We are absolutely honoured to have won the Best Small Business and be recommended for Lambeth’s Favourite Business in the annual Lambeth Business Awards.

Guy Bridger Ltd proudly donated the Lambeth Business Award prize money of £800, plus an additional £200, to support the immediate response to the serious of disasters which have caused death and destruction throughout Japan and the region through the British Red Cross. In Japan it has been reported that more than 8000 people have been confirmed dead, with over 12000 still missing. Director Guy Bridger said “even if we are a small business our aspiration for a better world and corporate responsibility is not small. We’ve always been very proud of our ties with the community - it’s a great place to live and work and we love it! To be honoured with this award will be a real inspiration for me”.

Lambeth Business Awards 2011 from David Ferrone.

From April 2011, the annual allowance for tax-relieved pension savings reduces from £255,000 to £50,000. To understand whether you are affected and if so, to what extent, you need to work out how much your pension savings are for a tax year. If they are more than £50,000 then you may be affected if your pension savings are regularly at this level. For ‘money purchase’ schemes, pension savings are the amount of cash paid in to your scheme for the tax year (including employer contributions for workplace schemes)

Important changes you need to know

• For the tax year 2011-12 the amount of the annual allowance will reduce to £50,000.
• The method of calculating the amount of pension saving (pension input amounts) for a defined benefits or cash balance arrangement has changed. There is no change in how you calculate the pension input amount for a money purchase arrangement.
• There will be a three year carry forward rule that allows you to carry forward unused annual allowance from the last three tax years if you have made pension savings in those years. This means if your pension saving is more than £50,000 you still may not have to pay the annual allowance charge.
• There will be no blanket exemption from the annual allowance in the year benefits are taken. There will however be an exemption in the case of serious ill health as well as death.
• From 6 April 2011 the exemption from the annual allowance for those with enhanced protection will no longer apply.
• The special annual allowance rules introduced in Finance Act 2009 will be repealed.

If you have any queries regarding your Annual Allowance please get in touch with one of our helpful staff members on 020 8761 8000 or email at info@taxfile.co.uk.

From April 2011, if you don’t file your SA returns or pay your tax on time, the penalties you will have to pay are changing. The more you delay the greater the penalty.

Penalties for filing late:

·        One day late you will be charged an initial penalty of £100 even if you have no tax to pay or you have already paid all the tax you owe.

·        Three months late and you will be charged an automatic daily penalty of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900.

·        six months late you will be charged further penalties, which are the greater of 5% of tax due or £300

·        Twelve months late you will be charged yet more penalties, which are the greater of 5% of tax due or £300. In particularly serious cases you face higher penalties of up to the tax due.

Penalties for paying late:

·        Thirty days late and you will be charged an initial penalty of 5% of the tax unpaid at that date.

·        Six month slate and you will be charged a further penalty of 5% of the tax that is still unpaid.

·        Twelve months late and you will be charged a further 5% of the tax that is still unpaid.

Riyas Kallan. Taxfile, Tulse Hill.

The Chancellor’s current look at the financial plan raised awareness about the growth of the economy. It was estimated that there was a reduction in growth from 2.1% to 1.7% which verifies that progress is slower than previously thought.

We’re pleased to see that the Chancellor intends to address the flexible workforce with his recent proposal of ‘economic ambitions’. Unfortunately we have yet to see any measures with reference to improving the flexibility of the existing workforce. 

Initially we feel that the value of professional contractors and self-employed professionals has not been recognised in Budget decisions. However, we are pleased to see that the Government has stood by its promise and taken action to try and stimulate growth for the UK’s economy.

We welcome the commitment made by the Government to improve administration of IR35 nonetheless we remain concerned over the merging of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and Income Tax.

To conclude, we are evidently aware of the Government’s attempts to put measures in place to stimulate growth and this is encouraging, we believe this year’s Budget shall be “revenue neutral”, focusing its attention on specific areas to see the economy into recovery.

Merger of NICs and Income Tax

A main focus for growth has been to motivate small to medium-sized enterprises by simplifying the tax legislation, an example of which includes merging NICs and Income Tax.  Although we welcome the Government’s attempt to address the issue of tax simplification, it does raise concerns over how this particular proposal will affect contractors and freelancers. 

The assumption that a “one size fits all” theory will benefit self-employed and employed is wide off the mark; it will prove to be ineffectual and more importantly it’s won’t address the needs of contractors and freelancers.  Although we can assume that the Government will be conducting a long consultation period, any such merging needs to accommodate the knowledge-based workforce so that it can fully contribute to the emergence of  a better economy.

IR35

Following on from the recent interim report from the Office of Tax Simplification, we’re reassured to see that, an advancement of an approved and suitable medium-term solution has been put in place, and furthermore the Government has decided to commit to constructing a clearer management of IR35, as opposed to the complete removal of the legislation.

We’re aware of the irritation that IR35 causes for self-employed professionals; however, we believe that an abrupt suspension or removal of IR35 could result in long-term financial harm for this section of the workforce.  Increased tax evasion will inevitably arise without this legislation and could easily result in the Government being hurried into the wrong medium-term solution which would create much greater problems for professional contractors and the self-employed generally.

It is encouraging to see that the Government’s current outlook of the IR35 is equivalent of ours because it offers an opportunity to observe the current legislation and consider improvements that could be made to it. Moreover, the present situation provides us with clarity and offers more support and advice for freelancers and contractors.

Taxfile is serving the local community of small businesses and the self-employed with hassle free Tax Advice and Accountancy services. Over the last 15 years of trading from our office in Tulse Hill, Taxfile has built up an impressive portfolio of over 2000 customers from the local area. We are well known in the local area for low charges and a very professional attitude. We have a friendly multi cultural and bi-lingual staff to provide you with a very personal service. “We can help by asking the right questions to safeguard our clients’ finances and taking the necessary care in the tax handling process.”

In this challenging economic climate, it is more important than ever that we do all we can to improve the financial relationship of local people and local businesses with the government. We are absolutely honored to have won the Best Small Business and be recommended for Lambeth’s Favourite Business.

Director Guy Bridger said: “It has been a really enjoyable evening. To be nominated was great but to win the best thing ever. It is the best thing that has happened to the company for a long time. When they announced we won, it was one of my most exciting moments of my Life.  

Should any small or medium sized enterprise (SME) require assistance with VAT or any element of business accounting and tax preparation, they are invited to contact Guy Bridger Ltd, without obligation, at their Turney Road, (Tulse Hill/Dulwich, South London) business address. Telephone: 0208 761 2268 or email enquiries@filetax.co.uk.