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Online retail giant Amazon lowered its corporation tax bill in the UK by more than half in 2016, this is despite increasing its turnover in the same period. In 2016 Amazon paid a UK corporation tax bill of £7.4 million, but this figures pales when you consider that they paid a total of £15.8 million in corporation tax in 2015. The company has received a great deal of flak over its perceived lack of transparency over regarding their revenue streams and how much tax they are contributing to HMRC over the last year or two and these figures are not likely to lessen the criticism.

Increase In Turnover At Amazon

Amazon UK Services (who run the warehouse operations and package and distribute all the products) reported that they increased turnover from £946 in 2015 to £1.46 billion in 2016, an increase of over 50%. Their overall tax figures for each year are apparently disclosed to HMRC but are not available for public consumption, which does give the impression that people have something to hide whether they actually do or not.

When asked about the reduction in their UK corporation tax bill over the aforementioned period an Amazon spokesperson said that: “We pay all taxes required in the UK and every country where we operate. Corporation tax is based on profits, not revenues, and our profits have remained low given retail is a highly competitive, low margin business and our continued heavy investment.” 

Paying Their Fair Share Of Taxes

But not everyone accept this assertion and believe that they are not paying their fair share of taxes. Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable condemned the company saying: “This is yet another example of how companies are taking the government for a ride and we’re going to have to look at the way we charge these companies tax. We need to shift the system so that we tax real activity and the business they do here.”

The above quotes have been taken from an article in Accountancy Age and you can read the full article by going to the following link: Amazon Halves Its Corporation Tax Bill . And if you need any help or advice regarding tax and/or your tax bill please give our offices a call on 028 3752 2909 and we will glad to be of service. 

The government have published the first detailed drafts of the new Making Tax Digital regulations. The draft rules give sole traders and business partnerships an idea of what tax information they need to store digitally and what they will be required to do for their quarterly tax returns. 

Filing Income Tax & VAT Records Digitally

It is important for all business owners to check out the new draft regulations to ensure that their tax record systems in place will be compatible with the new regulations, or whether they need an overhaul. The new rules that have been published mainly consist of how businesses will be required to file their income tax and VAT records digitally. Regarding VAT records, the regulations in Making Tax Digital will not come into effect until April 2019. 

VAT Records Online By April 2019

From April 2019 any business in the UK that has an annual turnover above the VAT threshold, which is presently £85,000 or over, will have to keep all their VAT records in a digital format that is compatible with the Making Tax Digital system. 

The government and HMRC believe that there will be many benefits to having tax records collated in a digital format. They believe it will give them greater precision and accuracy for collecting taxes, it will make it easier for businesses to keep a track of their tax records and it will make it harder for businesses to evade paying the taxes they are due. In fact once the Making Tax Digital system is up and running for income tax they want businesses to keep a digital record of every business transaction they are involved in. 

Ironing Teething Issues Out

The full Making Tax Digital system is expected to be in place by 2020, and by then it is hoped that any teething issues will have been ironed out and the system will run as smoothly as possible. 

If you want advice on the Making Tax Digital system and what you will be required to do, or you need help on any other tax issue, please give us a call at our offices here in Armagh on 028 3752 2909. 

We read an excellent article in the Accountancy Age the other day, of which we have left a link below, giving 5 factors that are, or soon will be, impacting on both accountancy practices and their clients. We thought we would like to share this information with you so here are the 5 factors and a summary of their impact. 

The Risk Of Cybercrime

Accountants are people who hold a great deal of sensitive financial data and so of course they are always likely to be a target for hackers, therefore all accountancy practices need robust measures in place to defend themselves against any cyber attack by criminals. 

Driving Competitive Advantage With Technology

It is of immense importance that accountants keep up to date with all the latest technology, including cloud and mobile technology, in order to be competitive and to give clients the best possible service. It is important to invest but not to overstretch.

Greater Demand For Value Added Services

Accountants should not be just a business that prepares companies tax accounts but they should be involved in the financial planning and growth projection for them, giving them accurate financial information and adding a lot greater value.

Succession Planning For Growth

As the old saying goes, ‘if you don’t plan to succeed, you plan to fail’, and this holds true regarding succession planning. Helping smooth the transition for new partners to join a business and for other partners to retire is a key role and should not be underestimated. 

