How an Accountant Can Help You Maximise Your Tax Refund

How an Accountant Can Help You Maximise Your Tax Refund

Are you struggling with your business finances and want to manage your business stress-free? Then, what’s better than a skilled accountant who can help you maximise the returns and benefits? When tax season arrives, businesses often rush to reduce their tax liabilities and save on taxes. Getting yourself a professional accountant in Birmingham can prove to be beneficial for your business, as they not only help you in filing your tax return but also save on refunds. With so many rules and regulations to consider, without expert guidance, it could negatively impact your business. This is where hiring a tax accountant in Birmingham helps ensure you can claim all the benefits you’re entitled to. Here’s how they can help you.

Benefits of hiring a skilled accountant in Birmingham

1. Identifying Overlooked Tax Deductions

The primary advantage of hiring a skilled accountant is to save on taxes by identifying overlooked deductions. Many businesses don’t fully understand the nuances of tax laws, which can result in missed opportunities. Hiring the top accountant in Birmingham will help assess your business finances, uncover missed deductions, and ensure nothing is overlooked. Some of the commonly missed deductions include:

Checking on your organisation’s donations and other charitable foundations.
Keeping a check on employees payment or work-from-home expenses.
Medical facilities
Professional membership and subscriptions in case of trainings
Investment opportunities

Accountants in Birmingham will carefully evaluate your financial situation and guide you toward securing the highest refund possible.

2. Strategic Tax Planning for Maximum Refunds

A tax accountant in Birmingham will assist you in strategic tax planning to maximize your refunds. Rather than just filing your returns last-minute, they’ll proactively plan throughout the year, reviewing your expenses, income, and business goals. Effective tax planning can help with:

Helping you manage all the expenses and file income by minimising the tax liabilities.
Helping you invest in tax-saving strategies for maximum tax relief.
It will help you in distributing the right amount to the self-employed and freelance workers efficiently.

With proper planning, a skilled accountant can make a significant difference in the size of your tax refund, easing the financial burden on your business.

3. Ensuring Compliance and Avoiding Penalties

One of the key advantages of hiring a tax accountant is ensuring compliance with tax laws and avoiding penalties. Many business owners forget important tax deadlines or struggle to understand the complex rules, which can lead to fines or penalties. Accountants in Birmingham will handle everything from filing to submission, ensuring your business meets all legal requirements. Their services include:

You can easily find the red flags that could lead to penalties and closure of businesses.
Avoiding HMRC audits by submitting accuracy reports.
Keep detailed and accurate records of all the finances.

By staying compliant, accountants help you avoid legal issues while ensuring your business remains in good standing.

4. Making the Most of Business and Self-Employed Tax Reliefs

For small businesses and self-employed individuals, accountants are crucial in helping you make the most of available tax reliefs. There are specific tax benefits for self-employed individuals and small businesses, and a skilled accountant will help you:

Getting all the claims in business expenses such as property, supplies, and training.
Getting all the help while applying for VAT claims wherever it’s necessary.
Also helps you in reducing the budget of running a business from home.

Hiring an accountant in Birmingham can ensure that you make the most of these opportunities, leaving you with more in your pocket.

5. Navigating Property and Investment Tax Benefits

Accountants also play a crucial role in helping you take advantage of property and investment tax benefits. They can guide you through:

Minimising the capital gains tax through allowances.
Helping you claim mortgage interest reliefs and making you understand all the tax implications of rental income.
Helping you tax-saving investments by utilising the right schemes, such as EIS and SEIS.

With the right guidance, an accountant can ensure you maximise tax refunds related to your property and investment holdings.

Final Thoughts

Maximising your tax refund goes beyond simply filling out forms; it requires careful preparation and expert knowledge. Hiring accountants in Birmingham ensures you receive tailored financial solutions that suit your unique circumstances. With their expertise in compliance, tax-saving strategies, and financial planning, tax accountants in Birmingham can help you secure the full refund you’re entitled to. Whether you’re employed, self-employed, or running a business, don’t let your tax refund go to waste—speak to the best accountants in Birmingham today to maximise your tax advantages.

