VAT returns in The Close, Norwich

VAT-registered sole traders, partnerships and limited companies in The Close, Norwich: trades and construction firms dealing with the domestic reverse charge, retailers and cafes with mixed-rate sales, online sellers with marketplace VAT, consultants on the flat rate scheme, and businesses that have just passed the £90,000 registration threshold and need to register and file for the first time.

• Quarterly VAT return prepared from your bookkeeping and reviewed for coding errors before submission
• Submission through Making Tax Digital-compatible software with HMRC's receipt forwarded to you
• Scheme review: standard, flat rate, cash accounting or annual accounting, whichever saves you most
• Partial exemption, reverse charge, EU and import VAT handled where they arise
• Payment reminder with the exact amount, reference and date before each 7th-of-the-month deadline
• HMRC VAT correspondence about the returns we filed handled at no extra charge

1. Scope the job

   We find out what you need filed, when it is due and what state the records are in, and tell you which fixed-fee package applies.

2. Agree the price

   The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.

3. Hand over the records

   Photographs, PDFs, software access or a spreadsheet, sent however suits you. We confirm what we have and what is missing within two working days.

4. Approve, then we submit

   You review the draft with our explanation, sign off, and we file. Receipts, copies and the next deadlines come back to you immediately.

The Close, Norwich is in East of England, England. For businesses in England the tax rules are those set by the UK Parliament: the 20/40/45% income tax bands, Class 4 National Insurance for the self-employed at 6% and 2%, Corporation Tax at 19% to 25%, and Stamp Duty Land Tax on property. Business rates are set locally by the council.

Payments on account

A common surprise in Self Assessment is the January payment that is far larger than expected. That is the balancing payment for the year just ended plus the first payment on account for the year ahead, which HMRC sets at half of the bill just calculated. We put the figure in your hands months ahead and tell you how to adjust it legitimately when circumstances change.

The Self Assessment calendar

The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Anyone new to Self Assessment must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which their untaxed income began. The online return and the balancing payment are due by 31 January, with a second payment on account on 31 July where they apply. Paper returns have an earlier deadline of 31 October and are rarely sensible.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

The biggest change to Self Assessment in a generation is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, now live for higher-earning sole traders and landlords and arriving for the rest in stages. Quarterly updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, built from digital records. The practical consequence is that spreadsheet-and-shoebox bookkeeping is ending for anyone above the threshold.

Late filing penalties

HMRC's penalties for a late Self Assessment return are automatic: £100 the day after 31 January, £10 a day from three months late up to £900, then the greater of £300 or 5% of the tax at six and twelve months. Interest and separate late-payment penalties apply to the tax itself. Companies House charges £150 to £1,500 for late accounts, doubling for a second consecutive year.

Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief

Corporation Tax is not a flat rate. Profits to £50,000 pay 19%, profits above £250,000 pay 25%, and the band between is taxed at an effective marginal rate of 26.5% through the marginal relief mechanism. Associated companies share the thresholds, which catches directors who own more than one company and is the most common cause of underpaid tax in owner-managed groups.

The VAT registration threshold

VAT registration is compulsory once taxable turnover in any rolling twelve-month period exceeds £90,000, or when you expect to exceed that in the next thirty days alone. The test is rolling, not by tax year, and includes zero-rated sales. Businesses regularly cross it without noticing, and late registration means accounting for VAT on sales where it was never charged to customers.

Director's loan accounts

The most common tax problem in owner-managed companies is an overdrawn director's loan account: drawings taken during the year that were never declared as dividends or salary. The company faces a 35.75% charge on the balance outstanding nine months after the year end, and the director may have a benefit in kind. We review the account before every year end to clear it properly.