FAQs

  • There are many reasons why an individual may need to complete a tax return. These include:

    • Self-employment income in a tax year in excess of £1,000.

    • Income from a rental property.

    • Being liable for the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

    • Income in a tax year in excess of £10,000 from dividends or savings and investments.

    • Total income in a tax year in excess of £150,000.

    • Needing to declare a Capital Gain.

    HMRC have a helpful checking tool that you can use to determine if you will be required to complete a tax return - Check if you need to send a Self Assessment tax return - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

    There are other circumstances when a tax return, although not necessary, may be advised. Examples include when an individual has complicated tax affairs, with many different sources of income, when you want to register a trading, property or capital loss, if it is difficult to or you simply don’t wish to have additional tax due collected through a PAYE code adjustment or if you want to claim certain tax reliefs.

    Dealing with HMRC can often be tiresome, time consuming and frustrating and in many instances filing a tax return to cement your tax position for the year can be easier than trusting the system to get it right.

  • If you have a self-assessment tax bill, it will be due for payment on or before 31 January for the previous tax year ending on 5 April. If you are required to make payments on account, then an additional tax payment will be due on 31 July.

    You will need to use your 10-digit Unique Tax Reference (UTR) as a reference when making your tax payment and follow it with the letter K.

    HMRC provide guidance on how to pay your self-assessment tax bill here - Pay your Self Assessment tax bill: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

    Corporation tax bills payable by companies are generally due for payment nine months and a day after the end of the accounting period to which they relate to. Further details on how to pay corporation tax can be found here - Pay your Corporation Tax bill: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

  • The first step would be to contact us to arrange a free, initial consultation where we can find out a bit about you (and if applicable your business), discuss your requirements, what we offer and how we can help you. During this meeting we can discuss our fee structure and give you an idea of the cost of the various services you will require.

    If you decide that you want to work with HATS going forward, at this point we would suggest you get in touch with your current accountant to advise them you are moving to HATS. We would then formally write to them to request any handover information and obtain professional clearance.

    Once engaged as your accountants we obtain agent authorisation with HMRC, enabling them to correspond directly with us about you and / or your business’ tax affairs.

    The process of moving accountants is usually straightforward and shouldn’t be something you put off if you feel you are not getting the right support, advice or value for money.

  • Having an accountant will help ensure you meet all of your filing obligations and that accounts and tax returns are accurate. Appointing an accountant will give you the reassurance that your financial affairs are being looked after and you are claiming appropriate expenses and tax reliefs.

    Using an accountant to help with bookkeeping and VAT returns can also free up time for you to focus on your customers and growing your business or give you free time back in the evenings.

    We would always recommend using an accountancy practice regulated by one of the main accountancy bodies such as ACCA or ICAEW. Being an ACCA member firm, HATS are required to meet certain professional standards and codes of ethics and are subject to regulation by the ACCA.

    The qualified accountants here at HATS are all required to undertake verifiable training throughout the year as Continued Professional Development (CPD), so you can be assured that our knowledge is up to date with the constantly evolving tax and accountancy rules and regulations.

  • We don’t expect or request all of our clients to use a particular software. Between us, we have experience with lots of different accounting software products, to include Sage, Xero, Freeagent and Quickbooks.

    If you were to run a survey in the office, most of us here at HATS would say we prefer using Xero because of its easy to use platform, useful reports, integration with your business banking and the access available to us, as agents, to step in and help as required. We are a Xero Gold Champion Partner firm, which demonstrates our experience and capability in using the software.

    A simple Excel spreadsheet can work just as well for many clients with smaller businesses, so you shouldn’t feel pressured to sign up to an accounting software subscription if it is not required. That being said, HMRC’s drive towards ‘Making Tax Digital’ will mean more and more businesses and even those with a certain level of rental income will be required to keep ‘digital’ income records over the next few years.

  • The March 2024 Budget saw the VAT registration threshold rise from £85,000 to £90,000 with effect from 1 April 2024. VAT registration is required if your total VAT taxable turnover in a rolling twelve month period exceeds £90,000 or if you expect your turnover to exceed £90,000 in the next 30 days.

  • The answer to this question will be ‘it depends on your circumstances’. There are many reasons why a company or corporate structure is recommended. The primary reason is often for tax purposes, yet for businesses with profit levels that keep the sole-trader within the basic rate of tax (so less than £50,000 of total income in a tax year), a tax saving isn’t necessarily achieved and the additional costs and administration burden of running a company may outweigh any tax benefit.

    There are however other reasons why a company structure may be preferred, primarily the protection a company provides given it is a separate legal entity. Personal assets of shareholders are therefore protected in the event of any claim against the company or business failure.

    Other reasons for incorporation could be for status, access to Research and Development tax reliefs, to provide flexibility in drawing salary and profits as dividends, to minimise personal tax and / or retain certain benefits and to bring other family members into the business.

    We would suggest you seek further advice to discuss your own situation when deciding on an appropriate business structure. We offer a free, initial consultation where we can discuss whether a Limited company structure would benefit you.