The Salary Calculator

Should you defer your second payment on account?

by Admin

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If you are self-employed, or have additional income on top of your salary from things such as a buy-to-let property, you need to complete a Self Assessment tax return each year, and then pay HMRC any additional tax due. If all of your income comes from employment and you pay your taxes through PAYE (Pay As You Earn) then you do not need to complete a tax return and the following does not apply to you.

For those that are new to the Self Assessment tax return process, payments on account are one of the most common stumbling blocks. Despite being introduced as an initiative to help taxpayers spread their tax payments, it often results in annual frustration and can actually harm your cash flow if you’re caught unaware.

That’s why, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, HMRC announced that they would allow taxpayers to defer their second payment on account (that would have normally been due on 31^st July 2020). It is hoped that this gives taxpayers the chance to prepare. But is that the right course of action? We’ve brought in Mike Parkes from GoSimpleTax to set the record straight.

What is a payment on account?

Payments on account are advance payments towards your next tax bill. They’re calculated based on the amount that you paid the previous year.

HMRC splits this amount into two, and places the deadline for payment six months apart from one another. For the 2019/20 tax year, the first was due by midnight on 31^st January 2020, and the second would normally be made by midnight on the 31^st July 2020.

This latter payment is what can now be deferred, as long as it is eventually paid by the 31^st January 2021.

If you had a £5,000 tax bill for the 2018/19 tax year, for instance, you would need to make two £2,500 payments on account towards your 2019/20 tax bill.

But if your 2018/19 Self Assessment bill was less than £1,000 or if over 80% was deducted at source (such as employment), then you will not need to make a payment on account – you would simply need to pay any outstanding tax by the 31^st January.

What are your options?

If you are required to make payments on account, you will still need to pay your second one. Although, as HMRC has offered taxpayers the opportunity to delay this, you can choose to make your second payment as late as the 31^st January 2021, alongside the submission of your Self Assessment tax return.

HMRC will not charge any interest or penalties should you choose to do this. However, by delaying your second payment to January, you do run the risk of having to fulfil all your tax responsibilities at once. This could result in you having insufficient funds in place to cover all your tax liabilities.

Your therefore have three options:

Pay in accordance with the original July deadline

If you can afford to pay your tax bill as you would do normally, you should do. If anything, it creates a sense of ‘business as usual’ in an otherwise tumultuous time.

I appreciate that, for many, paying in July will harm their cash flow. However, it is my view that clearing debt where possible is more sustainable and allows January to mark the start of a new financial year – and a fresh start.

Reassess and reduce liability

If you’re doubtful that you can afford a second payment on account right now, calculate your 2019/20 tax liability before the 31^st July 2020. This will confirm the actual amount to be paid in July 2020, January 2021 and July 2021, and give you clarity. To do this, you need to file your 2019/20 Self Assessment tax return early.

Filing early won’t mean that you have to pay your tax bill early, after all – but it does allow you to determine what your total tax bill will be ahead of time. From here, you can consider two key points:

1. Does the July 2020 payment on account need to be deferred?
2. Do the January 2021 and July 2021 payments on account (for the 2020/21 tax year) need reducing to reflect the impact that COVID-19 has had on them?

Defer to later in the year

Of course, there will be some cases that are unable or unwilling to pay anything towards their tax bill in July now that they can defer. In this instance, it’s important that they are reminded of the Self Assessment late penalties should they wish to push this all the way back to 31^st January and be unable to make payment at that time.

Deferring could have an impact on cash flow in 2020/21. If you are also VAT-registered and have deferred your VAT payment, then it is worth noting that this also needs to be paid by 31^st March 2021.

Ultimately, it falls to you to make the decision that best suits you. However, it is my view that, by planning your 2021/22 payments now, you will be in a much safer position.

About GoSimpleTax

With GoSimpleTax, you can get a clear picture of your obligations. All your income and expenses can be logged in an easy-to-understand format, and their software will highlight areas where you can potentially reduce your tax liability through tax relief.

Register for their free trial today and stay abreast of all the latest tax changes. When you’re ready to file your Self Assessment tax return, upgrade to their full service and submit straight to HMRC.

Tags: Employed and Self Employed, HMRC, income tax, Pay As You Earn, Self Assessment, self employed, VAT

Self-Employed Sole Traders in the new tax year – where do you start?

by Admin

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The new tax year started on the 6^th April – that we do know for sure.

At times it felt like everything else changed and at a very quick pace. Our world slowed down – working from home where possible, home schooling our children the #StayHomeSaveLives were on windows with rainbows.

People settled into ways of working from home with daily routines including video calls to keep connected with fellow employees, following pop quizzes on the radio or simply taking time to reflect. Kids following PE lessons, craft tutorials and Disney princesses via online platforms while parents worked.

As this way of life continues for the foreseeable how can you be more productive?

One main cause for concern is money, knowing your financial stance helps you plan for the future. By getting ready to calculate your 2019-20 tax return – you will have your income and tax liability ready.

Digital copies of receipts and paperwork can be saved allowing for a clear out of the home office.

Whilst you do not have to submit right now, being safe in the knowledge of your outgoings for tax means you can then focus on sales and plan for the future.

The government stepped up and offered financial support

As the pandemic picked up pace and businesses were restricted by the Government the self-employed sat waiting and hoping they would be thrown a life-line. Chancellor Rishi Sunak gave them the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

The scheme is open to self-employed individuals or a member of a partnership who:

• Have submitted their Income Tax Self-Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19.
• Traded in the year 2019-20
• Are trading when they apply, or would be except for COVID-19
• They intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21
• They have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19

For a further in-depth review of the scheme please follow the link above or visit www.gov.uk

Please note you had until 23^rd April 2020 to file your 2018-19 self-assessment tax return to be eligible for this scheme.

