Contractor Accountants
FIRST STEPS
GUIDE TO
RUNNING A
LIMITED COMPANY
Online Accounting for Contractors
a real-time financial overview of your limited company
See Page 30 for details
FIRST STEPS GUIDE TO
RUNNING A LIMITED COMPANY
contents
1.
2.
3.
Taxes
22
6
PAYE / NIC
23
Register for Taxes
7
IR35
24
Business Insurance
8
VAT
26
Appoint an Accountant
9
Corporation Tax
27
Trading as a Company
10
About Nixon Williams
29
Invoicing
11
Nixon Williams Vantage
30
Expenses
12
Vantage Service Summary
31
Extracting money from the Company
18
Salary
19
Pensions
20
Dividends
21
Company Set-up
5
Bank Account
4.
5.
I am pleased to provide you with our Contractors Guide
to Running a Limited Company with the compliments of
Nixon Williams.
The purpose of this guide is to explain the first steps
that you will need to take in setting up your freelancing
company; we will also highlight some of the compliance
issues that you will need to navigate once the business
is up and running.
For more information, please feel free to speak to a
member of our New Business team on 01253 362062 or
refer to our website.
Craig Whelan MAAT
New Business Manager
4
11
company set up
Congratulations on forming a new limited company, this is the first step towards working independently as a contractor.
You should now check that the company has been formed as you wanted; the main areas to check are:
1. Shareholders
2. Directors
3. Registered Office
These are the owners of the limited
company, they are entitled to a share
of any distributions made from the
company’s profit and to a share of
any residual assets on winding up
the company.
These are the people who are
appointed by the shareholders to
take care of the day-to-day running
of the company.
This is the legal address of the
company. One of the most important
things to keep in mind is that the
company is a separate legal entity
from those that own/manage it. In
the case of most private companies,
the shareholders and directors will
be the same people.
5
1.11 bank account
One of the first things to do after the company has
been formed is to open a bank account as this will
be needed in order to receive money from trading.
There are numerous banks that are all keen to open
an account for you; however we don’t think that you’ll
find a better option than our recommended bank,
Cater Allen.
Cater Allen offer free banking for the life of the
account for up to 30 transactions per month. If you
open the account through Nixon Williams then they
will waive their minimum balance requirement.
* Cater Allen and the flame logo are registered trade marks
6
1.2 register for taxes
There are three main taxes which you will need to ensure that
the company is registered for: PAYE; VAT and Corporation
Tax. In addition to this, any directors or shareholders (where
dividend income stands to exceed £10,000) will need to
register for a self-assessment tax return.
Details’ which will contain a reference number needed to
complete the registration for Corporation Tax. You may already
be registered as a self-assessment tax payer, if not then you
will need to complete an SA1 form which can be downloaded
from HMRC’s website.
PAYE and VAT registrations can be completed online via
HMRC’s website immediately. Shortly after incorporation
HMRC will send a notice ‘Corporation Tax – New Company
Your obligations to HMRC on each of the above taxes will be
outlined later on in this guide.
www.nixonwilliams.com
Call us on tel: 01253 362062 or email: [email protected]
7
1.3 business insurance
There are three types of insurance that new businesses generally need to consider:
Public Liability
This is to insure the business against injury, death or damage to third party property as a result of your actions.
Professional Indemnity
This is to insure the business against claims made against it by a client should they suffer a financial loss as a result of an error or
negligence.
Employers Liability
This is to insure the business against claims made by an employee for injury etc. This cover is not required if you are the only employee
and own at least 50% of the shares.
If you haven’t yet purchased insurance, please have a look at our insurance shop at www.nixonwilliams.com where an array of business
insurances are offered.
You may wish to consider joining the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed
(IPSE); they represent contractors and consultants with HMRC etc. Quote ‘NixWill2014’ and get a 15%
discount.
8
www.nixonwilliams.com
Call us on tel: 01253 362062 or email: [email protected]
1.4 appoint an accountant
It is important to appoint an accountant in the early stages of running a company, the knowledge and advice offered by an
experienced accountant can be invaluable in guiding you through the compliance issues involved in running a company. A couple
of factors to consider when choosing an accountant are:
Contractor Specialist
Online Accounting
An accountant who understands the way that your business works Cloud computing has revolutionised the way that many businesses
is essential. For contractors, specific knowledge of IR35 and the manage their accounts as it enables them to access their accounts
rules relating to travel expenses are possibly the most important from anywhere, at any time and can save money in many instances.
factors.