Top Reasons to Hire Professional tax accountants in Birmingham for Your Business

Top Reasons to Hire Professional tax accountants in Birmingham for Your Business

Are you a business owner who is struggling to manage their finances, especially taxes? Then it’s time to get professional help from tax accountants in Birmingham. These experts are equipped with the right resources and have the right knowledge to ensure that your business stays on track all the time. From managing complex tax returns to filling one, they are to ensure that your business never faces any hurdles or challenges during operations. Tax accountants in Birmingham play a crucial role in managing your business and helping you stay compliant with all those complicated rules. From tax planning, bookkeeping to financial management of your business, they take care of everything so that can maximize your tax savings. So, whether you are a startup or a big company hoping to succeed without any financial constraints, then it’s the right time to hire a tax accountant in Birmingham. Here are some key benefits of hiring a tax accountant in Birmingham for your business.

Benefits of hiring a tax accountant in Birmingham

1. Expertise in Tax Planning and Compliance

The first advantage of hiring an expert accountant in Birmingham is staying compliant with all the rules and regulations. The UK tax system is complicated, and rules change frequently. Failing to comply with these rules can lead to penalties, fines, and sometimes legal consequences. That’s why you should hire a tax accountant in Birmingham who can help you:

File all tax returns while maximizing your benefits
Guide you about different deductions and tax reliefs
Help you avoid legal consequences by adhering to the right rules and regulations.

Hiring a reliable accountant in Birmingham can ensures that your business operations run seamlessly and within legal boundaries.

2. Accurate Bookkeeping and Financial Management

The second reason to hire a tax accountant in Birmingham is to receive help and guidance in managing your business finances. From keeping records simple and accurate to tracking expenses, these accountants handle various tasks with ease. Some of the bookkeeping services they provide include:

Helping you manage cash flow and track expenses and spending.
Maintaining accurate financial records and statements, which are necessary for making informed business decisions.
Preparing your audits and keeping your business updated at all times.

A tax accountant in Birmingham ensures your business runs efficiently and helps you find opportunities while avoiding potential losses.

3. Maximizing Tax Savings

Taxes can be a burden, especially for small businesses and startups. A skilled tax accountant in Birmingham helps you maximize savings and minimize deductions by:

Customizing plans according to your business requirements and managing taxes effectively.
Claiming all eligible tax credits and managing business expenses without losses.
Structuring your finances in the most accurate manner.

Having a reliable accountant by your side helps you utilize tax-saving strategies and retain more profits, which can be reinvested in the growth of your organization.

4. Payroll Management and Employee Taxes

Managing payroll and calculating employee benefits can be complex. A tax accountant in Birmingham can help by:

Accurately calculating employees’ salaries, bonuses, deductions, and benefits.
Managing PAYE (Pay As You Earn) and handling National Insurance contributions.
Handling auto-enrollment pensions and ensuring accurate benefit calculations.

Effective payroll management ensures timely salary distribution, keeping both workers and authorities satisfied.

5. Assistance with Business Structure and VAT Registration

A tax accountant in Birmingham ensures hassle-free operations by:

Tracking VAT returns and assisting with tax obligations.
Managing your tax structure based on your business type (sole trader, partnership, or limited company).
Ensuring no tax benefits are wasted by seizing the right opportunities.

They help ease financial hurdles by reducing unnecessary tax liabilities and ensuring efficient business operations.

Conclusion

Hiring a tax accountant in Birmingham is a smart investment for your business. From managing tax obligations and payrolls to maximizing profits and minimizing risks, they handle everything efficiently. So, why wait? Hire the best tax accountant in Birmingham today and get tailored services for your business!

5 Common Tax Mistakes Birmingham Residents Make and How to Avoid Them

5 Common Tax Mistakes Birmingham Residents Make and How to Avoid Them

Managing taxes for a business, is itself a stressful task and staying compliant with all the tax regulations adds to the stress. Navigating through all the tax compliances, staying up to date with the regulations, understanding deductions and ensuring accuracy, while filing the taxes, can be a challenging task. Along with that, there can also be human error that can result in penalties, delays or even an enquiry from HMRC. But all these problems can be resolved with the help of expert guidance from a professional tax accountant in Birmingham. They will guide you through your mistakes and help you to rectify them in a timely manner. Hence, in this blog, we will talk about five most common mistakes people make while managing taxes and how to steer clear of them.