A further helping hand was offered for anyone who uses Payments on Account, they will have their normal payment due on 31^st July deferred –  this payment won’t be due until 31^st January 2021.

Another deferral was that of the VAT payments due before 30^th June 2020, these will now not need to be made until 31^st March 2021. However you will be required to file your VAT return.

There were earlier announcements made by the Chancellor in March 2020 with an emergency £330bn financial package to bolster the UK economy. These included a business rates holiday and for struggling firms, loans.

There were postponements too for the controversial tax reforms to off-payroll working rules, more commonly known as IR35 – these have been postponed until April 2021 to help ease some strain from the pandemic and the effect it is having on businesses and individuals.

In 2019, it was announced that the Personal Allowance would be increasing from £11,850 to £12,500. Thanks to the increase, the tax brackets in the UK were also to be pushed back. Specifically, the basic rate limit was increased to £37,500 and the higher rate threshold was set at £50,000.

In April 2020 the Capital Gains Tax allowance increased to £12,300. Anything above the allowance, though, will be taxed at 18% for basic-rate taxpayers and 28% for additional-rate taxpayers. The Capital Gains Tax Allowance is the amount you can make from the increased value of your possessions tax-free.

GoSimpleTax bring you their award winning software, which factors in all the latest updates.

With GoSimpleTax software, filing has never been easier as it does all the calculations for you and thanks to features that allow you to take a picture of expenditure and upload it to your records, as well as log all forms of income.

With the documentation you need in one place and learning resources to help minimise your tax liability further, all that’s left for you to do is press submit.

Take their free trial today, no credit card required.

Tags: April 2020, Employed and Self Employed, HMRC, income tax, Loans, national insurance, personal allowance, self employed, self employment, tax rates, VAT

New option – reduced pay

by Admin

With the coronavirus outbreak affecting businesses around the country, a number of employers have had to make the decision to ask staff not to come in to work. The government announced last week that, to encourage employers not to lay staff off, they will pay up to 80% (to a maximum £2,500 per month) of staff members’ salaries if they keep them on the payroll. As well as trying to ensure that employees still receive some pay, the plan is to keep the workers available so the economy is well placed to start up again once the virus threat is reduced.

I have added an option to the existing Pro-Rata Calculator which allows you to enter a percentage of salary instead of reduced hours. Some employers will continue to pay their employees the full amount during the pandemic, others may only be able to pay what they are receiving from the government. And of course, for other reasons you might be receiving a percentage reduction in salary. If this applies to you, enter your full-time salary and full-time hours, then enter the percentage of your salary that you will be receiving. With tax and pension deductions etc taken into account, you might find that the reduction is not quite as bad as you thought. For example, someone on the UK median full-time salary (which is about £30,000) normally takes home £1,915 per month after tax and 5% auto-enrolment pension contributions. On 80% salary, they would take home £1,595, which is a significant drop but still just over 83% of normal. Other deductions like Student Loan repayment could make the overall reduction to a slightly more manageable 85%.

Also of interest might be the new Sick Pay Calculator, which I launched last week to help people who have had to take a short period of time off on reduced pay.

Tags: coronavirus, covid-19, Economy, furlough, HMRC, income tax, layoff, national insurance, Pay As You Earn, pension, pro-rata, reduced pay, student loans, The Salary Calculator, unemployment

New tool – Sick Pay Calculator

by Admin

With many people having to take time off work due to the current situation with COVID-19, I thought I would try to create a sick pay calculator. If you will be taking time off, and your employer’s policy states that you will receive reduced (or no) pay for your time off, the Sick Pay Calculator will try to estimate the effect on your take-home pay.

You can enter the number of days on a percentage of your normal pay (e.g. 50% for half pay), the number of days on Statutory Sick Pay (n.b. the calculator is not able to tell whether or not you are eligible for SSP, learn more from Citizens Advice), and the number of unpaid days. The calculator will use this information to estimate how your payslip will change.

Please note that different employers calculate things like unpaid leave in different ways, so the calculator’s results may differ from those on your payslip. Also, how much you will get paid for time off depends primarily on what your employer’s relevant policies state – you will need to know what you are entitled to before using the calculator.

Please let me know if you have any trouble using the calculator – I’ve tried to reduce the number of unexpected results, but it is possible with a lot of time off and with many options such as pensions and student loans applied that the answers given might be a bit unusual!

Tags: coronavirus, covid-19, HMRC, income tax, Jobs, national insurance, Pay As You Earn, Pensions, sick pay, student loans, The Salary Calculator, unpaid leave

New! Two Jobs Salary Calculator

by Admin

I have finally been able to deliver something that has been on my “to-do” list for several years – a salary calculator for when you have two jobs at the same time. If you are considering taking on a second job to help make ends meet, or if you have two part-time jobs rather than one full-time job, it isn’t easy to work out what your take-home pay will be. If you’d like to try it out and see what a difference an extra job could make, head over to the Two Jobs Salary Calculator.

All the usual options are there, such as pension contributions, bonuses and overtime, to help you see all the details in one place. You can use the calculator without a tax code, or with a single tax code for both jobs, or with individual tax codes for each job if you have been given them by HMRC.

It can be quite complicated to work out the tax and other deductions for those who are working two jobs, so I hope this will be useful to some of you. It was also quite difficult to find a way to display all the options (like pension contributions from both jobs) without making it too hard to use. I hope I have succeeded, I look forward to hearing from people who have used it.

Tags: careers, HMRC, income tax, Jobs, national insurance, Pay As You Earn, pension, Pensions, second job, student loans, tax rates, The Salary Calculator, two jobs