There is a very limited range of expenses that employees can claim, but these can include the flat rate deduction (£6 per week) for working from home, if you are required to work from home, have not alternative place to work at, and your employer doesn’t pay you a home-working allowance. You may also be able to claim uniform or tool allowances, which are specific to your trade, and claim mileage ( at 45p per mile) when you use your own vehicle while on a business journey.

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When a residential property is held through a company (or another non-natural person eg a trust) this potentially creates a liability to the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED). This annual charge applies if the property is worth over £500,000.

There are several exemptions and reliefs for ATED, but those reliefs must be claimed each year for each property that falls within the ATED regime.

The property must be valued on acquisition to determine whether it is worth over £500,000. But it must also be revalued every five years after…

HMRC are always a little suspicious of businesses that claim a VAT repayment in their first VAT return, or a large refund in a later return. In such cases it will write to you asking for supporting evidence, such as copies of invoices, to be provided within 30 days.

You can now provide the requested information online, through a new portal HMRC has set up, especially for this purpose.

You need to quote the reference given in HMRC’s letter which will be in the format: CFSS-1234567, and supply other…

When the time comes to close a company the usual method by which this is done is via a process known as ‘Striking off’. The procedure is an informal, voluntary way of closing a company which is no longer required either because the company has ceased trading, or the director wants to retire or because the directors just want to close the business. However, strike off can be undertaken compulsorily, typically by a disgruntled creditor or by Companies House for non-submission of annual accounts. Importantly, a company can…

The tax rules for entertaining businesses are clear. Whether payment for lunch with a customer or tickets for a sporting event — whatever the reason, with few exceptions, any cost incurred for entertaining is not an allowable expense for tax purposes. The amount can still be paid out of the business bank account and deducted from arriving at the accounting profit but will be added back in the tax computation and taxed.

One of the exceptions to this rule concerns staff entertainment. Staff entertaining is…