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3 ways to CUT my accountancy fees

What can I do to CUT my accountancy fees?

Are you spending thousands and wondering “What can I do to CUT my accountancy fees?” then we have the answer.  There are 3 jobs you can do in order to make a big difference.

3 jobs that you can do that will REDUCE the amount of time spent by your accountant in compiling your accounts and the tax computation.

We appreciate that these jobs may seem obvious and maybe you are even doing some or all of these already. It is often the way that they are presented that can cause confusion and we are here to help if you want a second opinion or a helping hand.  Doing these 3 jobs really can save money, even if you employ Darrall & Co to do them for you before presenting the records to your accountant.

If you would like to know more about how to perform well in these jobs please contact us at:

http://www.darrallandcompany.com/contact-us/

Get your free copy and cut your fees:

    Please fill out your details in order to download your free checklist that will cut your accountancy fees.

    Yes please, I want to start saving now

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    GOV.UK Verify & Government Gateway

    Big changes ahead with GOV.UK Verify set to replace Government Gateway from 14 February 2018

    With the tax return season dominating our lives for the last few months we have been somewhat blindsided to the changes going on at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).  A big change happening in the back ground and set to affect the tax payer is the end of the Government Gateway and the introduction of GOV.UK Verify.

    As my recent blog on Making Tax Digital for Business (MTDfB or MTD for short) alludes to – we need to be taking this very seriously. http://www.darrallandcompany.com/mtd/

    All of these changes are aimed at facilitating MTDfB and largely affect what’s happening in the back ground when you use Government facilities online but also the way that data is to be collated in the future.

    What can you do with your GOV.UK Verify account?

    At the time of writing, GOV.UK Verify is already available for the following tax related services:

    • Check your income tax for the current year
    • Check your state pension
    • Sign in to your personal tax account
    • File your self assessment tax return
    • Help friends or family with their tax
    • Check or update your company car tax

    Other non tax services are also available and more services are joining GOV.UK Verify all the time. 

    If you’re setting up for the first time then the link for this is here:

    https://www.signin.service.gov.uk/start

     

    A few things we do and don’t know about using Government Gateway and the GOV.UK Verify system

    These accounts are personal to you and accountants are not allowed to use them.  To do so is impersonating you.  Once you have a GOV.UK Verify account you really should not share access with anybody.  Treat it like your bank pin code.  If you are present with your Agent when logging in and the main purpose is to assist you in getting set up then this would tend to be acceptable.

    Accountants have their own Agent level access which you will need to grant them permissions for.  This typically involves either your Agent requesting a code to be sent to you for each service that you want them to be your Agent for or physically keying their Agent reference in the relevant sections of your account.

    A big unknown at the moment is exactly how much information you will be able to authorise HMRC to share with your Agent and as time goes on we will find out just how helpful or hindering this will be to all involved.

    Please go to the Contact Us page if you would like any assistance or advice in this respect

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    Making Tax Digital (MTD)

    In this post I hope to answer the question – why do we need to take this seriously? 

    Here is what the Government has to say in their article on 13/7/17:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-tax-digital/overview-of-making-tax-digital

    Introduction to Making Tax Digital (MTD)

    Making Tax Digital is a key part of the government’s plans to make it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs – meaning the end of the annual tax return for millions.

    Every individual and business now has access to their own personalised digital tax account and these are being regularly expanded and improved. HMRC’s ambition is to become one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world, modernising the tax system to make it more effective, more efficient and easier for customers to comply.

    There is widespread agreement that Making Tax Digital for Business is the right approach for the future. However a number of concerns about the pace and scale of change have been raised. As a result the government has announced that the roll out for Making Tax Digital for Business has been amended to ensure businesses have plenty of time to adapt to the changes.

    Businesses will not now be mandated to use the Making Tax Digital for Business system until April 2019 and then only to meet their VAT obligations. This will apply to businesses who have a turnover above the VAT threshold – the smallest businesses will not be required to use the system, although they can choose to do so voluntarily.

    The government remains committed to ensuring we can deliver a modern digital tax system for all businesses and their agents, supporting them to get their tax right and reducing the amount of tax lost through avoidable error.

    And there is plenty more to read in the pages that follow.

    What do we need to consider?

    So, when I ask around why is it that no-body seems to have heard about it?

    A few quick Q&A’s which are purely speculative at the time of writing:

    • Q – What do they want to achieve?
    • A – Direct access to your earnings and expenditure on a daily basis (most likely)
    • Q – What are they likely to achieve?
    • A – Initially, a quarterly declaration which may well include daily analysis.

    When all of this information is supplied, software will most likely analyse every piece of data. If you use a sensitive word for example, what will become of this?  Which is why we all need to take this very seriously.

    We are looking to help you more than we ever have before to get your records into the best view-able and analyzable format that we can and to make the whole process of reporting data a little less painful.

    If you would like to know more about what we can do for you, please get in touch.

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