Year End Accounts and Tax Returns

These are the services most commonly associated with accountants and are services offered by The Financial Management Centre. Whilst some of our clients have a different accountant and so we work with them we also have clients for whom we prepare the year end accounts and tax returns and submit them as appropriate to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Companies House.

Accounts

Whilst not every business is required by law to prepare annual Financial Statements (accounts) in order to complete a tax computation and calculate any tax liability some form of accounts are produced. A contractor’s accounts or taxi driver’s accounts will look very different to an engineering or manufacturing company’s accounts but all will contain the same basic information.

Limited Companies are obligated by the Companies Act to file their accounts with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House. Private limited companies must file their accounts within 9 months of their year whereas Public limited companies (Plc’s) must file theirs within 6 months of the year end.

Depending on the nature of our engagement we can produce your year-end accounts from your own records or from the records we keep on your behalf. Well maintained and accurate bookkeeping records make a difference to the amount of work required in order to prepare your accounts.

For those businesses who do not benefit from any sort of management accounts the year end accounts are to all intents and purposes their only record of the financial performance for the accounting period. We will discuss your accounts with you, explaining what the various figures mean using our technical and commercial experience to help you get behind the numbers.

Tax Returns

All businesses must submit a tax return in order to declare income and profits to HMRC and to declare any tax due. Failure to submit your returns on time can result in penalties and interest. Individuals have to submit a Self-Assessment Tax Return (SATR) and corporate entities have to file a Corporation Tax Return (CT600).

Self-Assessment

These are some of the most common reasons for having to file a Self-Assessment Tax Return:

• You are Self Employed
• You are a partner in a partnership
• You are a director of a company
• Your household receives Child Benefit and one member has income in excess of £50,000 per year
• You have a large amount of savings or investment income
• You have untaxed savings or investment income

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By appointing The Financial Management Centre as your agent we will undertake to look after your Self-Assessment Tax Return and take away what to many people is the headache of Self-Assessment. Firstly, we will ensure that all opportunities to minimise your tax liability have been considered before calculating any tax due notifying you of the amounts due and payable, file the return and supporting documentation with HMRC and deal with any queries HMRC may have.

We recommend getting your information into us as soon as possible after the end of the tax year rather than waiting until December or January. The sooner we can tell you how much tax you need to pay the sooner you can make plans to have it ready but contrary to what a lot of people seem to think you don’t have to pay any earlier. However if you are due a refund the sooner we can file your return the sooner HMRC can process it and issue a refund. It is possible to have you tax refund in the bank in time for your summer holiday!

Corporation Tax

A CT600 is the name given to a limited company’s tax return and has to be submitted along with the company’s accounts to HM Revenue & Customs. As with the Self-Assessment Tax Returns there are penalties and interest charges for late submission.

New companies must register with HMRC within 3 months of commencing to trade. The Financial Management Centre can help you with this.

Corporation Tax is calculated and paid annually based on a company’s “Corporation Tax Accounting Period.’ Unusually corporation tax is due to be paid earlier than the date the actual CT600 tax return is due for submission. Typically a limited company has 12 months after its year end to file its return but only 9 months after to pay any tax due.

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