UK accounts and tax

Q- Company with two shareholders having 1 share each wants to increase share capital to 200 (100 shares each) to enable them to take different dividends payments. How would they go about this. What paperwork is necessary and can it be done online with Companies House or not? Would the Memorandum and Articles need altering or is it just a form filling excercise? Answer- Was this company formed before the relevant provisions of CA 2006 came into force? If so, it will have an authorised (maximum) share capital set out in the Memorandum, which is now deemed to be incorporated into the Articles. If that is less than £200, you will need to amend the Articles by special resolution and send an copy of the amended Articles to Companies House for filing. If the company was formed after the CA 2006 came into force, the concept of a maximum authorised share capital no longer exists and the directors are probably empowered simply to issue more shares at their discretion, as they...

Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights or use this link to reference the article - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/676c7f86-2006-11e0-a6fb-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1F656edXM Thousands of higher-rate taxpayers who have been excused from filing tax returns could be paying hundreds of pounds of unnecessary tax following the steep fall in interest rates in recent years. Experts warn that people who have received letters from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) telling them they no longer need to fill in returns should still consider whether they could make a reclaim for overpaid tax. HMRC says it routinely writes to higher-rate taxpayers with “straightforward” finances – typically employees with some savings and investment income – telling them that unpaid tax will be collected by reducing their pay-as-you-earn (PAY...

There are a number of government-backed schemes designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access finance, be it loans or grants. In addition to the main two UK-wide initiatives - the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme and Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) - there are separate programmes in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. ENTERPRISE FINANCE GUARANTEE SCHEME EFG was set up by the former Labour government to encourage more bank lending to SMEs. Under the scheme, the government guarantees 75% of an SME's bank loan, with the lenders covering the remaining 25%. It is open to companies with an annual turnover of up to £25m, and loans from £1,000 to £1m are available, repayable over 10 years. Firms can seek to use EFG to access new loans, refinance existing loans, convert overdrafts into loans, gain a new overdraft or extend a current one, and cover cash flow shortages. It is available for all...

Smart small business operators realize that they do not need a full-time in-house bookkeeper, so all you need do is to approach such businesses in your area and offer to do their book keeping. MYOB, Quick books, Sage are all available so you don't need to purchase any software and just pay very reasonable amount for your bookkeeping. Sourcing new clients is actually very simple – if you need some help, then Contact us (ayaz786amd@gmail.com) for more details about how we can help you to handle your bookkeeping.

Smart small business operators realize that they do not need a full-time in-house bookkeeper, so all you need do is to approach such businesses in your area and offer to do their book keeping. MYOB, Quick books, Sage are all available so you don't need to purchase any software and just pay very reasonable amount for your bookkeeping. Sourcing new clients is actually very simple – if you need some help, then Contact us (ayaz786amd@gmail.com) for more details about how we can help you to handle your bookkeeping.

If you let out all or part of a property (including your home), how you're taxed on the rent depends on the type of letting. If you let property abroad, you may have to pay UK tax on the rental income if you're resident in the UK for tax. Tax on residential lettings Letting residential investment property is treated as running a business - even if you only let out one property. And if you let out more than one property in the UK, they'll all be treated as a single business. Whether you let one or several properties, you're taxed on the overall 'net profit'. You work this out by: adding together all your rental income adding together all your allowable expenses taking the allowable expenses away from the income Working out your net profit like this means that you can offset a loss from one property against the profit from others. Your net profit counts as part of your overall taxable income. ...

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/reclaiming/motoring.htm#6 Make sure that the employees get VAT receipts for all their petrol purchases and hand them over when they do their expense claims (or you won't be able to claim). Obviously not all of the fuel on those receipts will be for business use, but you need to be able to show documentation that more than covers the business element.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued new guidelines on the recent changes to the tax relief available on pensions. As part of the changes, the annual allowance for tax relief on pensions has been cut from £255,000 to £50,000 for 2011/12. The announcement was confirmed last October. The annual allowance covers how much can be paid into a pension pot while attracting tax breaks. Now HMRC has published its latest, updated guidance on what the new limit means for pension savers. In some circumstances, HMRC said, savings added to a pension fund between 14 October and 5 April may come under the remit of the new rules.

With insolvency experts predicting an increase in company failures, evidence is emerging that HMRC is adopting a harder line on outstanding debts and voluntary agreements. Baker Tilly insolvency practitioner David Hudson warned an Institute of Credit Management conference in London this week that with the indicators pointing towards more businesses at risk, the number of firms seeking company voluntary arrangements would increase in the coming months. CVAs are based on legal agreements with creditors that allow the company to keep trading while paying off its debts. While many creditors continue to see advantages in allowing struggling companies to try and trade their way out of trouble, Hudson and other insolvency practitioners at the event offered evidence of a harder line emerging from HMRC, the country’s most influential trade creditor. “A CVA is like a legal ‘time to pay’ arrangement to give the company a breathing space,” said Hudson. “Banks tend to like them becau...

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LONG-TERM career progression has returned to the forefront of accountants' minds, according to recruiters Badenoch & Clark, taking over from a main concern during the crisis with holding on to jobs and pay. The views are contained in the latest market report from the recruiter. Heidi Waddington, associate director in professional services at the recruitment company, said: "As confidence returns in the market, candidates are focusing on career progression and longer term prospects. This is a move away from the situation during the recession when just having a role and remuneration was their main focus." Employers are still hiring too. Badenoch & Clark said demand was good for analysts and, as companies grew, employers were making more short-term posts available. Waddington said: "Vacancies for both fixed term contractors and temporary candidates have increased as companies find innovative ways of ensuring steady growth." She added: ...

Small business owners in the UK could be encouraged by the news that small business rate relief is set to increase later this year. With VAT set to increase in the early stages of 2011 and a number of businesses being exempt from the government's new tax scheme because of where they are based, there has been little to lift the spirits of many small businesses owners of late. However, one measure announced in the most recent Budget could serve to benefit a number of the UK's smaller firms. As announced by the previous administration, the government is to increase small business rate relief later this year. Business Link, the government's enterprise information platform, explained: "Between October 1st 2010 and September 30th 2011 eligible ratepayers will receive small business rate relief at 100 per cent on properties up to £6,000 rather than 50 per cent and a tapering relief from 100 per cent to 0 per cent for properties up to £12,000 in rateable va...