Five common tax mistakes Birmingham residence make while filing their tax returns

Failing to keep accurate records

The first common mistake people make while organising their financial records is not filing them accurately. A penalty up to £3,000 may be charged for each failure to keep or to preserve adequate records. Missing receipts, bank statements or invoices carry significant errors and cause them to return while filing your taxes. In case HMRC requires proof of deductions or income, not having the right document can result in penalties or hefty fines. So, to maintain your financial records accurately you need a system that records them in a precise manner. You can use folders that can digitally organise your bank statements, important tax related documents and invoices without losing any financial data. You can invest in an accounting software that helps you track all your expenses and invoices in real time, all in one place. Along with that, you can also consult an expert tax accountant in Birmingham that can help you establish a simple process for managing and storing all your crucial data.

Overlooking tax deductions and credits

The second common mistake by many Birmingham residents is not having the right knowledge about credits and tax deductions which they are eligible for. All this leads to overpayment of taxes, leading to loss of funds and overspending. Countries like the United Kingdom have different tax system regulations that allow you to have reliefs on pension contributions, charitable donations and even energy efficient home improvement that can help you save on taxes. Why this mistake you need to consult with the professional tax accountant in Birmingham. He will be the right person to tell you about the latest updates in the tax laws and can you show that you all claim all the eligible deductions. For instance, if you are a self employed individual, you can get credits on your expenses such as office supplies, travel or for establishing a home office. The right tax accountant can help you review your circumstances and will make sure that you maximize your savings without losing any money.

Filing the wrong self assessment returns

The third common issue faced by self employed individuals is accounting for a newly established company while filing self assessments returns. People with extra income streams or one earning from many sources need to submit a self assessment tax return form. But, while filing this form, many people are make mistakes such as input of wrong figures, missing deadlines and misunderstanding tax brackets. This can lead to incurring fines or an enquiry from HMRC. To avoid this mistake, you need to carefully track other income sources including freelance work, investments and rental income. Also, make sure to keep yourself updated about the deadlines and summit the self assessment form before the due date. To avoid all the hassle of the paperwork, you can always hire a tax accountant in Birmingham that can help you in accurately filing your forms before the date while ensuring the right income is properly accounted for and only the right tax is paid.

Not updating the right personal information

You can get many benefits as well as advantages due to personal circumstances such as if you are getting married, having a child or if you are buying a new home. Many of these cases, taxpayers forget to put the right information or life events leading to incorrect tax codes or under/over payment of taxes. During such scenarios, you need to inform HMRC about all the life changes as soon as possible. For example, updating your tax code ensures that you get the right time to pay the taxes or putting the right address can also help you in reductions. Still confused about your tax circumstances, then you can always hire a tax accountant in Birmingham that can provide you the right guidance and help you notify the relevant authorities. Along with that you can always keep a check on pay slips and ensure that your tax code is always correct throughout the year.

Missing the right deadlines

Lastly, one of the costliest mistakes people make is missing the right tax payment deadline. Paying the taxes last minute can result in penalties, interest charges and thus leading to additional stress for the taxpayer. For instance if your deadline is 31st October for self assessment form then you need to quickly fill it to avoid any penalties. So, to avoid this mistake you need to set reminders well in advance before the deadline dates. And ensure that you have enough funds available to pay all your tax bills. But, if you are still facing difficulties to meet your tax obligations then speak to your tax consultant in Birmingham as soon as possible. They will arrange you a payment plan or offer you the right guidance to avoid future losses.

Conclusion

Tax filing shouldn’t be a huge task full of anxiety and confusion. But it should be done responsibly and accurately to save time and penalties. By keeping a tab on deadlines, filing the right tax and partnering with a reputable tax accountant in Birmingham, you can save the hassle. They can provide you with the right guidance, help you in proper preparation of tax returns in advance and help you in avoiding penalties. So, don’t rush things during this tax season and hire the best accountant in the city, thus leaving the complexities and hassle to the professionals.

