New Digital Tax Regulations

WELSH ACCOUNTANTS READY TO ASSIST SMALL BUSINESSES OVER NEW DIGITAL TAX REGULATIONS

Leading Welsh accountancy firm Bevan & Buckland is warning of new legislation which will transform the way companies submit their tax returns.

By 2020 businesses will be required to move from annual to quarterly online tax reporting.

“This is going to be a culture shock and something of a sea change in the way companies operate their tax accounting,” said Bevan & Buckland’s Tax Director Lee Bradley.

“But we at Bevan & Buckland are there to help firms negotiate their way around the changes before they happen so they are fully versed with the incoming system.”

Added Lee: “There are fears out there especially with regards small business that because of the new digital system it will lead to previously compliant individuals becoming non-compliant.”

The Low Incomes Tax Group (LITRG) has already flagged up its concerns that smaller businesses run by non-digital literate owners or those who do not keep up to date with their tax records may face sanctions from HMRC due to not meeting the new quarterly requirements.

The most at risk from failing the new system include older and disabled people, and those living in remote areas.

There are so many concerns that Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has written to the Treasury seeking assurance that businesses will not be compelled to pay tax any earlier than they do now, and that adequate arrangements will be made for businesses that do not use computers.

The proposals require businesses and individual taxpayers to move from annual to quarterly online tax reporting by 2020. The proposals will also include plans for all taxpayers to be using digital accounts, with HMRC information automatically upload.

Anthony Thomas, LITRG chairman, said: “It is very harsh that small businesses with the lowest profit margins may be required to undertake significant investment and training in computer technology simply in order to comply with HMRC’s reporting requirements, and for no other purpose.”

John Allan, national chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses, added: “The UK’s self-employed will particularly struggle with this change. We therefore want to see proper consultation with business groups and professional bodies, a clear statement of benefits to the business community and a package of support to help offset this new burden on business.”

For further information about how Bevan and Buckland can help your company with tax issues contact Lee Bradley on 01792 410100 or by email at help@bevanbuckland.co.uk.

 

Lee Bradley
Tax Director
01792 410119

email: lee@bevanbuckland.co.uk

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352

 

Trustees must engage with finance guidance

Press release: Trustees must engage with finance guidance, says charity regulator

Charity trustees must engage with and use finance guidance from the regulator if they are to run their charities effectively, the Charity Commission tells charity trustees.

The commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has updated key finance guidance to show clearly that trustees are ultimately responsible for their charities’ finances, and respond to the need to make sure its guidance reflects the most current challenges facing thousands of charities.

Many charities face a daily challenge of making ends meet, balancing reduced income with potential increased demands or costs. Some inevitably end up becoming insolvent and need to wind up. With around 600 new charities being registered every month, competition for funding is very strong.

This climate makes the commission’s finance guidance essential reading. It covers the importance of having a good reserves policy and how trustees can manage their charities in charities in challenging circumstances. It says clearly what trustees must do, that they must understand the legal requirements, and know what they should do in terms of good practice.

The commission has also updated its popular ‘15 questions trustees should ask’ guide for trustee meetings to better reflect the current social and economic climate.

Sarah Atkinson, Director of Policy and Communications at the Charity Commission said:

We recognise that charities operate in a very challenging environment, with some charities heavily reliant on single sources of funding. So it is all the more important that trustees are in control of their charity’s finances. This means actively taking steps to manage their charity’s finances through regular monitoring, asking the right questions and getting professional help where needed. Donors and beneficiaries rightly ask questions about issues such as reserves, and want to understand why charities do or don’t have them. Reserves policies help tell that story clearly and demonstrate that trustees are aware of the real risks.

These guidance updates are designed to help trustees make the right call and support them, not to overburden them. That’s why there are also guides on how to set a good reserves policy for small and large charities. As regulator there is a limit on how much we can do as these are individual decisions for trustees to make. But these tools will help them manage any difficulties properly and with confidence.

The 3 sets of updated guidance are:

• Managing a charity’s finances: planning, managing difficulties and insolvency (CC12)
• Charity reserves: building resilience (CC19)
• Charity governance, finance and resilience: 15 questions trustees should ask

Managing financial difficulties

The commission recommends in its updated guidance that trustees review the charity’s financial position and its performance against budgets and future projections at least once a month, but the extent of the review will vary according to the size and stability of the charity. Proper analysis of financial trends and changes in budget predictions may help to assist early identification of financial problems.

