bn Despite Moves To Correct The Problem

    BARCLAYS HAS SEEN its pensions shortfall shoot up by more than a billion pounds over the last six months, despite paying in £700m to cut the deficit.

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    Key Considerations

    The bank’s half yearly report, published this month, reveals the deficit on an IAS19 basis grew from £200m to £1.3bn from December to June, Accountancy Age’s sister publication Proffesional Pensions reports.

    The firm’s main scheme, the UK Retirement Fund moved from a surplus of £300m to a shortfall of £700m.

    Barclays said the deterioration of the schemes’ funding levels was due to drop in the discount rate used to value liabilities, which was driven by falling yields on AA corporate bonds.

    It revealed the bank had made deficit funding contributions of £1.8bn in December and £700m in April under a recovery plan agreed after the last triennial valuation in December 2010.

    The plan requires annual recovery payments of £700m, rising by 3.5% a year, to be paid until 2021.

    The 2010 valuation put the deficit on an actuarial basis as £5bn and an actuarial update as at 30 September 2011 showed a funding deficit of £6.4bn before the contributions in December.

    What This Means For You

    source: Accountancy Age

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with pension and retirement planning?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • Interest And Loss Relief Explained By

    Accountancy

    Interest And Loss Relief Explained By

    offer the following advice on changes to loss and interest relief in 2013:

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    Key Considerations

    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 business where the trader is not actively involved. Losses are often created by the amount of interest the business has to pay to the bank.

    From 6 April 2013 the Government is proposing to cap the amount of loss relief and interest relief given in any one tax year to the higher of:

    – £50,000; and – 25% of the taxpayer’s income.

    The restrictions on losses and interest may affect business decisions you have taken, or which you are about to make in the next few months. Here are five ways the proposed restrictions could affect you:

    1. Where you have significant losses in a current accounting period which will end in the 2013/14 tax year, you may be thinking of selling an asset for a gain to off-set those losses. Such plans need to be reviewed as your total loss relief will be restricted in 2013/14.

    2. Partners who currently pay significant amounts of interest on their partnership loans may need to restructure those loans before 6 April 2013, to ensure their loan interest does not exceed the greater of £50,000 or 25% of their income.

    What This Means For You

    3. If you are planning to invest in EIS shares or SEIS shares in the knowledge that if the enterprise doesn’t work out, you will get income tax loss relief on the capital invested, you need to know that your loss relief may be restricted.

    4. Where you have already subscribed for shares in an unquoted trading company which is sliding into insolvency, you may need to make a negligible value claim for the value of those shares, to ensure the loss falls in the tax year 2012/13 and is not restricted from 2013/14.

    5. If you are planning to set up a new business which is going to make significant losses in the first couple of years, we need to discuss the structure of the proposed new businesses to ensure the losses are used as quickly as possible.

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with accounting and tax?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • Harnett Accountants In London – August Tax Q&a Part 2

    Accountancy

    Harnett Accountants In London – August Tax Q&a Part 2

    Today’s blog from Harnett Accountants in London is part 2 of our August tax Q&A. Please contact us through our website with your question to have it appear in next months tax Q&A! Also you can . Additionally, you can keep reading our daily blogs.

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    Key Considerations

    Q. I want to buy a new business but the only way I can do that is to increase the mortgage on my house. Will the interest I pay on the extra mortgage be tax allowable for the business?

    A. In principle yes, but there are restrictions to prevent improper use of this tax relief. Further restrictions are also proposed from 6 April 2013 (see above). Interest paid on loans used to buy into a partnership or to buy shares in a closely controlled company, or lend to such a company are generally tax allowable. However, it would be best to have a separate loan for this business investment, as when you repay any part of the mortgage the business part will be deemed to be reduced first. You will also have to hold at least 5% of the ordinary shares of company and work for it for the greater part of your time.

    Q. I’m worried about the Granny tax. Is this going to affect me? I’m aged 64 with an annual income of around £16,000.

    A. The so-called Granny tax is actually a change in entitlement to allowances from 6 April 2013. You are currently entitled to a personal allowance (tax free amount) to set against your income, of £8,105. From 6 April 2013 you will be entitled to a personal allowance of £9,205.

    As you will reach age 65 in 2013/14 you may have expected to receive the higher age allowance of £10,500 which is available to people currently aged 65 or over. However, because the rules are changing on 6 April 2013, only those born before 6 April 1948 will be entitled to the age allowance of £10,500, everyone else will get the normal personal allowance. This is not as unfair as it seems as the age allowance will be frozen, probably for ever more at £10,500, but the personal allowance will increase each year, and is likely to reach £10,000 in 2014/15.

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with accounting and tax?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • Tax Taskforces Operating From 2013 Explained By

    Accountancy

    Tax Taskforces Operating From 2013 Explained By

    brings you this information about the tax taskforces which will be operating around the country from April 2013.

