June Question and Answer Corner

Newsletter issue - June 07.

Q. I started a new business last year and have only just begun to make profits after a year of losses. Can I set the losses made in the first year against the profits made in the second year?

A. Yes you can, but if your business is run as a sole-trader rather than through a company you can set the first year losses back against your other income made in the four years before you started the business. If the business is operated through a company the use of losses is more restricted as they can only generally be set against income made by the same company in the future.

Q. Before I married I lived in a small flat, which is now let. I would like my wife to receive the income from this flat to use up her personal tax allowances, as she is no longer working. How can I arrange this?

A. To share the income from the flat the property must be held in your joint names. Ask a solicitor to transfer ownership of a defined share in the property to your wife. There will be legal charges and possibly Stamp Duty Land Tax to pay if the property is subject to a mortgage.

Q. I am setting up a café in a local gym to sell hot and cold drinks including fruit smoothies made on the premises. Do I have to charge VAT on the smoothies?

A. Assuming you are or need to be registered for VAT, then Yes. Smoothies and juices are a drinks subject to standard rate VAT. If you sell the fruit unprocessed it is a zero-rated food.

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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Booth & Co  |   The Hermitage  |   15a Shenfield Road  |   Brentwood  |   Essex  |   CM15 8AG        Telephone: 01277 224666    |   Email: info@boothandco.co.uk