25 November 2008
VAT changes
The change in the Standard Rate of VAT from 17.5% to 15% is temporary – it lasts from 1 December 2008 to 31 December 2009. But how do you change your computer system to reflect the change in the legislation from next week?
7 November 2008
Seafarers Earnings Deduction
24 September 2008
Seafarers 183 day rule change
A recent tax case that was heard by the Commissioners earlier this year (known as “Pride of South America”) has confirmed that the Inland Revenue are widening the definition of what they will classify as offshore installations for Foreign Earnings Deduction purposes.
15 September 2008
National Minimum Wage
14 August 2008
Directors NI400
There are special rules for directors National Insurance. In practice this only affects the employee contributions, as there is no upper limit on employer contribution, as the table below demonstrates.
12 June 2008
Scottish Charitable Companies
With effect from 1 April 2008, section 1175 and Part 1 of Schedule 9 of the Companies Act 2006 came into force.
18 May 2008
Mini-Budget changes
The impact of the removal of the 10% tax rate has led the Chancellor of the Exchequer to announce that the Personal Allowance will be increased by £600, but the higher rate threshold has been reduced to compensate for this.
1 May 2008
Changes to VAT Threasholds
With effect from 1 April 2008, the VAT Registration limit has increased to £67,000 and the de-Registration limit has increased to £65,000.
5 March 2008
Increase in National Minimum Wage
From October 2008, the National Minimum Wage will increase from £5.52 to £5.73 (up by 3.8%).The rate for 18-21 year olds will increase from £4.60 to £4.77 and for those under 18 from £3.40 to £3.53.
24 January 2008
Capital Gains Tax
The Treasury have today announced that the 18% flat-rate of Capital Gains Tax will be reduced to 10% on lifetime gains of up to £1m.
26 November 2007
Corporation Tax inquiries
The period for opening an investigation into a Corporation Tax return will be changed with effect from 31 March 2008.
12 November 2007
EU invoices
With effect from 1 October 2007, invoices to businesses in other EU member states must be annotated to include any reason for any VAT exemption or any reverse charge.
12 October 2007
New client win
We are very pleased to announce that we have gained large clients in both the Middle-East and South-East Asia as a result of a drive into highly specialised areas of business.
4 October 2007
Postal strike
HM Revenue and Customs has issued a statement concerning possible disruptions to VAT payments caused by the postal dispute.
20 September 2007
New Table A for limited companies
Existing companies should review their articles to determine whether the version of Table A which applies to them does not prevent them from implementing the deregulatory provisions introduced in October 2007 by the Companies Act 2006.
18 September 2007
Pre-trading VAT
When a business registers for VAT it is possible to reclaim all the Input VAT on services for the previous six months and goods for the previous three years.
22 August 2007
Proposed new late filing penalties
These proposals will apply to all companies in the UK, and to LLPs (but through separate regulations).
21 August 2007
Holiday pay
From 1 October 2007, the statutory minimum annual holiday entitlement will rise from 4 weeks (20 days for those working a 5 day week) to 4.8 weeks (24 days).
17 August 2007
Fishing boat and fishing licences and VAT
The sale of a fishing boat is zero rated so long as the vessel is: Has a gross tonnage of over 15 tons, and is neither designed nor adapted for recreational or pleasure purposes.
Quota and licence are standard rated.
6 August 2007
Family controlled companies
For Geoff and Diana Jones and their company Arctic Systems, the long-running battle with the taxman over how the couple advantageously split the spoils of the business is over.
6 August 2007
VAT Penalties
In the past, if the honest tax payer made an error in excess of £1m VAT, or an amount which represented 30% or more of the correct tax for the return period, they were liable to a misdeclaration penalty. The taxpayer was automatically exculpated in full if they voluntarily disclosed the error to HMRC or if they had a ‘reasonable excuse’.
29 June 2007
Bus Service Operators’ Grant
The completion of these forms is quite straight forward, if you gather together all the necessary paperwork, and plan a bit in advance.
10 May 2007
Residential Renovations and VAT
Nicolson, Chartered Accountants, are reminding those who are renovating houses that they may be eligible to have building works charged at 5%, rather than the full 17.5% rate.
26 February 2007
New CIS scheme – contractors need support
Nicolson, Chartered Accountants, are leading the way in providing support to businesses needing assistance with the new CIS scheme.
2 February 2007
Hits pass the 100,000 mark
Nicolson, Chartered Accountants, are celebrating the success of their website with hits passing the 100,000 per annum mark.
14 September 2006
New premises
As you may have heard, we will shortly be moving to new premises at 49-50 Bayhead, Stornoway. These premises were formerly the Kitchen Centre, and are being redesigned to our needs.
14 August 2006
Smokers beware
The European Union have recently confirmed that employers can refuse to employ smokers without being guilty of discrimination.
12 June 2006
Scam alert – International Business & Trade Database
Many businesses will have received an invoice from the “International Business & Trade Database” – this is not worth the paper it is printed on, and we recommend that you throw it in the bin.
13 May 2006
Holiday arrangements
We will be away on holiday for the two weeks 15- 30 May 2006.Whilst we sun ourselves on the beaches of Greece, you can phone the office and find out how to reach us in emergencies. And we do mean real emergencies 🙂
13 December 2005
Chancellor abolishes zero-rate band for Corporation Tax
In his recent pre-Budget report, the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, signaled the abolition of the zero-rate band for Corporation Tax. Previously the first £10,000 of profits were effectively tax-free, now they face a tax charge of 19%.
1 December 2005
Christmas and New Year holidays
The office will be officially closed between Friday 23rd December and Wednesday 4th January 2006, inclusive.However, we will be in between those times to deal with mail, payrolls and pressing issues, and you can phone the office and take pot luck on catching us. Probable hours are 11am to 3pm.
1 December 2005
Prestigious client win
Stornoway Port Authority have announced that Nicolson, Chartered Accountants have been appointed as their auditors with effect from the year ended 31 December 2005.
18 July 2005
Is it a car? Is it a van?
The rules for taxation of cars and vans have been set for some time, but with the merger of Customs and the Inland Revenue, they have been clarified in an attempt to bring more vehicles within the charge to tax, and to reduce the number of vehicles where input VAT can be recovered.
4 April 2005
Nicolson, CA, unveil unique tax investigation insurance scheme
A firm of Stornoway Chartered Accountants has launched the first ever scheme to provide tax investigation insurance to all its clients.
9 February 2005
Annual holidays
We are away on annual family holiday from Monday 12 September to Monday 27th September, inclusive.
4 January 2005
European decision will cost island business plenty
Western Isles businesses are expected to pay an extra 16p per litre of petrol used by employees as a result of a case won by the European Commission in the European Court of Justice in March 2005. In essence, the decision will no longer allow employers to reclaim VAT on the fuel element of mileage allowances paid to employees.
