Blog
How to survive a HMRC investigation
Nobody likes it when a brown envelope from the Revenue drops through their letterbox. Even if you have all your tax affairs in order, HMRC could still randomly select you after upping its game in recent years to crack down on falsely reporting or underpaying tax....
Residence for tax purposes UK
A number of our clients swap the UK for warmer climes, but their domestic tax liabilities do not end there. While it is accurate to say calculating tax affairs for these individuals is more complex, our residency service covers all the bases. If you are unsure of your...
Corporation tax in Scotland
Companies in Scotland pay one of the lowest rates of corporation tax in the world. The 2019/20 main rate remains at 19% throughout the UK, aside from the Isle of Man and Guernsey, At 19%, Scotland - and the UK as a whole - have the lowest corporation tax rate of any...
Auto-enrolment for employers
Auto-enrolment is in the news this month, after the final rise in minimum contributions kicked in for both employees and employers on 6 April 2019. It marks the end of the line for the first phase of auto-enrolment, which has seen more than 10 million people saving...
Tax changes for 2019/20
The winds of change are blowing through this spring, although they are nowhere near as strong as those that saw two new income tax bands introduced last year. That’s when the starter and intermediate rates were brought in as Derek Mackay exercised his right to alter...
First businesses poised for Making Tax Digital
We are on the home straight as far as Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT is concerned, with little over a month to go until the first group of businesses are mandated into the regime. This affects around a quarter of the UK’s 2.67 million VAT-registered businesses,...
What to look for in an auditor?
The role of the UK’s “Big Four” audit companies following the high-profile collapses of Carillion and BHS has created an opportunity for accountancy practices like us to fill the breach. While the sector and the dominance of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KMPG and...
Draft Budget: how will it affect you?
When Derek Mackay revealed his last Draft Budget in December 2018, not many people predicted the introduction of two new income tax bands. Nothing as radical was announced this time around, following the finance secretary’s decision to freeze the income tax rates for...
Accounting for charities: the essentials
Dealing with charities is not a service offered by all accountants, many of whom prefer to focus on business clients. There’s no getting away from the fact that handling the accounts of a charity can be complex, but it’s a task we relish at Thomas Barrie. We’re happy...
The impact on landlords of mortgage interest relief
Residential landlords make up a large portion of our clients here at Thomas Barrie, and the impact of changes to mortgage interest relief made by those in UK Government is not lost on us. For years, our buy-to-let clients were able to offset their entire mortgage...