Guildford accountants

Registering with the Tax Authorities

A significant task for the new business owner is ensuring that the business is properly complying with the extensive tax and information filing requirements imposed by the various authorities.   Problems and penalties could arise if the new business is not registered with the appropriate tax authorities in a timely fashion.  While this chapter is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of filing requirements, it summarises some of the more prominent requirements common to most businesses.

HMRC is moving towards electronic forms and notifications via the internet. Paper forms are still required in some instances. In the following section we provide links to both downloadable versions of forms and the web links to apply online for various services.

H M Revenue & Customs

It is necessary to notify H M Revenue & Customs of your existence by completing forms CT41G (companies) or CWF1 (sole traders/partnerships). You can also telephone H M Revenue & Customs to notify self employment on 0845 915 4515.

The company form CT41G is sent to all new companies after they are incorporated. The form notifies H M Revenue & Customs of your accounting date, your accountant, and also enables a PAYE (Pay As You Earn Scheme) to be set up, which is a requirement if you are to be an employer.

CT41G (Companies) (download)  is available here: -  http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/CTSA/ct41g-08-05.pdf
CWF1 (download) is available here : - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/cwf1.pdf

If you fail to register within the first three full months of commencing business a penalty of up to £300 plus a continuing penalty of £60 per day, or £3,000 if information is given negligently or fraudulently by a company.

H M Revenue & Customs - NI Contributions Office

Depending on the level of profit, sole traders and partners have a liability to Class II NIC, and these are payable quarterly. Class 2 contributions are at a weekly level of £2.40 (where annual earnings are £5,075 or more for 2010/11) and the necessary form to collect Class 2 contributions should be completed at the same time as the form CWF1. Leaflet CF10 ‘Self -employed people with small earnings’ gives full details and an application form for exemption from liability.

CF10 (download) is available here: - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/cf10.pdf

H M Revenue & Customs - VAT

You need to consider if it is beneficial to be VAT registered from the outset. The pros and cons are discussed in Chapter 4. If you are registering for VAT, form VAT 1 needs completing, and if you are a partnership, form VAT 2 needs to be completed giving details of all the partners.

VAT 1 and VAT2 (download) available here: -  http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/forms-rates/index.htm
To register online go to https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/registration/

From April 2010 all businesses with turnover in excess of £100,000 need to file VAT returns online via the internet, and all new VAT registrations irrespective of turnover after that date need to file electronically.
There are many ways we can help you:-

We can assist you in registering for VAT online
We can act as your agent and file VAT returns online with you providing us with the figures to be entered
We can help you implement online filing through software
We can provide you with accounting software with integrated online filing so you can easily calculate and file the figures

More information can be found at the HMRC website : http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/ret-online.htm

Please CONTACT US at TAXLESS if you need any help.

Based in Knaphill, Woking