Business Law - Tax for Small Businesses

Anyone who runs a small business or for those who are self employed you will need to fill in a self assessment tax form. You will need to make sure that you return your form on time to so you do not get any penalties. The self assessment form will generally cover everything but you only need to fill in the sections that are relevant to your business. You will need to send your form back by the 31st of January each year. You should always make sure that you include the amount of tax that you will be liable to pay.

If you find it difficult to work out your tax liability you can let the Inland Revenue do it for you, you will however need to get your form in earlier. This deadline is the 30th of September along with the all the information that they will need to calculate the right amount.

It should be noted that the Inland Revenue carry out random checks on self assessment forms and if it is found that you have filled out your form incorrectly, you may be liable to be fined. You will also get a fine if you return your form late and you may be forced to pay interest on any outstanding amounts that you owe.

If you are an employee then you should be a member of a PAYE system that will automatically deduct tax from your earnings before you are paid them. If you are not a member of a PAYE system you may have to do a self assessment tax return. It is important to find out your tax situation as soon as possible, if you do need to self assess then you will need to inform the Inland Revenue as they will not automatically send you a form. You cannot use the fact that you did not get sent a form as an excuse for sending in your form late. You may want to consider getting a tax review if you are an employee. You may find out that you have been paying too much or too little tax. The sooner that you can find out, the quicker you will be able to rectify the situation.

If you are retired, tax will usually be taken straight out of your pension. You should get into contact with your local tax office to see if you are entitled to any tax refunds. The Inland Revenue has a massive amount of unclaimed tax refunds, the majority of which are owed to pensioners.

If you are an employer you will need to work with the Inland Revenue to ensure that you provide them with the correct information about your current and past employees. It is your responsibility to keep good records.

If you work as a subcontractor you can no longer receive payments without deduction of tax, due to the 'turnover tests'. Iif you would like to apply for any tax exemptions you will first have to prove that all your tax affairs are in good order.

I am a legal writer covering advice on topics of law including tax for small businesses, for further text and similar works visit business law or contact a solicitor today.

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