Keep HMRC at bay and maybe save some money with some end of tax year tips.
The end of the tax year brings with it a variety of chores and potential cheers with the need to file some paper work and take advantage of some tax breaks.
Let’s look at some of the things that you might need to take care of in the next few days and weeks.
Individuals
Delay Income Receipts
If you can wait until April 6th 2013 to take income then you could take advantage in the cut in the top rate of income tax down to 40%.
Plan for Capital Gains Tax
Use your £10,600 annual CGT allowance wisely. Consider splitting the gain across tax years.
Use your personal allowances
Remember to transfer qualifying assets to spouses to use up their personal allowance and check if they qualify for refunds where tax has been paid on saving accounts.
Gift Aid
Tax relief from Gift Aid is unlimited until April 6th 2013 when relief will be restricted to £50,000 or 25% of income, whichever is higher.
ISAs
Transfer up to £5,340 into a cash ISA and the same amount into a stocks and shares ISA before April 5th. And check the rate of interest on your current provider – it may be much lower than you think.
Review pension contributions
There have been a number of important changes to allowances and contribution schemes that may impact your ability to gain tax reliefs. Get advice based on your individual circumstances.
Business
Register for PAYE Online – if you’ve not yet done so
If you need to file an Employer Annual Return then (with a few exceptions) it now must be done on-line. That means you must be registered as a user of the HMRC PAYE on-line service by 19th May .
Finalise your payroll records
Your completed Employer Annual Return (P35 and P14s) must be with HMRC by May 19th. If you do want to submit online and you haven’t yet registered remember that it takes a week to get an activation code. So don’t leave it too late.
Set up payroll records for the new tax year
Remember to set up new payroll records for your employees for new tax year, which begins on 6 April, using the P11 form. If you don’t have your own software consider using the P11 calculator that comes as part of HM Revenue & Custom’s Basic PAYE Tools package. It makes it much easier to fill in all of the taxman’s forms.
Other HMRC forms
You must provide a P60 form to employees who were working for you on the last day of the tax year, and a P9D or P11D to staff who received expenses or benefits during the tax year.
Pay Class 1A NICs on expenses and benefits
HMRC wants these payments by July 19th.
Making sure that the paperwork is in order and sorting out your tax planning is really a year round task. Remember that Lewis Smith & Co. can offer a variety of tax and accountancy services to both make your life easier and potentially save you money.
Give us a call at any time to discover how Lewis Smith & Co. can help. Call us on 01384 235549 or email info@lewissmith.com for a free and confidential discussion.
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