Help To Grow Grant Available

Government Discounts of up to £5000 on Accounting Software.

UK Government launches Help to Grow: a digital scheme designed to support businesses in their adoption of digital technologies.

The scheme is designed to support SME’S in making the most out of the number of digital technologies that are currently available to them.

Launched in January 2022, Help to Grow gives the opportunity to eligible business to receive a discount of up to 50% on any costs of an approved software, that is worth up to £5,000. The scheme provides access to practical specialised support. It also helps choosing which digital technologies are best suited in order to boost their growth and productivity.

At this moment in time there are three accounting software providers who are signed up to the scheme which include Sage, Intuit, and E- Crunch. The next step will be to extend the scheme to e- commerce software.

What is Help to Grow- Digital

A government led programme designed to help SME’S throughout their digital technology adoption journey. This includes diagnosing their needs all the way to weighing up purchasing options and technology implementation.

What businesses are eligible for the scheme?

To qualify for this scheme, you will need to meet a series of criteria.
Your business can be from any sector but must be based in the UK.
The business needs to be registered with Companies House, or a registered society that’s on the Financial Conduct Authorities Mutuals Register.
Five to 249 people need to be employed.
Your business needs to have been trading for more than 12 months, with an incorporation date of at least 365 days before your application.
You’re purchasing the software for the first time.
As part of the scheme, all businesses can also benefit from free advice via the online platform.

How to Apply

Before you apply for the financial discount you will first need to ensure that your business is eligible and decide on your chosen software. To check this there is a short quiz on the Help to Grow: Digital website if you are unsure of what is required

There are 4 parts to the application:

Your chosen software
Business details
Applicant information
Email verification

As well as this, you will need the following to support your application:

The business’s Companies House or Financial Conduct Authorities Mutuals Register number
Your name, role in the business and work email address
The number of employees working at your business.

Once the application has been completed and all fraud and eligibility checks have been passed, you will receive a link to the website of your chosen software supplier.

This link will take you to a final breakdown of costs. At this stage you can finish your purchase, with the discount applied.

This scheme is a great way for SMEs to improve their business and move ahead in this new digital world quickly and cost effectively. As a bonus, you also have the reassurance that its curriculum and validity is backed by the government.

While the Help to Grow: Digital scheme will require a small investment of your time and money, the return on investment can be considerable.

And remember, even if you don’t sign up for it, there’s a strong chance that your competitors will.

If you would like any further information regarding this scheme please give us a call on 01217775361.

10 Top Tips for Accounting for Small Businesses

The Integrity Accountancy 10 Top Tips for SME’s, on accounting, finance and tax.

We at Integrity Accountancy enjoy working with micro, small and medium sized enterprises, as they are the lifeblood of the UK economy and the value that we bring when we work with SME’s has a huge positive effect on their businesses. And hence to continue to support SME’s, so have published our 10 Top Tips on accounting, finance and tax.

Top Tip No. 1 – Choose the right company Structure
Choosing the right company structure is a really important decision required before the business commences trading. Company structures in Sole Trader, Partnerships, Limited Liability Partnership, Community Interest Companies and Limited Companies, to name but a few. Focusing on Sole traders and Limited Companies, our recommendation is that if you plan on operating the business for the long term, then setup as a limited company. If you want simpler accounting and to manage the returns for the business yourself, then setup as a sole trader.

Top Tip No. 2 – Plan, plan and plan again
The better you can plan for your business, the better the business will be prepared for peak and troughs in trading. We recommend that business owners take at least 1 or 2 days per month, working on the business to review the past months performance and to plan ahead for the next year or 18 months. Please get in touch with us if you’d like a free cash flow spreadsheet to see when the business will have surplus cash or when there are likely to be pressures on cash.