9
2
trading as a company
next steps
The company is now registered with Companies House and
HMRC, you have opened a company bank account, organised
your business insurance and appointed an accountant – the
company is now ready to begin trading. This section will
outline the process of issuing invoices to your clients and
some of the conditions that must be met to successfully claim
some of the most common expenses incurred by contractors.
10
2.1 invoicing
In order to receive payment for the services provided to your
clients, you will need to issue an invoice to the client or agency.
An invoice should contain the following details:
Company name, address and registration number;
VAT number;
Invoice date;
Client/Agency name and address;
Description of services supplied.
Self-Billing
If you provide your services to your end client via an agency, they
may be operating a ‘self-billing system’ whereby the agency
creates an invoice for you based on a submitted timesheet.
This is beneficial as it reduces the administrative burden of
having to create invoices, and also speeds up the payment
process from the agency.
If your agency does operate a self-billing system, HMRC
regulations require VAT calculations and accounts to be
prepared using the self-bills and so you should not create your
own invoice if using a self-bill system.
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11
2.2 expenses
If you incur expenses then these can be claimed from the
company if they have been incurred ‘wholly and exclusively’
for the purpose of trade. Some typical expenses incurred by
contractors along with any associated conditions to making a
successful claim are detailed in this section.
Business Travel
If you incur expenses travelling to client sites in order to fulfil
your contractual obligations, the costs of doing so may be
claimed from the company providing that it is to a temporary
workplace, where you go to perform a task of limited duration
or purpose (known as the 24 month rule) and not simply
ordinary commuting. The most frequent claims for travel
expenses are for public transport tickets, taxis can be claimed
in circumstances where public transport is not available but
should not be excessive.
First 10,000 Miles per
Tax Year
Miles in Excess of
10,000
Car
45p per mile
25p per mile
Motorbike
24p per mile
24p per mile
Cycle
20p per mile
20p per mile
Subsistence
The cost of lunch can be claimed when working at a temporary
workplace. This must be in the form of a pre-packed sandwich
or a meal at a cafe, the cost would not be allowable if the
employee was simply reimbursed for the ingredients to prepare
his/her own packed lunch.
If you are staying overnight on business away from home at
a temporary workplace, you may also claim for the provision
of breakfast, an evening meal and a ‘flat rate’ un-receipted
If a worker uses their own vehicle for business travel, a mileage subsistence allowance of £5 per night (£10 per night if working
allowance can be claimed from the company to cover the cost overseas) to cover small incidental personal expenses such as
of fuel, depreciation, insurance and any other running expenses laundry, newspapers etc.
attributable to the business travel. The rates are set out below:
12
Accommodation
If it is necessary to stay away from home in order to work
at a client’s site, any costs incurred can be claimed from the
company and will be deductible for corporation tax purposes.
It should be noted that the accommodation claimed must be
separate to the employee’s permanent residence in order for it
to be allowable and the employee should not be accompanied
by family.
As with any claims, the expense should be incurred ‘wholly
and exclusively’ for the purpose of business and whilst there
is no specific limit to the cost of accommodation, the standard
of accommodation provided should not exceed that of the
employee’s primary residence so not to be seen as a reward for
the employee’s service.
In many instances, a short term lease on furnished
accommodation (eg. flats) can be obtained as a cheaper and
more convenient alternative to hotels or guesthouses. Provided
that the total cost of the accommodation is appropriate to
the business need and does not exceed the cost of a hotel of
appropriate standard, the claim will be allowed.
Use of home as office allowance
If you use part of your home as an office, either to perform
duties involved in the contract with your client or to carry
out administrative work to run the business, you may claim
an allowance for using part of your home as an office. The
simplest way to do this is to claim the ‘flat rate’ allowance of
£18 per month (£216 per annum) as no receipts are required.
Accountancy Fees
As it is a legal requirement for companies to prepare financial
statements and tax returns; accountancy fees therefore
meet the criteria of being wholly and exclusively a business
expense. One thing to note however is that fees incurred in
the preparation of self assessment tax returns would not be a
business expense and should therefore be paid personally – at
Nixon Williams, we will prepare a basic return free of charge
for our clients where we receive details (self assessment
questionnaire) by 30th September following the end of the tax
year (subject to when in the tax year you became a client).