Brexit Opportunities

Yes there really are opportunities as well as disadvantages to Brexit! There will be many trade agreements that have to be negotiated and accountants will be in demand as companies will require help and advice on the financial implications to them of leaving the European Union. Expect the phone to be red hot in the near future!

If you want to read the full article please go to the Accountancy Age website at the following link: 5 Key Trends For Accountancy Firms And if you require any advice on any of the above or any other accountancy issue please contact our offices here at WHR Accountants in Armagh by ringing 028 3752 2909. 

Hello and welcome to another blog post here at WHR Accountants, the No 1 accountancy firm in Armagh and the surrounding areas. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Easter but also to tell you that we specialise in completion self employed CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) annual tax returns.

Construction Industry Scheme Tax Returns

We find that MOST of our clients are eligible for a tax rebate and so within 6 weeks of us receiving your information you should be receiving your cheque.

And even better news is that we are charging a discounted price for this service of just £170 including VAT for completion of your tax return. The normal price is £240 but this discounted price will be available up to the 31st August 2017.

To get the ball rolling please give us a call on 028 3752 2909 and we will start the process for you. 

Once again have a Happy Easter and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Today in our blog we would like to give you information on why our services can save your business both time and money. It certainly pays to employ an experienced, professional and trusted accountant to help you with your business finances and we believe that at WHR Accountants in Armagh we tick all the right boxes.

Accountants Crucial For Business Start Ups

Often when people start up a business they see an accountant as a luxury that they could well do without, but nothing could be further from the truth. The first year of any business is an absolutely crucial period and it is advisable that any business gets the right advice regarding its tax affairs during this time. If the business is not set up so it can maximise its potential or if they are paying more tax than they need to, or getting stung with late payments, then this can seriously impact on the financial health of the company.

Employing An Experienced Accountant

Employing an experienced accountant will save you time as well as money. If you are diligently poring over all the financial aspects of the business, filling in tax forms and returns etc, this is taking you away from running your business, marketing it and building it up. An accountant is there to take the strain away from you, ensure your business is financially sound and ready for growth, ensure you are paying the correct amount of tax, no more and no less, and generally doing all the mundane accounting tasks that are required. 

Tax regulations and allowances change a great deal and an accountancy firm such as WHR Accountants has its finger on the pulse with regard to these changes. It is virtually impossible to do all this and run a business as well, so delegation to an accountant is crucial in this respect.

Business Funding

At WHR Accountants we can also give you advice on the funding of your business if you need some extra collateral, and we also give general business advice on various aspects and can run a full payroll service for you if required. 

If you would like more information on our services you can either fill in the form on the Contact Us Page on the website or you can give our offices in Armagh a call on 028 3752 2909. 

Welcome to our blog here at WHR Accountants in Armagh, Northern Ireland. This is our first blog post of 2018 and we hope the year is treating you very well so far. Today we thought we would remind you of the impending self assessment tax return deadline.

Send In Your Tax Returns Or Face Penalties

The deadline is actually this coming Wednesday 31st January, and you must have your online tax returns in by midnight on this day or face penalties from Her Majesty`s Revenue & Customs. If you were wanting to send a paper tax return in to the HMRC this should have been done on or before 31st October of last year so you only have the option of an online return now. 

You must send in your tax return and pay any money that you owe by 31st January so it is vital that you are prepared and ready for this date. If you fail to send in your online tax return by this date, the next day you will be liable for a £100 fine. And if you leave it for another 3 months then the maximum penalty you are liable to pay rises by £10 per day up to a maximum of £900. 

After 6 months a further £300, or 5% of the tax due whichever is the higher sum, is added to the penalties. If the HMRC deems it to be a more serious case the penalties can be even higher.

Ensure You Are Well Prepared

So you can see that there are great drawbacks to not having your online self assessment tax returns prepared and sent in by the due date. Nobody wants to pay penalties to the HMRC on top of the taxes that are due so please ensure you get yours in on time.

If you are having problems with preparing your tax returns, or you having difficulty with the process of filing your tax returns online, we can certainly help you but you will have to contact us as soon as possible. For help can you please give us a call in office hours on 028 3752 2909.