Where their charity has to close, the commission expects trustees to have planned for an orderly shutdown. The guidance covers what is meant by insolvency, and what steps trustees should take if they believe they are insolvent, including getting good professional advice.

Reserves

The reserves guidance confirms that there is no single level or even a range of reserves that is right for all charities. Any target set by trustees for the level of reserves to be held, or decision that there is no need for reserves, should reflect the particular circumstances of the individual charity. However trustees should not simply monitor their level of reserves annually, but keep them under review throughout the year. Where a charity hasn’t got the reserves it thinks it needs, it is exposed to greater risk and the commission expects the trustees to address this actively.

The updates to make the sets of guidance clearer and more streamlined come ahead of a full review of the guidance later this year.

Charities targeted by sophisticated scams

Mandate fraud: charities targeted by increasingly sophisticated scams

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, is urging charities to remain vigilant to the continuing threat of mandate fraud and the changing tactics that fraudsters are using to target charities.

Mandate fraud occurs when the fraudster tricks a victim into changing bank account details, in order to divert legitimate payments intended for a genuine organisation (eg a charity supplier) to bank accounts instead controlled by fraudsters. This often involves the fraudster impersonating an organisation representative, either by email, direct mail or telephone communication. The fraudster may also use headed paper and/or the company logo to lend credibility and to gain the charity’s trust.

The threat of mandate fraud is an on-going issue for charities, with cases continuing to be reported to Action Fraud from across the sector. We first brought this issue to the attention of charities in 2010.

In recent months, the commission has become aware of mandate fraud attempts where the fraudster has been able to use the email address of a regular contact at the legitimate organisation to deceive charities into changing change bank details.

The commission recommends that trustees and charity professionals spend a few moments familiarising themselves with the Metropolitan Police’s mandate fraud advice and ensure that their charity has robust authorisation and monitoring procedures in place for changing bank details and managing payments. The advice is clear – any request to change bank account details is an unusual occurrence and should be treated with suspicion.

As a minimum, charities should:

• remain vigilant to the continuing risk of mandate fraud and raise awareness amongst those staff and volunteers with responsibility for charity finances – download the campaign posters produced by the Metropolitan Police
• be suspicious of any change of bank detail requests until independently verified
• check and verify all requests for change of bank details using contact information held separately by the charity
• never rely solely on contact information provided in any form of external communication that requests a change of bank details
• check that a sample of payments has been received by the legitimate organisation after the change of bank details has been actioned
• do not rely solely on the organisation to inform your charity that legitimate payments have not been received – by then it may be too late to recover the money.

Michelle Russell, Director of Investigations, Monitoring and Enforcement, said:

The mandate fraud cases we hear about increasingly involve cunning tactics by fraudsters to gain the trust and confidence of their victims. There’s no doubt that fraud and deception tactics will keep on evolving. Awareness of fraud risk and the tactics used by fraudsters is the most effective way of preventing charities from becoming victims.

At the heart of charity is trust, but when it comes to control of charity finances, it’s crucial that vigilance and caution are the key watchwords.

It is also a timely reminder for trustees and senior charity staff to reflect on how fraud-aware their employees and volunteers are, and to review their charity’s financial controls.

Read more about the mandate fraud prevention methods recommended by the Metropolitan Police.

If you suspect you or your charity may have fallen victim to mandate fraud, you should report it to Action Fraud immediately.

Automatic enrolment contribution increases delayed

Automatic enrolment contribution increases delayed

The Chancellor announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 that the Government is aligning two scheduled increases in the minimum level automatic enrolment contributions with the start of the tax year.

To simplify the administration of automatic enrolment for the smallest employers in particular, the next two phases of minimum contribution rate increases will be aligned to the tax years. Instead of increases taking place in October, they will now occur in April of the following year.

Under the current timetable minimum level contributions are scheduled to rise from 2% to 5% in October 2017, and from 5% to 8% in October 2018. These increases will now take effect in April 2018 and April 2019.

“We keep abreast of the latest developments in payroll so you don’t have to, so seeking advice from our payroll department is always recommended for businesses that are unsure about the new tax year changes to the minimum wage and its enforcement. Visit us in branch or contact our Swansea, Pembroke or Haverfordwest offices today to discover more about our payroll bureau service.”