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2.2 expenses (continued)
Mobile Phone Costs
Training Costs
The provision of one mobile telephone per employee is
not classed as a benefit in kind and is deductible from the
company’s profits for corporation tax purposes. The benefit
in kind exemption covers the telephone itself, any line rental
and the cost of private calls paid by the employer on the
telephone. To qualify for this, the contract must be between the
mobile provider and the company (the company name should
therefore appear on all phone bills) and payment for the phone
must be made directly from the company bank account.
Costs associated with updating or enhancing an existing skill
can be treated as a company expense. They will be allowable
for corporation tax and will not create any benefit in kind or
associated personal tax charge. There should be an expectation
for the skills or personal qualities improved through training to
be useful in the performance of the employee’s duties.
If the purpose of attending training is to acquire a completely
new skill, the cost can be treated as capital expenditure which
can then be written off against any future revenues generated
Internet Connection
as a result of having the new skill. The company may be able to
It is possible to claim for the cost of an internet connection at claim capital allowances for expenditure of this nature.
your home if the following conditions can be met:
Other costs associated with training such as travel or
The contract must be in the company name and the accommodation (if the training is being carried out at a
payment must be made directly from the company’s bank temporary location away from the employee’s normal
account.
workplace or residence) will also be allowable.
There is no separate billing record between business and
private connections (if there is then only the business
connection can be claimed).
Private use must not be significant.
14
Business Entertaining
Annual Event
If you incur costs entertaining a potential client with the
intention of winning a particular contract or extending a
current contract, the costs incurred in doing so can be claimed
from the company. Please note however that expenses of this
nature are not deductible for corporation tax.
An annual event is an allowable expense for the company and
is treated as a tax free benefit for any employees providing the
following conditions are met:
Any costs of entertaining should be commercial, reasonable
and the company should expect to generate future revenues as
a result of the expenditure taking place. For example, to spend
£5,000 on corporate hospitality at a major sporting event for
a potential customer if it would only generate a few hundred
pounds of income would not be seen as reasonable.
Even though entertaining expenses are not deductible for
corporation tax, it is still worth claiming these costs from the
company because if they are paid from your personal income,
this will be after having paid personal tax.
The total cost must not exceed £150 (inc. VAT) per head, if
the cost does exceed this limit then the entire cost will be
treated as a benefit in kind;
The event must be open to all staff;
You may invite a partner, but if partners are invited, all staff
must be entitled to invite a partner – invited partners will
also be given an allowance of £150 per head.
You may have more than one annual event in a year, though
you must be able to justify (if questioned by HMRC) that they
are genuine annual events i.e. a summer barbeque, a winter
ball etc., rather than just a night out for your employees every
now and then. If multiple events are held, the total cost of all
events added together must not exceed the £150 per head
allowance.
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2.2 expenses (continued)
Childcare Costs
There are two mechanisms by which the company can
provide for childcare costs:
1.
Direct Agreement – this is where the company agrees
with a registered childcare provider to purchase
childcare and to provide it to the employee. A simple
letter stating that your company agrees to purchase
childcare on behalf of the employee is sufficient
evidence of the existence of such an agreement.
2. Voucher scheme – the company purchases vouchers
from a childcare voucher scheme provider and
issues the vouchers to the employee who then uses
the vouchers towards their childcare costs. Scheme
providers usually charge an administration fee for this,
typically 2 – 5% of the voucher’s face value.
The childcarer must not be related to your child, even
if they are registered or approved, unless they run a
childcare business and look after other children that
they are not related to.
If an employee’s child requires some form of care whilst the
employee is working, the employee can claim an allowance
towards this from their employer, the amount claimable is
dependent upon the employee’s tax position – the employer
must carry out an earnings assessment based on the
employees anticipated salary for the year (the assessment
therefore excludes dividends), the amount payable in each
scenario is outlined in the table below:
Basic
Rate
Higher
Rate
Additional
Rate
Weekly
£55
£28
£22
To qualify, the following conditions must be met:
Monthly
£243
£124
£97
The child or stepchild must live with you;
Annually
£2,915
£1,484
£1,166
The child or stepchild whose maintenance you contribute
(either in full or in part) is yours;
The child qualifies up to 1st September after their 15th
birthday (16th birthday if they are disabled); and
16
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3
extracting money from the company
tax efficient extraction strategies
Successful tax planning achieves a balance between remuneration
(salary and pension contributions) and dividends, which minimises
the combined tax liability of the individual and the company. The
main methods of extracting money from the company will be
outlined in this section.
