Taxation

At Knill James we realise that most people dislike paying tax and prefer to pay as little as possible. We can design bespoke strategies specific to your particular circumstances to help you pay less tax, while complying with the tax rules.

Business clients
The type of tax you pay depends on the structure of your business. Profits are subject to income tax or corporation tax. Businesses can also be subject to capital gains tax. Additionally the business can be subject to VAT, stamp duty land tax and National Insurance. These are all areas that we have expertise in and can advise you on.

Planning Solutions
Compliance
Payroll assurance review
FAQs

Private clients
There are various taxes affecting individuals. Your annual income is subject to income tax, and capital can be taxed during a person's lifetime under the capital gains tax code and on death by inheritance tax. There are also other taxes concerning private individuals such as National Insurance and stamp duty land tax. We are able to advise clients on all of these taxes.

Planning Solutions
Compliance
Financial Health Check
FAQs

 

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PLANNING SOLUTIONS

Remuneration and reward strategies
Whatever type of business you run there are opportunities to minimise tax and National Insurance contributions if your strategy is set up in the right way.

We can advise on all aspects of remuneration and rewards from dividend planning, to benefits in kind such as company cars, to employee tax privileged share schemes.

‘Income shifting' – preparing yourself for the new rules
Following their defeat in the ‘Arctic Systems’ case, HM Revenue & Customs is introducing swingeing changes to the legislation on income shifting, which will have a major impact on the taxation of small family businesses such as companies and partnerships. We recommend that you carry out a full review of your business structure to assess how the rules will affect you and what steps you can take to minimise your exposure. Why not contact us and book in a review?

Business start ups
Tax is probably the last thing people think about when they are setting up a new business as they’re so busy trying to build a successful enterprise. However, we strongly believe that it is crucial for anyone starting up a new business to think about tax and to take advantage of the various breaks that are open to them.

Succession planning
You’ve built a successful business… what now? You might want to turn your thoughts to passing your wealth to your family. We can help you formulate a plan to minimise exposure to capital gains tax and inheritance tax. We recommend that you carry out a full review of your affairs so we can help devise a strategy for protecting your family wealth.

Research & development
This is a valuable relief that can significantly help the cash flow of new businesses. We know from the published figures of HM Revenue & Customs that there has been a low uptake of R&D claims but we can assess whether you may be entitled to the enhanced tax relief that innovative companies can attract.

 

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COMPLIANCE

We offer many tax planning services and also provide core compliance services as detailed below.

Annual self-assessment returns (corporation tax and income tax)
We are fully computerised and can offer cost-effective and efficient electronic filing of returns.

Other returns
As well as making an annual self-assessment, businesses are required to file a myriad of other returns to HM Revenue & Customs. We can assist you in doing this to free up your valuable time, so you can concentrate on what you are good at – running your business.

We can help with:

• VAT returns
• CT61s – returns of interest payments
• P11Ds – returns of employee benefits and expenses
• new style pension scheme returns
• construction industry returns.

Inland Revenue enquiry protection
The firm offers affordable peace of mind if you sign up to our enquiry protection service. All fees in connection with dealing HM Revenue & Customs enquiries can be insured so there is no cost to you.

As you will appreciate, HM Revenue & Customs has wide investigative powers and can open random enquiries after your tax return has been properly prepared, even if it contains no errors. This can be extremely time consuming and stressful to deal with, but our protection service can take away all the worry and ensure that such an enquiry doesn’t cost you any professional fees.

The cover is wide ranging and encompasses private individuals and their tax returns, and also business clients, whether you operate as a sole trade, partnership or limited company.

Business clients also benefit from various free legal helplines as part of the service.

Please contact us for a quote and for details of the terms and conditions.

 

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PAYROLL ASSURANCE REVIEW

Payroll assurance review
All businesses face the prospect of receiving a payroll control visit from HM Revenue & Customs every few years and experience suggests they always manage to come across something they consider irregular.

Why not let us carry out an independent assurance review of your payroll and business expense procedures? We can report back to you, advising of areas where you can develop your accounting system and business expense procedures to save you tax and minimise the intrusion a control visit can cause.

 

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FAQs

Am I claiming all the capital allowances I am entitled to?
The capital allowance rules are extremely complicated and, it seems, forever changing. Why not let us review your current assets to check you are claiming all reliefs you are due? We can also assess a strategy to make sure the legislative changes work for you.