For further information about how Bevan and Buckland can help your company with management of the payroll contact Tina Davies on 01792 410100 or by email at help@bevanbuckland.co.uk.

Tina Davies
MCIPP(dip) Member Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals

Tina Davies is manager of Bevan & Buckland’s Swansea Payroll Department, we also operate a payroll bureau service from the firm’s Pembroke and Haverfordwest offices.  

http://www.bevanbuckland.co.uk/services/payroll Tel: 01792 410117

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352

New and simplified Gift Aid Declaration

HMRC has just released a new and simplified Gift Aid Declaration.

This has particular implications for churches holding stocks of paper Gift Aid forms and envelopes.

The new model declaration has now been published on gov.uk. Links to the model declaration and enduring model declaration can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gift-aid-declarations-claiming-tax-back-on-donations

The new declaration will apply to all new donations. Declarations that are already in place do not need to be updated.

HMRC recommends that all charities, including churches, use the wording of the HMRC-approved model declaration. However, charities remain free to adapt the model declaration, for example to include their own branding or additional messages.

Please note that Churches holding stocks of printed materials using the previous model declaration may only continue to use these until 5 April 2016.  From 6 April 2016, the new declaration must be used. Incorrect declarations may result in Gift Aid claims being invalid.

Links to samples of the new Declarations can be found here: http://acat.uk.com/news.html

If you require further information please contact Harri Lloyd Davies on 01792 410100.

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352

Get in touch for a Tax Return free Xmas

Employers need to keep up to date with Minimum Wage Regulations

Employers are being warned to keep up to date with minimum wage changes and penalties.

With the government offering an early preview of what is to come from the Treasury, the introduction of tougher penalties for employers not paying workers the minimum wage or the soon-to-be introduced National Living Wage didn’t go unnoticed.

As an experienced accountancy practice serving Swansea, Cardiff, Haverfordwest, Pembroke, Carmarthen and St David’s, Bevan & Buckland has made it their duty to keep employers informed about what to expect from the National Living Wage and its enforcement next April.

“With the introduction of the National Living Wage in 2016 and the new minimum wage, set to increase from £6.50 to £6.70 next month, it’s safe to say that the payroll world is changing for businesses up and down the country,” said Tina Davies, Payroll Manager at Bevan & Buckland.

“But it is the enforcement of both the National Living Wage and the minimum wage that is sending shockwaves throughout a number of industry sectors.”

The government recently announced that it plans to double the enforcement budget for non-payment of the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage.

Penalties for non-payment will doubled, from 100 per cent of arrears owed to 200 per cent, whilst a brand new team within HMRC will pursue criminal prosecutions for those deliberately not paying workers correctly.

“Enforcement doesn’t end there; HMRC will also be granted the power to disqualify employers from being company directors for up to 15 years,” warned Tina.

“We keep abreast of the latest developments in payroll so you don’t have to, so seeking advice from our payroll department is always recommended for businesses that are unsure about the new tax year changes to the minimum wage and its enforcement. Visit us in branch or contact our Swansea, Pembroke or Haverfordwest offices today to discover more about our payroll bureau service.”

For further information about how Bevan and Buckland can help your company with management of the payroll contact Tina Davies on 01792 410100 or by email at help@bevanbuckland.co.uk.

Tina Davies
MCIPP(dip) Member Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals

Tina Davies is manager of Bevan & Buckland’s Swansea Payroll Department, we also operate a payroll bureau service from the firm’s Pembroke and Haverfordwest offices.  

http://www.bevanbuckland.co.uk/services/payroll Tel: 01792 410117

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352

Wales Access to Finance – Ask the Experts Breakfast Event

Insider: Wales Access to Finance – Ask the Experts Breakfast 2015//

 

Liberty Stadium September 22nd 2015

7:30am – Breakfast & Registration
8:00am – Meeting commences
9:00am – Approximate close
Guests are invited to remain behind after the formal close for coffee and networking

Confirmed speakers:

• Matt Warren, chief executive, Veeqo
• Harri Lloyd Davies, partner, Bevan Buckland
• David Vieira, managing director, Go Commercial Finance
• Stephen Yorke, area director business banking, HSBC
• Betsan Powell, partner, JCP Solicitors
• More to follow

We would like you to join us for an Insider breakfast event to explore sources of finance for ambitious companies. If you’re seeking cash to reach the next level, hoping to raise money for an early stage venture, or looking for better funding arrangements, this event should provide you with some ideas.