We will also highlight some important tax planning tips that you
may find useful.
18
3.1 salary
The level of salary that the company pays to you is an
important consideration when it comes to tax planning.
Directors are exempt from the National Minimum
wage legislation where there is no written contract of
employment in place – this gives you the freedom to set
your salary at the most tax efficient level. The most tax
efficient salary (in most cases) is one set at the personal
allowance (£10,600 in 2015/16), at this level there will be
no income tax to pay, only a small employees NI liability
and the employers NI will be covered by the £2,000
employers exemption (in most circumstances). The
salary will also be treated as a deductible expense for
Corporation Tax purposes.
In order for salary to be treated as a deductible expense
for Corporation Tax purposes, the salary should be at a
commercial rate equal to that which would be paid to a
third party in an agreement made at arm’s length. We
therefore do not recommend paying a salary to non-fee
earning relatives or friends, if this came under HMRC
scrutiny then it is likely to be disallowed.
Salary Comparison
This table shows the different levels of take-home pay achieved
based on three situations: all profit taken as a salary; our
recommended salary topped up with dividends; and no salary
with all profit taken as dividends.
High Salary
Low Salary
No Salary
Turnover
£75,000
£75,000
£75,000
Salary
£68,646
£10,600
£0
£6,354
£0
£0
Profit before tax
£0
£64,400
£75,000
Corporation Tax
£0
-£12,880
-£15,000
Dividends
£0
£51,520
£60,000
£68,646
£10,600
£0
£0
£51,520
£60,000
-£16,862
-£5,728
-£5,463
Employee’s NI
-£4,644
-£305
£0
Take-home
£47,140
£56,087
£54,537
Employers NI
Salary
Dividends
Income Tax
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3.2 pensions
Payments made into an employee’s pension plan by a
company are deductible for corporation tax. To qualify,
the pension contributions must be ‘wholly and exclusively’
for the purpose of trade rather than for the benefit of
the employee/director; whilst the guidance on this is a
little ambiguous, we advise that if the overall salary and
pension does not cause the company to generate a tax
loss then the contributions should qualify for tax relief.
There is an annual allowance of £40,000 (2015/16) which
is the total amount of contributions that can be made to
an individual’s pension fund (per pension input period);
if total contributions (made up of both company and
personal contributions) exceed this amount then there
will be a tax charge on the employee at their marginal
rate.
We would advise you to consult with a pension advisor
prior to making any pension arrangements.
20
If you take our recommended salary then it is more tax
efficient to make use of the tax relief on personal pension
contributions before making them from company funds.
The reason for this is that your basic rate band will be
extended by the gross contribution (after basic rate
relief has been claimed by the pension provider), an £80
pension contribution made personally therefore allows
you to take an extra £90 in dividends before reaching the
higher rate threshold.
Please see the below comparison where the pension fund
is increased by £10,000 in the year. On our recommended
salary of £10,600 – making the contributions personally
will save you up to £250 per year in tax.
Company
Personal
£75,000
£75,000
Salary
- £10,600
- £10,600
Pension payment
- £10,000
£0
Profit before tax
£54,400
£64,400
Corporation Tax
- £10,880
- £12,880
Dividends
£43,520
£51,520
Salary
£10,600
£10,600
- £305
- £305
£0
- £8,000
Dividends
£43,520
£51,520
Income Tax
- £3,728
- £3,478
Take-home
£50,087
£50,337
Pension Fund
£10,000
£10,000
£60,087
£60,337
Turnover
Employee’s NI
Pension payment
Total
3.3 dividends
A dividend is a distribution of a company’s profits (after having
paid Corporation Tax) paid out to the shareholders, the owners
of a Limited company. The decision to pay a dividend and the
amount to distribute are the responsibility of the company’s
directors – they must be able to demonstrate at the time of the
declaration that the company has sufficient retained earnings to
pay the dividend.
If the shareholder receiving the dividend is a basic rate tax payer
then no further tax will be due on the dividend, the dividend
received would be treated as having been taxed already. If the
shareholder is a higher rate tax payer or additional rate tax payer,
dividends paid at this level are subject to tax at 32.5%/37.5% on
the gross dividend, though credit is given for the 10% deemed to
have been paid, meaning that the effective rates of tax on the net
dividends are 25%/30.56%.