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    Key Considerations

    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 Office plans to have over 30 taskforce teams operating round the country by April 2013.

    We have summarised below the target areas for the taskforce teams, as they have been announced. Each team has a target of about 300 businesses in the specified areas and trade sectors to visit.

    Normally the taskforce team will arrange a time to visit the business and inspect the records, either by phone or letter. Please tell us as soon as you get a letter or call to arrange this. If we can speak to the tax inspector at this stage we may be able to limit the scope of the visit, or get it cancelled. For example if we can confirm that all your staff are always paid through PAYE, give the PAYE scheme reference number and the amount of PAYE and NI paid in the previous tax year, the PAYE specialist may stay at home.

    Areas and trades targeted

    – London: Markets, property rentals, property transactions, restaurants, fraudulent repayments – South West: Restaurants, motor trade, fast food outlets – South East: Overdue tax returns – Midlands: Taxi firms, restaurants – East Anglia: Property rentals – North East: Property rentals, motor trade – North West: Restaurants, construction, landlords – Yorkshire: Taxi firms, motor trade – Nottinghamshire: Motor trade – Northern Ireland: Hair and beauty – Scotland: Pubs & nightclubs, fast food outlets, restaurants, scrap metal dealers, landlords – South Wales: Restaurants, motor trade – North Wales: Restaurants, construction, landlords

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with VAT returns and compliance?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • Going Green To Reduce Your Tax Bills –

    Accountancy

    Going Green To Reduce Your Tax Bills –

    offer this great tax tip to help reduce your tax bills…

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    Key Considerations

    You may already be aware that you can claim capital allowances on assets purchased such as plant, machinery, and vehicles. This gives you tax relief from the reduction in value of assets by writing off their cost against the taxable income of your business. So, make sure that you claim for capital allowance for any business assets that you purchase.

    However, you may not have been aware that you can also claim extra tax relief on your assets if they are environmentally friendly. You could save even more on your tax bills by buying low CO2 emission cars, and environmentally friendly machinery and equipment for your business.

    To find out more about this fantastic way of cutting your tax bills, contact our expert team of accountants. also offer a free one hour, no-obligation consultation for all clients and you can . Additionally, you can keep reading our daily blogs.

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with accounting and tax?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • Harnett Accountants In London – August Tax Q&a

    Accountancy

    Harnett Accountants In London – August Tax Q&a

    Today’s blog from Harnett Accountants in London is our August tax Q&A. Please contact us through our website with your question to have it appear in next months tax Q&A! Also you can . Additionally, you can keep reading our daily blogs.

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.

    Key Considerations

    Q. Our company is owned jointly by myself and my wife, and we are both directors of the company. I do most of the work and draw a lot of funds out of the business, so my director’s account with the company is often overdrawn. My wife has another paid position, so doesn’t draw so much from the company. Her director’s account with the company is always in credit. Can our two director’s accounts be combined and set-off against each other for tax reporting requirements?

    A. Married individuals are taxed as separate persons in the UK, and their income and liabilities cannot be amalgamated to present a better picture for tax purposes. The Taxman is dead against the overdrawn balance on one person’s account being set against the credit balance on another person’s account, even if those two people are married.

    Q. My company is doing well and I’d like a new car, possibly a BMW series 5. Should the company lease or buy this car, or does it make more sense for me to take a dividend from the company and to buy the car personally?

    A. As the car is available to you for personal journeys you will be taxed on the ‘benefit’ of driving that car giving rise each year to a tax bill for yourself and a NI bill for your company at 13.8%.

    The company will get a deduction against profits for the cost of leasing the car, but that deduction is limited if the car has CO2 emissions over 160g/km (reducing to 135g/km from April 2013). Likewise the capital allowances are restricted for cars with CO2 emissions over 160g/km. The company can pay for the car’s insurance, servicing and repairs, with no further cost to you, the driver. However, if fuel is provided there is an additional benefit in kind to be taxed on you.

    In reality the calculations need to take into account other factors such as the cost of insurance and whether you need to borrow money to buy the car. We need to talk about this in greater detail to provide you with the correct advice.

    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with dividend tax planning?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.

  • – Pensions And Taxes Covered In This Video Tip From

    Accountancy

    – Pensions And Taxes Covered In This Video Tip From

    Another useful tax tip from on tax efficient pensions. To find out how Harnett Accountants could help your business, contact us and we will arrange a free one hour no obligation consultation. Also you can . Additionally, you can keep reading our daily blogs.

    💡
    Reviewed for 2026/27: All tax figures and HMRC rules in this article reflect current guidance for the 2026/27 tax year.
    📌 Important: Tax rules change regularly. Always verify current figures at gov.uk/hmrc or speak to a qualified accountant.
    📞
    Need help with pension and retirement planning?
    Harnett and Co are ICAEW chartered accountants in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We give clear, practical advice to businesses and individuals across West London and Surrey. Book a free consultation today.