Matt Warren runs Veeqo, a Swansea-based inventory management software company that has raised more than £1m through crowdfunding and from other sources.

A panel of advisers and funders will give tips and insights in answer to audience questions. Topics for discussion could include:

• Can I raise funds without losing control of the company?
• Could crowdfunding help my business to grow?
• How can I raise cash for an acquisition?
• What do banks look for when lending cash?

If this is of interest, we hope you can join us and put a question in for the panel.

Our events are regularly over-subscribed therefore please register your interest as soon as possible. If you have been successful you will receive a confirmation email one week prior to the event. Please click here to register your interest.

If you wish to attend an Insider event and have any personal requirements in order to fully enjoy your chosen event then please let us know at the earliest date possible.

We have an inclusive approach and wish to ensure that everyone who wants to attend an Insider event is able to do so and to obtain full benefit from being our guest.

If you need any more information please contact Suzanne Wallace on 0161 907 9758.

We’ve made the top 100.

Leading Welsh accountancy firm included in industry top 100

Established accountants Bevan & Buckland has been included in a list of top 100 UK accountancy firms for the first time.

The significant inclusion in the ‘Accountancy Age 50+50’ list shows Bevan & Buckland’s continued and impressive growth. Bevan & Buckland have entered the list at No. 100.

The achievement is all the more impressive that Bevan & Buckland is the only accountancy firm in the top 100 that has its headquarters in South West Wales.

“This is a significant achievement for Bevan and Buckland and everyone in the firm deserves congratulations for making this possible,” said Bevan & Buckland Senior Partner Cuan O’Shea.

“It is particularly pleasing that we have made the list when you see the calibre of some of the other accountancy firms in the list.

“This achievement only makes us more determined to keep up our very high standards and level of service that we have achieved over the years.”

The announcement of the top 100 list comes only days after Bevan & Buckland announced a significant joint venture with WPS Financial Group Ltd.

The new service, which gives clients expert advice on personal financial affairs, will replace the financial planning provision that was previously provided in house by Bevan & Buckland.

WPS is a firm of Chartered Financial Planners with more than £315m under management.

 

 

 

Why not contact the office nearest to you.

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352

Our Payroll Team are in the final!

Our payroll team have been nominated in the best Bureau/Service provider category.

Payroll World Awards 2015 finalists revealed 30 July 2015

The shortlist for the 2015 Payroll World Awards, sponsored by Intuit QuickBooks, has now been unveiled, with the winners set to be announced on 12 November at London’s Tower Hotel.

The judges selected the final list from a record number of entries following the introduction of the new, simplified entry process.

The diverse shortlist means specialist providers such as Symatrix and PaycheckPlus compete alongside well-known payroll names like Ceridian and MidlandHR.

The Payroll World Awards 2015 will also see a number of new categories introduced, including ‘Auto-enrolment Engagement’, ‘Best Company to Work for in Payroll’, ‘Best Payroll Support Team’ and ‘Best International Payment Provider’.

Chris Fitzgerald, Payroll World managing director, said: “The judges really had their work cut out selecting the shortlist from a record number of entries, and they now face the even more difficult task of selecting the winners from a very high standard of finalists.

“It’s exciting to see such a diverse mix of familiar names and new entrants on the shortlist. This, the fifth year of the Payroll Awards, is set to be the best yet and the most fiercely contested.”

Bevan & Buckland have been nominated in the Bureau/Service Provider category.

 

Payroll Team Award – Bureau/Service Provider Sponsored by The people’s pension

• Anderson Anderson & Brown
• Bevan & Buckland
• Bond Payroll Services
• Brown McLeod
• Ceridian
• Cintra HR & Payroll Services
• Equiniti
• FMP Global
• PW Payroll Solutions
• Symatrix

For further information about how Bevan and Buckland can help your company with management of the payroll contact Tina Davies on 01792 410100 or by email at help@bevanbuckland.co.uk.

Tina Davies
MCIPP(dip) Member Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals

Tina Davies is manager of Bevan & Buckland’s Swansea Payroll Department, we also operate a payroll bureau service from the firm’s Pembroke and Haverfordwest offices.  

http://www.bevanbuckland.co.uk/services/payroll Tel: 01792 410117

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352