Dividends are declared and paid net of a notional tax at a rate of
10%. This 10% tax credit is neither paid by the shareholder or by The tax rates and the effective amounts to be paid in each
the company – it is simply treated by HMRC as a deemed payment scenario in the below table:
of tax by the recipient of the dividend.
Published Official
Rate
Effective Rate
Effective Rate
(on gross dividend after tax credit deducted)
(on net dividend after tax credit deducted)
Basic Rate
10%
0%
0%
Higher Rate
32.5%
22.5%
25%
Additional Rate
37.5%
27.5%
30.56%
Another extremely effective tax planning method is to gift shares in the company to a spouse or civil partner (with whom you are
living) if their income falls into a lower marginal tax rate than yours. By doing this, you will be able to make use of their unused tax
allowances and maximise the amount of money that can be extracted from the company at the lower rate of tax.
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4
taxes
your tax obligations
As the director of a limited company, you are responsible for ensuring
that the company submits returns and pays all taxes by their respective
due date. You will also be required to submit a tax return to HMRC
containing all of your personal income, and pay over any tax arising
on that income. This section of the guide will outline the various tax
obligations that you will have as a director.
22
4.1 paye / nic
If you intend to pay a salary, the company will be required to set up a PAYE (Pay As You Earn) scheme with HMRC and file
returns to them each month.
When an employee is paid, you will be required to deduct income tax and NI from their salary and pay it over to HMRC; a
declaration of this will need to be made to HMRC under the RTI rules each time you pay an employee.
If you provide any taxable benefits or make certain expense reimbursements to any individual within the business, these will
need to be reported to HMRC each year on a P11d form.
Income Tax
National Insurance
Personal Allowance
Employees National Insurance
Basic Personal Allowance
Income related reduction starts at
†
£10,600
£100,000
Personal Allowance reduced by £1 for every £2 income exceeding £100,000.
Rates
First £8,060
0%
£8,061 - £42,385
12%
£42,386 onwards
2%
Employers National Insurance
Basic rate of 20% on taxable income up to
£31,785
Higher rate tax of 40% on taxable income
between
£31,786 £150,000
Additional rate of 45% on taxable income
over
£150,000
First £8,112
£8,113 onwards
0%
†
13.8%
Exemption applies if state retirement age was reached by 06/04/2015
†
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4.2 ir35
What is the purpose of IR35?
How IR35 could affect you?
IR35 is a piece of anti-avoidance legislation aimed at preventing
disguised employment; this is where someone who would
otherwise be employed performs their duties through a company
and enjoys the tax benefits associated with this.
If you are caught by the legislation then IR35 will prevent you from
using traditional tax-planning techniques (small salary and high
dividends) to minimise your tax obligations – instead it will require
you to pay almost all of your fee income out as a salary so that
you are taxed essentially the same way as an employee would.
The IR35 status of an engagement is determined by looking at
whether the engagement would be one of employment or selfemployment in the absence of the service company.
example
An employee would leave his employment on a Friday afternoon
and return to work the following Monday to do the same job but
not as an employee of the original employer. Instead he would
be employed by an intermediary (a personal service company of
which he would be a controlling shareholder/director) through
which his services would be supplied to the original employer.
The intermediary would invoice the original employer for these
services and would receive a gross payment.
Through coming to the above arrangement the original employer
would avoid paying Class 1 NIC at 13.8% and the (former) employee
could arrange his payments between salary and dividends in order
to minimise his tax and NI liabilities. The government therefore
introduced anti-avoidance legislation known as IR35 in April 2000
with the purpose of countering this problem.
24
How to determine employment status?
There is no definition in law over what constitutes employment
or self-employment; we therefore refer to case law judgements
to establish the components of what makes up employment or
self-employment.
The leading case in this area is Ready Mixed Concrete (1968); it
was found in this case that in order for employment to exist, there
must be three factors: Control, Personal Service and Mutuality
of Obligation. If any one of these factors is absent then the
engagement cannot be considered one of employment and the
individual will be seen to be self-employed.
Control
Control concerns what has to be done, when and where it has to
done and how it has to be done. In an employment relationship,
each of the above is dictated to the employee, if a person
maintains autonomy over these things it would therefore indicate
self-employment. If the client can move the contractor according
to their priorities or exercise significant control over how they
perform their duties (through supervision, monitoring, checking
and appraisal) as opposed to complete freedom over how to
complete a project, then they would be seen as employed rather
than self-employed.
