Do you pay for your employee's late night travel?

Calling All Landlords & Payroll
HMRC have just issued their "we'll screw caring employers if they pay for late night buses". The guidance just issued (see the link http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM10210.htm) where HMRC refers to "Late night journeys (Section 248(2))"

The exemption for late night journeys paid for or provided by the employer applies if all the following conditions are met:

"the journey occurs because the employee is required to work later than usual, and
until at least 9pm, and
late working is irregular and
by the time the employee finishes work, public transport is: either unavailable for the journey home, or
it is unreasonable to expect the employee to use it and
the transport paid for or provided by the employer is by taxi or similar private road transport. "

So gone are the days when the kindly publican could bend the rules and give his female staff or others 60 taxi rides home after their late shift.

From Bill Stevenson - taxadvice network

How to pay your tax bill

If your tax return was submitted some months ago you would expect to have received a statement of account by now, which should include a payslip for the amount of tax payable on 31 January 2008. However this year HMRC say there has been a delay in sending out some of the Statements of Account. Other clients may have received an acknowledgment of their submitted return along with a blank payslip.

You can pay your tax bill by any of these methods:
· Send a cheque through the post to the HMRC accounts office;
· At a bank counter using bank giro;
· At a post office counter;
· Using a debit card over the internet; or
· A BACS payment through their own bank using telephone or internet banking

HMRC prefer taxpayers to use electronic methods of payment such as by debit card, or BACS as then they receive the money quicker. These methods also do not need a payslip, only the unique taxpayer reference number (UTR), and the bank account details of the relevant accounts office. These are available on the internet banking page of the HMRC website, see below.

If you are not happy with using an electronic payment method you will normally need to use a payslip. You can use any payslip HMRC have sent to you within the last 12 months, as long as it refers to your own personal tax affairs and not for any company or business you are involved in.

If you are new to the UK tax system ou ymay not have a payslip, in this case you need to send a cheque to the HMRC accounts office with a covering letter giving the following details:

name
address
telephone number
tax reference
type of tax paid eg. income tax
period or year it refers to eg. 2006/07
amount paid

Information on paying using telephone/internet banking
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/howtopay/int_tel_bank_sa.htm

Paying tax due by debit card over the internet:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/howtopay/debitcard_int.htm

They can't come knocking any more!

Here's Johnny!

In one small piece of good news for the hapless taxpayer, it has been announced that HMRC has backed down on plans to make unannounced visits to private residences.

HMRC had wanted to update its powers, and be able to enter private homes without a search warrant.

This of course is contrary to the principles of English law laid down over the centuries.However, the resulting furore that these plans had unleashed has caused HMRC to back down.

In its latest consultation papers it states that visits would only be by agreement, or with a warrant.HMRC is getting above itself, the state most assuredly should not have unrestricted access to people's homes.

http://hmrcisshite.blogspot.com/www.hmrcisshite.com is brought to you by http://www.kenfrost.com/ "The Living Brand"

A message from under the tax returns!

Well here I am up to my neck in last minute tax returns again!
Every year I say "never again" and every year the same thing happens.

Why o why don't my late January clients understand that they can submit their tax returns before 31 January? I will have to study the master of influence - Dale Carnegie and try his methods. He said : -


"There is only one way to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it." -- Dale Carnegie

Wise words! I shall have to try and make them work for me;)

Tax avoidance is sensible AND legal!

A quote about tax avoidance from the famous American judge Learned Hand

Tax avoidance and tax evasion are not the same. Evasion is morally wrong and illegal and those that do it should be punished.

Avoidance is sensible and legal, you have a duty to your company to maximise your profit within the boundaries of the law which includes minimising the tax liability.

"Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands."

Judge Billings Learned Hand.