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Dates and deadlines October 2013
Upcoming deadlines for businesses and individuals
1 October: Corporation tax payment for a company not within the instalment regulations: year ending 31 December 2012.
1 October: New national minimum wages rates come into effect.
5 October: Notify HMRC of chargeability to Income Tax / Capital Gains Tax from this date if not within Self Assessment for 2012/13.
5 October: End of month 6 for PAYE (RTI). All FPS (Full Payment Submissions) due if taking advantage of concession.
7 October: Online VAT return due to be filed and electronic payment of VAT due to be cleared into HMRC bank: quarter ended 31 August 2013.
11 October: Direct debit VAT payment will be taken: quarter ended 31 August 2013.
14 October: CT61 quarterly return and payment deadline: quarter to 30 September 2013
19 October: CIS monthly return deadline: month ended 5 October 2013.
19 October: Cheque payments for PAYE/NI, student loan, CIS to be cleared into HMRC bank: month ended 5 October 2013.
22 October: Electronic PAYE/NI etc payments to be cleared into HMRC bank: month ended 5 October 2013.
31 October: Deadline for submission of paper self assessment returns for 2012/13
31 October : Company tax return CT600 due to HMRC: years ending 31 October 2012.
31 October: Company accounts (Private Limited Co) due to be filed: years ending 31 January 2013.
31 October: Company accounts (Public Companies) due to be filed: years ending 30 April 2013.
1 November : Corporation tax payment for company not within the instalment regulations: years ending 31 January 2013.
2 November: Submission of form P46 (car) for changes in quarter to 5 October 2013
Age exception certificates and State Pension Age calculator
Employers need to be aware that HMRC will no longer issue age exception certificates (CA4140) to confirm that a person has reached State Pension age (Spa) and therefore the employee concerned is no longer liable to pay Class 1 National Insurance Contributions (NICs). Employers still continue to be liable for their portion of the NICs if the person is working as an employee.
This means that employers will need to obtain a copy of an employee’s birth certificate or passport as evidence of the employee’s date of birth. This can be scanned or photocopied by the employer and kept on file as proof that employee Class1 NICs are not payable.
If for any reason an employee is reluctant to provide a birth certificate as it may contain sensitive information that they do not wish to disclose then the employer should advise the employee to contact HMRC at the following address to obtain a letter confirming they have reached SPa.
HM Revenue and Customs
National Insurance Contributions and Employer Office
Individuals Caseworker
BentonParkView
Longbenton
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
State pension age calculator
If you want to confirm the date you will reach SPa there is a State Pension Age Calculator available at www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension
Please contact us for any advice on payroll issues.
New rules affecting company loans to director/shareholders
Legislation was introduced in the finance Bill 2013 to counter arrangements whereby close companies seek to avoid the charge to tax under section 455 on loans to participators. This will affect small companies where loans are made to directors who are also shareholders (participators) such as overdrawn director’s current accounts.
A close company is a company which is controlled by five or fewer participators or any number of directors who are participators and broadly, a participator is a person who has a share or interest in a company.
If a loan is made to a director/shareholder of a close company and is outstanding at the end of the company’s accounting period then under section 455 (of CTA2010) a charge to tax arises equivalent to 25% of the outstanding loan or advance. The tax is payable with company’s corporation tax charge nine months after the year end.
If the loan or advance is repaid or released within nine months after the end of the company’s accounting period end then tax relief is available under section 458 (of CTA2010) which means that the tax charge is not payable.
If tax is paid on the loan and the loan is later repaid then the tax paid can be recovered.
One of the tax avoidance measures affecting these arrangements relates to situations where close companies have been able to exploit the tax relief when the loan is repaid to the company. Where a loan from a close company to a participator (director/shareholder) is repaid within nine months after the end of the company’s year end to avoid the section 455 tax charge and shortly after a new loan is made available (known as bed and breakfasting) then new rules contain specific provisions to deny this tax relief as detailed below.
With effect from 20 March 2013 there is a "bed and breakfasting" rule for claiming relief under section 458 , whereby if a loan, advance or transfer of value of £5,000 or more is made to the participator within 30 days of a loan or advance of £5,000 or more being repaid by that participator, relief will not apply and the tax charge will become payable.
In addition even if the 30 day rule does not apply to deny tax relief, relief will be denied where, prior to a loan or advance being repaid by a participator, that participator owes the company £15,000 or more and after that repayment, pursuant to arrangements in place at the time of the repayment, the company makes a loan, advance or transfer of value to the participator (or an associated person).
There were two other measures introduced to tackle avoidance of the tax charge (known as s455 tax) on loans from close companies to their participators and these were:
• to put beyond doubt that loans to various intermediaries are within the scope of the charge;
• transfers of value (other than loans) are brought within the scope of the charge when arrangements mean there is also a corresponding receipt of value by the participator.
These can be reviewed in more detail at HMRC - new rules close company loans
Please contact us for further advice on these type of loan arrangements.
National minimum wage rates from 1 October 2013
There are changes to the national minimum wage (NMW) rates in some categories from 1 October 2013. The new rates per hour are as follows with the current rates shown in brackets:
- £6.31 (£6.19) - the main rate for workers aged 21 and over
- £5.03 (£4.98) - the 18-20 rate
- £3.72 (£3.68) - the 16-17 rate for workers above school leaving age but under 18
- £2.68 (£2.65) - the apprentice rate, for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship
If you have any queries please contact us
Simpler income tax – cash basis 2013-14
HMRC have introduced a cash basis for small self-employed businesses (sole traders and partnerships) to record their income and expenses for their self assessment tax return which can first be used from April 2013 for the 2013-14 tax year instead of using the traditional accruals basis.
The cash basis is a method whereby you record money when it actually comes in and goes out of your business whether it is by cash, card payment, cheque etc,. The accruals basis is whereby transactions are recorded when an invoice is issued to a customer and received from a supplier.
To use the cash basis your total business income must be below £79,000, the current VAT registration threshold. Once you are using the cash basis you can continue in the scheme if your business income grows up to an income of £158,000. Over that higher limit the accruals basis will need to be used for the next tax year’s tax return. Existing businesses switching from the accruals basis to the cash basis may need to make some adjustments when they switch - similarly when you leave the scheme.
The cash basis may not suit all businesses. Limited companies and limited liability partnerships cannot use the scheme. There are also some specific types of business that cannot use the scheme such as certain farming businesses, dealers in securities, mineral extraction businesses.
You can use the simplified expenses scheme in conjunction with the cash basis for vehicle expenses, working from home or living on your business premises. See our earlier articles simplified expenses and business use of home .
More information is available here.
If you require further help please contact us
