LENDING TO SMEs FALLS

Figures from the BoE’s Funding for  Lending scheme have revealed that 34 banks and building societies using the credit facility withdrew £1.32bn of lending from SMEs between April and December 2013. The largest withdrawals were from RBS, which withdrew £2.2bn of credit, and Nationwide, which cut lending by £1.14bn. An RBS spokeswoman said its reduction in net lending to SMEs was due to its restructuring strategy as it runs down legacy assets. Meanwhile, the FLS data suggested that small challenger banks are beginning to fill the void. Aldermore lent £345m to small business, Shawbrook Bank £136m, OneSavings Bank £66m, and Yorkshire Building Society £45m. The largest single lender was Lloyds Banking Group, which extended £1.12bn to the sector, followed by Santander, which lent £447m.    

NEWSLETTER 77

Headlines from our latest newsletter.  Please click on the links below for more information :

EMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE

The Government has announced further details of the Employment Allowance which is available from 6 April 2014 - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsletter-77#Employment

INCREASES TO NMW PENALTIES AND LATEST TARGETS

The Government has announced that rogue employers who do not pay their workers the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will face an increased penalty of up to £20,000 as part of a Government crackdown. - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsletter-77#Increases

HELP FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY FLOODS

The Prime Minister has announced a package of measures to help flood affected businesses get back on their feet - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsletter-77#Help

NO PENALTIES FOR SOME LATE SELF ASSESSMENT RETURNS

HMRC have announced that more than 10 million tax returns were filed on time meeting the 31 January deadline. - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsletter-77#Penalties

HMRC WARNING ABOUT PHISHING SCAMS

HMRC are warning taxpayers to be wary of the latest in a long line of email phishing scams that claim to offer tax rebates in return for bank account details. - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsletter-77#HMRC

PAYE END OF YEAR APPROACHING

HMRC are reminding employers that with the end of the 2013/14 tax year approaching they will soon need to make their final 2013/14 PAYE (RTI) submission. - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsletter-77#PAYE

ELECTRONIC MESSAGES TO EMPLOYERS

HMRC have issued an electronic warning message to employers who have not submitted their Full Payment Submission (FPS) return(s) during the January tax month - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsletter-77#Electronic

EMPLOYEE TRAVEL DISRUPTION

From time to time and particularly with the current weather conditions, travel disruption can affect an employee’s ability to get to work on time, or in some cases at all. - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsletter-77#Employee

NEW TIMETABLE FOR RTI PENALTIES

From a press release dated 12 February 2014 HMRC unveils new timetable for RTI penalties

There will be a staggered start to the introduction of Real Time Information (RTI) penalties, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced today.

The new automatic in-year PAYE penalties for late filing and late payment and in-year interest (charged on tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) that are paid late during the year), were due to start from 6 April 2014.

RTI is a big change and HMRC and some employers are continuing to learn. Having listened to customer feedback, HMRC has decided to stagger the start of the new in-year late filing and payment penalties to give employers more time to adapt to reporting in real time. The new timetable will be:

·  April 2014 - in-year interest on any in-year payments not made by
   the due date
·  October 2014 - automatic in-year late filing penalties
·  April 2015 - automatic in-year late payment penalties

At the same time, HMRC is continuing to improve its systems and guidance.

HMRC has worked closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that RTI will support the operation of Universal Credit, which brings together means-tested in and out-of-work benefits.

HMRC’s Director General for Personal Tax, Ruth Owen, said:
“The introduction of RTI is going extremely well for the majority of employers but there are still some who need a bit of time to adapt fully to the changes. This additional time will give us the opportunity to ensure that improvements to our internal systems are working, to learn from them and to provide better customer support to employers who need more time to adapt.”

CHECK YOUR TAX CODE

There has been a noticeable increase with errors in the latest round of coding notices issued by HMRC in preparation for 2014/15.

For employees it is essential that the composition of codes is correct so that the monthly tax deductions from salary are correct.

Most noticeable is that where an assumption is made that income will exceed £100,000 and that no personal allowance is due.

If it is not corrected then tax of £2,000 (20%) or £4,000 (40%) will be over-deducted during the year.

If there is any doubt then contact HMRC for an explanation.

PAYE & RTI

PAYE and Real Time Information is now just around the corner for smaller employers.  From 6 April 2014 ALL employers with more than 9 staff will be obliged to report under RTI as well as ALL new payroll schemes irrespective of size.  Very small employers with 1-9 employees will currently still have until April 2016 to adapt but with the scheme now well embedded there would seem to be little point in deferring the inevitable.  HMRC are likely to impose their penalty scheme for late filing of RTI Returns this coming April which can range from £100 for very small employers to £400 for the largest.  HMRC say that they will allow a small degree of tolerance, up to £100 variance between the due amount and the actual amount paid but this is likely to be from small errors only in processing.  Just to add here that the rate of successful appeals against penalties imposed thus far is negligible because they must be deemed "reasonable" which is clearly a concept which HMRC interpret quite narrowly.

WALKER THOMPSON HIT TARGET AGAIN

Well, the January 31 Self Assessment deadline swept past and we managed to once again ensure that 100% of our clients tax returns were submitted on time.  Whilst there was a definite late surge of delayed information coming in throughout the month, the team here worked hard to deliver to target yet again.

NEWSLETTER 76

Headlines from our latest newsletter.  Please click on any of the links below for more information :

HMRC WINS THE MILEAGE ARGUMENT AT TRIBUNAL 

Many trades & professionals will have been awaiting the outcome of a tax case relating to the main place of a business and what mileage or other travel costs is thereby determined as private or business or indeed mixed purposes. - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsetter-76#HMRC

RTI AND MICRO EMPLOYERS

HMRC have announced that, although the vast majority of employers are finding PAYE reporting in real time straightforward, a small proportion of micro employers and their agents still need more time to adapt - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsetter-76#RTI

DWP ISSUE GUIDANCE ON NEW CLASS 3A NIC

The Government wants to offer help to existing pensioners and people who reach State Pension age before 6 April 2016 - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsetter-76#DWP

PERSONAL DEVICE AT WORK POLICY

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is advising that organisations should have a clear personal device at work policy - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsetter-76#Personal

PAYE CODING NOTICES 

Over the next few months HMRC will be sending out new PAYE tax codes for the 2014/15 tax year - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsetter-76#PAYE

HELP TO BUY MORTGAGE GUARANTEE COMPLETIONS

The Government has announced that ‘nearly 750’ homes have been bought and 6,000 offers made since the mortgage guarantee scheme started - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsetter-76#Help

ZERO HOURS CONTRACTS

Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced that, under new proposals, employers could be banned from imposing ‘exclusivity’ on zero hours contracts which offer no guarantee of work and stop employees from working for another employer - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsetter-76#Zero

EXCUSES EXCUSES

HMRC have released the ‘Top 10 oddest excuses’ for sending in a late self assessment return - See more at: http://www.walkerthompson.co.uk/newsletters/Newsetter-76#Excuses