Personal Service
The need for one particular person to carry out a role is an
essential element of a contract of employment. It therefore
follows that if a contractor has the freedom to choose whether
to perform his/her duties themselves or to hire somebody else to
do it (on a reasonably unfettered basis) for them, is self-employed.
Mutuality of Obligation
The expectation for continuous work to be provided to a person
and the expectation for all work provided to be completed
characterises an employment relationship. If, therefore, there
is a clause contained in a contract setting out an obligation for
the client to offer further work and for the contractor to accept
it, there would be a mutuality of obligation in the contract and
it would be caught by the IR35 legislation. ‘Rolling contracts’ or
indeed contracts that are continually renewed could therefore fail
this test.
The actual working practices would be examined along with
the contract under with the person is engaged – it is therefore
important that the working practices of the contractor are
reflected in the contract. More and more we are seeing the
contract being overlooked by HMRC Inspectors and reliance being
placed on the working practices themselves to determine the IR35
status.
For IR35 compliance we strongly recommend that you engage
with a team of contract law specialists who can undertake a full
review of your contracts and working practices for the purpose
of IR35. In having such a review prior to signing contracts, it gives
you the opportunity to make amendments to improve your IR35
position - you will also have evidence of your IR35 position having
been considered by a professional which could be advantageous if
HMRC make an enquiry into this later on.
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25
Call us on tel: 01253 362062 or email: [email protected] 25
4.3 vat
VAT is a tax on a company’s turnover; it is added to the value
of the fees invoiced out to your clients, currently at 20%.
Therefore if your fee for providing a service was £1,000, you
would add £200 (£1,000 x 20%), making the total value of
the invoice £1,200.
It is compulsory for a business to register for VAT if the
annual turnover will exceed £82,000 (2015/16), though it may
be beneficial to register voluntarily if the business turnover
is below this threshold as you may be able to benefit from
using the Flat Rate Scheme. On this scheme you will continue
to charge VAT out to your clients at 20% of the net invoice
value but will pay VAT over to HMRC at a lower percentage
which is determined by the nature of the trade undertaken
by the business.
If your company is VAT registered, you will be required to
charge VAT on each of your invoices, submit quarterly VAT
returns electronically by the relevant due date, pay any VAT
owing by the due date and to keep a VAT account within the
company’s accounting records.
For an IT contractor, the flat rate applicable is 14.5% - the
example
Income derived from a £1,000 invoice by a company
using the scheme is illustrated below:
Net Charged:
VAT Charged:
Gross Charged:
VAT Payable @ 14.5%:
Saving (£200 - £174):
£1,000
£200
£1,200
£174
£26
The income to the company is therefore boosted by 2.6%
as a result of being on the Flat Rate Scheme.
26
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4.4 corporation tax
Corporation Tax is charged on the profits made by
a company for a specific period. Corporation Tax is
currently charged at 20% on all profits.
Shortly after a company is formed, HMRC will issue
a notice “Corporation Tax – information for new
companies (CT41G)” out to the registered office of the
company, this is an instruction to register the company
with HMRC for Corporation Tax.
A company must submit a CT600 (company tax return)
form electronically (via iXBRL) to HMRC; this must
reach HMRC within 12 months of the period end for the
CT600. In most cases the CT600 period being the same
as the accounting period, however in the company’s
first year it may be slightly earlier if the accounting
period is longer than 365 days (the maximum length of
a CT600 period).
The company must pay its Corporation Tax liability
within 9 months and 1 day from the CT600 period end.
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4.5 self-assessment
Self-assessment tax returns are completed by individuals
for a number of different reasons; the main reasons are as
follows:
You are a company director;
You have income from a self-employed trade;
You have un-taxed income;
Your income is in excess of £100,000;
You have capital gains tax to pay;
HMRC have sent you a tax return (for whatever reason);
Income of £10,000 or more from savings and investments.
The self-assessment return requires you to detail all of your
income (typically salaries, interest and dividends) and any tax
which has been paid (or deemed to have been paid) on the
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Call us on tel: 01253 362062 or email: [email protected]
various forms of income. The income tax year runs from 6th
April to 5th April, this is the period for which HMRC require
the return to be prepared.
The tax return is due to be submitted to HMRC by 31st January
following the end of the tax year, this is also the date that any
tax owing is due to be paid.
