How contractors can use ESC16 to close down their limited company
When a company is closed down and all its various taxes and debts paid off, there is usually a sum of money left over. This money belongs to the shareholders of the company and is usually distributed...
View ArticleAs a contractor, what is a reasonable mix of salary, expenses and dividends?
If you are in business on your own account and working through a limited company, how you take money from the company to pay your bills is entirely up to you. There are no set rules you need to adhere...
View ArticleContractor mortgages – getting one is easy when you know how
It seems slightly paradoxical that while freelancers frequently earn more than their permanently-employed colleagues, they routinely have issues trying to obtain mortgages. This problem arises when you...
View ArticleWays Around the Proposed 50% Tax Rate
Those of us who have an income of £150k+ have the unwelcome prospect of a new 50% tax rate with effect from April 2010. A multitude of mitigation options have been suggested by "experts" that range...
View ArticleContractor accountant answers your questions…
Carrington Accountancy have come up with a novel way to keep their contractors abreast with the latest changes in legislation and tax planning.
View ArticleHMRC loses s660a dividends tax case
Contractor accountants might be interested to hear that HMRC has lost their case against a couple who it claimed owed nearly £20,000 tax on four years’ dividends.
View ArticleEconomics 101…
The discussion about the Office of Tax Simplification is gaining momentum as the body itself starts to get fully organised. A fair range of interested parties have been discussing how they want to see...
View ArticleWhat is the dark art of Tax Planning?
In August 1989 I started my training as an Accountant. Mrs. Thatcher was still the Prime Minister and everyone under the age of 21 wanted an XR3i or a 205 GTi.
View ArticleIR35 – The war is not won….yet
Big news of the day is the release of the Office for Tax Simplification’s report on Small Business Taxation. Well, big news for freelance contractors anyway. This is because this is the report that...
View ArticleSo when is a business not a business?
That is a question that’s been exercising me and a few like-minded souls over the last week. And this existential philosophising has been prompted by the planned creation of the IR35 Forum, which aims...
View ArticleGood contractors are worth every bit of their day rate!
Regular readers will know I have never had a lot of respect for the average agency, thinking that most of them exhibit a degree of professional casualness totally at odds with their advertising.
View ArticleContractors to foot £7bn bill envisaged from dividend tax hike
With the Treasury envisaging £6.8bn more into its coffers from the new tax on dividends, limited company contractors look set to be the big losers
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