Top Tip No. 3 – Cloud Accounting
In recent years, accounting software has evolved significantly, and this evolution has enable business owners to maintain their bookkeeping records quickly and efficiently. Cloud accounting also enables you to give access to professional trusted advisor, like us at Integrity Accountancy, real time access to your accounting records enabling business owners to access really good advice for their business. Plus cloud accounting software cheap and effective, with monthly payments reducing the need for a big investment in your accounting software.

Top Tip No. 4 – Meet Deadlines
When you run a business, always ensure that you submit annual accounts, corporation tax return and self-assessment tax returns before their deadlines. Also, if you owe tax, pay your tax before it comes due. This will ensure that you are up to date with a key creditor for all businesses, HMRC.

Top Tip No. 5 – Utilise Allowances
There are so many allowances available to business owners and businesses of all shapes and sizes, and these include the following:
Income Tax Allowance – £11,500
Dividend Allowance – £5,000
Mileage Allowance – 45p 1st 10,000 miles, 25p afterwards
Marriage Allowance – Partner earns less £11,500, save up to £230
Annual Investment Allowance – up to £200,000 invested in assets
R&D Tax Credits – reduce corporation tax by £130 on top of every £100 of qualifying costs
For many allowances, there are rules as to who they are available to and how they are used so always get professional advice if there is anything that you are unsure of.

Top Tip No. 6 – Claim for Travel & Subsistence
If you incur costs relating to travel and subsistence whilst working for your business, make sure that you claim these periodically (ideally monthly) from your business. These costs can include Air, Train, bus, and taxi fares, parking, the London congestion charge and tolls, subsistence expenses e.g. lunch while out, hotel and meals, if you need to stay away from home and mileage when using your own vehicle. Again, always get advice from an accountant to ensure that you are entitles to claim these costs.

Top Tip No. 7 – HMRC Workshops
HMRC does give some things away for free and their workshops are fantastic for business owners. There workshops cover topics such as:
• employer online filing and running a payroll
• becoming self-employed and self assessment for self-employed people
• Construction Industry Scheme
• setting up a limited company
• introduction to VAT
• introduction to international trade
They also have free payroll software to allow business to manage their own payroll and report their details directly to HMRC themselves.

Top Tip No. 8 – Budget for Tax
If you are a profitable business then you are almost certainly likely to have a tax liability, whether it is income tax and NI, corporation tax or VAT. So budget for the tax that you will owe to ensure that you have funds set aside for these liabilities. For most business we recommend setting aside between 20% and 30% of turnover in a separate business deposit account for when there is tax to pay.

Top Tip No. 9 – Claim Costs of working from Home
If you do work for your business from home, you can offset the costs of running your home against your business if you have a designated space in your home that you use solely for business purposes. There are a couple of method, the Flat Rate Method (simple) and the Costs Method (more detailed). The flat rate method enables you to be paid costs based on the number for hours that you work at home:
25-50 hours: £10 per month
51-100 hours: £18 per month
101 hours +: £26 per month

Top Tip No. 10 – Get a Good Accountant
Getting a good accountant for you and your business should be seen as being an investment in your business, and as with any investment, this should reap benefits for your business. When it comes to choosing an account, you should consider the following:
• Ask yourself if location matters
• Choose a certified or chartered accountant
• Look for an accountant with relevant expertise
• Talk to government and business associations
• Tap into your social networks
• Make use of your connections online
• Decide how the accounting work will be divided
• Get someone who’s proactive about saving you money
• Find out what software the accountant uses
• Do background checks
• Learn to use and trust your intuition

This is just a guide and if you’d like any further details, please contact us on 0121 777 5361, to book a free, no obligation meeting with us, where we can give you advise and assistance that is relevant to you and your business.

About the Author – Shohaib Shafiq ACMA CGMA is the principal accountant at Integrity Accountancy Services Limited. Integrity Accountancy specialise in working with SME’s that want accountants that do more than just tax returns. They work as a businesses trusted adviser, working to add value to their clients, by providing a proactive accountancy service
http://www.integrityaccountancy.com
enquiries@integrityaccountancy.com
Facebook: @IntegrityAccountancyServices
Twitter: @IntegAccount