Payments on Account
If the amount owing from self-assessment comes to £1,000
or more, then you will need to make a payment on account
for the following year. The payments on account are made in
two instalments, the first on 31st January and the second on
31st July. Any payments made on account will then be offset
against the total tax liability for the following year.
5
about nixon williams
Who are Nixon Williams?
How we can help
Nixon Williams are a market leading accountancy practice and Our accountancy package includes the following benefits to
have been supporting the accountancy and taxation needs of make limited company finance straight forward for you:
contractors and freelancers throughout the UK since 1995.
We will register a company with Companies House and
Our reputation has been established as a result of:
HMRC;
Our 20 years of experience in supporting contractors and
We will provide a single point of contact to be on hand to
freelancers;
answer any questions and offer advice;
Our skilled team of accountants who are based entirely in the
We will produce accounts and tax returns to ensure
UK;
compliance with relevant legislation;
Listening to feedback and tailoring our service around the
needs of our clients; and
By offering a good quality, cost-effective solution to our clients.
We will inform you of how much to pay yourself;
We will inform you of how much tax to pay and when to pay
it.
What our clients say about us
“ Thanks again for your help, Nixon Williams have been a pleasure “ Very impressive as to how quickly the company got formed, I
wouldn’t have a clue where to start, I am so glad I approached you,
to work with and I will be recommending them highly to others.”
best decision I have made. ”
Rhaani Clements - De Nada Limited
Saj Khan - Sizn Limited
“ I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for you and “ I think you provide a great service. My previous accountant
your team’s professionalism and support over the past 12 months.
I am really happy with the service that has been provided and look
forward to continue using Nixon Williams.”
charged the same and delivered so much less. Keep up the
good work and I will keep on recommending Nixon Williams. ”
Martin Crook - CMBT Consulting Limited
Click Here 4 Marketing Limited - Luke Tunley
29
5
nixon williams vantage
Vantage is our bespoke cloud based accountancy system, which has
been developed around the needs of contractors and freelancers,
promising to make online accountancy simple.
Our real-time software enables you to get an accurate overview of
your company’s finances anytime, anywhere.
Vantage supports contractors with little or no accountancy
knowledge, whilst the support of our accountancy teams will help
to ensure you operate in a compliant, tax efficient manner.
VANTAGE
features:
Dashboard Our intuitively designed dashboard provides you with a
real-time financial picture of your business whenever you
log in.
Cloud based
Access your accounts information from anywhere in the
world with an internet connection.
Support
Included in Vantage is a range of instructional pages and
videos which are available 24/7. You will also receive the
support from a member of our team, who will be available
during office hours to answer any questions that you have.
Secure
SSL encryption, a dedicated firewall and remote data
backup all help to ensure that your information is safe.
For a detailed list of the features visit:
www.nixonwilliams.com/vantage
30
vantage service summary
set up
Form a limited company at Companies House.
Register your company for PAYE, VAT & Corporation Tax.
Register your company for the VAT Flat Rate Scheme.
Assist with opening a Cater Allen bank account.
Free Set-Up on the Vantage Portal.
monthly
Operate your payroll and provide payslips for each employee.
quarterly
Calculation & advice of VAT returns & payments.
Calculation & advice of PAYE payments.
annually
Issue P60 and file PAYE returns with HMRC.
Issue and file P11d & P11d(b) with HMRC.
Calculate and advise on Class 1A NIC payments.
Prepare & file annual accounts with HMRC.
Prepare & file Corporation Tax return (CT600) with HMRC.
Prepare accounts for Companies House.
Prepare Companies House Annual Return (AR01).
Personal Tax Return for one person.
also included
Single point of contact including direct dial & email address.
Unlimited telephone & email support.
Deal with any general HMRC correspondence and queries.
Advise Companies House of company changes.
Deal with address changes for the company and directors.
Mortgage & Tenancy references.
Complete Office for National Statistics questionnaires.
Deal with HMRC enquiries.
If you choose to move accountants, we will not charge for the
transfer.
contact us
For more information about Nixon Williams and
the Vantage portal please contact one of our
New Business team today!
only
£95
+vat
per month
01253 362062
[email protected]
31
Contractor Accountants
4 Calder Court,
Shorebury Point,
Amy Johnson Way,
Blackpool
FY4 2RH
New Business: 01253 362062
Email: [email protected]
© Nixon Williams Limited 2015
NWL 04/15