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October Question and Answer Corner
Newsletter issue - October 08.
Q. My sales have fallen off drastically in the last few months and my customers are getting much more price sensitive. Can I deregister for VAT and so effectively drop my prices?
A. If your total sales for the last 12 months have been less than £65,000, and you expect them to stay below this threshold for the next 12 months you can ask HMRC to cancel your VAT registration. This is not an automatic process and the VAT office may not grant you permission to escape the VAT net. You need to complete form VAT 7, which can be downloaded from the HMRC website, and give some convincing reasons on that from why your turnover is unlikely to rise about the compulsory VAT registration limit (£67,000) in the foreseeable future.
Q. I'm about to buy a shop with a flat above. Will the value of the flat be covered by the Stamp Duty holiday, and so be free of duty?
A. Unfortunately not. The Stamp Duty Land Tax 'holiday' only applies to purely residential properties where the value of the sale is £175,000 or less, and the deal is completed between 3 September 2008 and 2 September 2009. Commercial properties, and properties where there is both a commercial and residential part, such as your combined flat and shop, are covered by the commercial rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax which start at £150,000. There is no 'holiday' for these commercial properties.
Q. I held shares in the company I worked for, which was taken over in February 2008. The amount I received for those shares was less than I paid for them. Can I get any benefit from that loss?
A. If the company was not quoted on a stock exchange you may be able to set the loss against your income for 2007/08 or 2006/07, but you must have bought the shares directly from the company, not from another person. The company must also meet a number of conditions regarding its size and trade. If the company was quoted or does not meet all the conditions, the only option for you is to claim the capital loss on the capital gains tax pages of your tax return. You can then set the loss against any taxable capital gains you make in the future.
What our clients say about us...
"Paul has provided accountancy services to my company for 2 years now. I can recommend Paul very highly; his skills as an accountant are highly detailed and professional and he is always available to provide advice. One aspect of the way Paul works that I greatly appreciate is a preference to meet face to face when there is a detailed conversation to be had. I personally find this more productive and is a benefit of working with a small accountancy firm that you wouldn't get with the large faceless providers."
ALISTAIR FAIRWEATHER - PROGRAMME & PROJECT MANAGER, DELIVERING/RESCUING I.T. 7 BUSINESS CHANGE WITH BUDGETS UPTO £50M INC SUPPIER MANAGEMENT
"I couldn't ask for more from Paul as an Accountant. Paul has been accountant to Work Relief Charity Recruitment for just over a year now and is proving an invaluable asset. Accurate, knowledgeable, flexible with an emphasis on service delivery, I would recommend Paul's services to any organisation looking for an accounts professional."
Neil Price - Managing Director at Work Relief Charity Recruitment
"Paul was a referral from a family member when I started my business 2 years ago. As this was the first time I had ever run my own company I was totally clueless over the financial side of matters and was worried that I may have made mistakes in any of my accounting. I needn't have worried as after enaging Paul for a set monthly fee he was always there on the end of the phone for all sorts of questions I had and no matter how trivial they were Paul gave me all the information I required and more and did an excellent and painless job at the end of my first year! Couldn't ask for any better to be honest. Just two words - hire him!!!"
Lee Westrap MBCS - Director - Bulldog IT Services
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