Should I run my business through a limited company?
There are considerable income tax and National Insurance savings to be gained from running a business through a limited company. We have a detailed financial model that can quantify the likely saving, and we can also assist in all aspects of setting up the company.

Are the freelancers I use really self-employed?
If you engage freelancers or other persons who purport to be self-employed then we recommend you assess whether they are genuinely self-employed.

The reason for doing this is that HM Revenue & Customs can in certain circumstances re-categorise these individuals as employees, which means there is a risk they will look to you for PAYE and NI that should have been paid.

We have wide experience of the case law surrounding re-categorisation and can help to strengthen the case for continuing self-employed status.

 

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PLANNING SOLUTIONS

Minimising death duties
All estates are potentially subject to inheritance tax at death. With careful tax planning during a person’s lifetime, their exposure can be minimised and in some cases eliminated. This is an area where we have seen legislative changes recently, for example the transfer of unused nil rate bands between spouses. If we carry out a full review of your affairs we can assess how such changes affect you, and how your affairs should be structured in future.

Capital Gains Tax optimisation&
Capital Gains Tax is an incredibly complex area and major legislative changes were made in Budget 2008. It may be time to review your tax affairs to assess what impact these changes will have on you and what strategies you should adopt to put yourself in the best possible position to ensure all your reliefs are due and your tax is minimised.

Maximising income tax relief
There are various income tax reliefs due and a thorough review of your affairs can ensure you are claiming all the reliefs that you are entitled to. For example, are you claiming tax relief on your borrowings where you are entitled to do so?

Tax privileged investment vehicles
Enterprise investment schemes entitle investors to tax relief but are often overlooked as a valuable planning tool, particularly by business start ups. It may be worth reviewing your affairs to find out whether your tax position can be improved by careful use of these schemes or other such vehicles.

VAT and property
More and more people are building their own homes, particularly if they are concerned about the environmental impact of the building they live in. The VAT rules as they affect properties are complex, but we can help you save VAT in certain circumstances.

 

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COMPLIANCE

We offer many tax planning services and also provide core compliance services as detailed below.

Annual self-assessment tax returns
We are fully computerised and can offer cost-effective and efficient electronic filing of returns.

Tax repayment claims
Have you been claiming tax refunds when they are due to you? We are able to prepare and submit repayment claims to HM Revenue & Customs to make sure you get back what is properly due to you.

Capital gains tax calculations
Allied to the preparation of tax returns, we are able to carry out the detailed calculations required to support your annual self-assessment.

Non-resident landlord returns
We see more and more clients working temporarily abroad. Often they let their homes during this time and we are able to administer annual non-resident landlord returns quickly and efficiently.

Inheritance tax
As well as providing detailed planning solutions we can prepare and submit all necessary inheritance tax returns as required by HM Revenue & Customs, including the 10-year anniversary charge return.

Inland Revenue enquiry protection
The firm offers affordable peace of mind if you sign up to our enquiry protection service. All fees in connection with dealing with HM Revenue & Customs enquiries can be insured so there is no cost to you.

As you will appreciate, HM Revenue & Customs has wide investigative powers and can open random enquiries after your tax return has been properly prepared, even if it contains no errors. This can be extremely time consuming and stressful to deal with, but our protection service can take away all the worry and ensure it doesn’t cost you any professional fees.

Please contact us for a quote and for details of the terms and conditions.

 

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FINANCIAL HEALTH CHECK

Financial health check
Why not spend 10 minutes completing our financial health check, which can indicate areas where your affairs can be improved? We can fully review your position to ensure your financial affairs are efficiently structured, taking financial service advice where appropriate.

 

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FAQs

How does the loss of capital gains tax taper relief affect you?
The Pre-Budget Report of 2007 and subsequent Treasury pronouncements heralded the most most important changes in the tax code for the last 10 years. The new rules enacted in Budget 2008 have had a major impact on many people and we recommend that all our clients review their position and current asset holdings.

Am I maximising main residence relief?
Main residence relief is a valuable capital gains tax relief protecting the home from tax. Some protection for second homes is also offered. The rules are complicated but we will be happy to advise you once we have reviewed all the details of your circumstances.

Is my house a farmhouse?
A review of current HM Revenue & Customs practice relating to farm houses could ensure you are entitled to agricultural property relief on your house. The case law surrounding this issue is complex and a thorough review should be taken periodically to ensure you are still entitled to relief.

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