Financial update
From the partners and staff at Sandison Easson & Co we owe you all a debt of gratitude during this period.
All of us have family and friends that work in various sectors of the NHS and appreciate the task that will lie ahead.
What we can do to help, as we always have, is with your financial affairs. We understand that your normal working day will be altered and as such the partners and associates will be available night or day to deal with any queries you may have.
All of us are in this together.
We will still be attending to deadlines of tax returns and accounts which will be even more important as financial planning will be on your minds and you will want to focus on dealing with patients.
The Revenue will have some flexibility with regards to tax payments. These are explained below.
Coronavirus job retention scheme
Due to the speed at which this scheme has been rolled out, there remains many areas to clarify but at the time of writing we know the following:
- All of our clients are eligible for the scheme where they employ staff through a PAYE scheme.
- Workers are given a special status of being ‘Furloughed’ (see further information below).
- HMRC will reimburse 80% of their wage cost subject to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
- Effective from 1 March 2020 if you have already had to take steps with your employees.
- HMRC are working on their systems to facilitate the above.
We understand that one of the eligibility criteria will be that a PAYE scheme has to be in place for your employee(s). Many clients pay salaries below the level required to maintain a PAYE scheme and at the time of writing we do not believe that anyone in that position will be eligible for the scheme. Additionally, anyone engaging the services of as secretary on a self-employed basis cannot use the scheme but one would expect your secretary payments to be reduced following a reduction in activity.
Where eligible, HMRC will provide funds to support the worker’s wages and prevent the need to make them redundant.
Furloughed worker
Where a business does not have sufficient work to retain the services of an employee they can designate affected employees as ‘furloughed workers’. They remain an employee and the terms and conditions of their employment are still enforceable.
Contact Details
During the special measures period, the partners and team at Sandison Easson will largely be working from home. We do have certain members of the team in isolation and unable to work which is a dynamic situation and therefore we suggest that any queries that require an urgent response are directed to the partner or associate that is responsible for your affairs. Their contact details are:
Finally, we thank you for everything you are doing for us and our families.
In this months' publication of Independent Practitioner, one of our partners, Ian Tongue, explores some of the more common ways consultants work together.
You can read his article here
One of our partners, Aaron Swinton, has been invited to speak at the next Dinner and Conversation Evening held by DGL Practice Manager.
The event will be at the Swan, Shakespeare's Globe in London on Wednesday 20th June 2018 from 6.30pm onwards.
Aaron will discuss ways to minimise the effect that Tapering of the Annual Allowance has upon Consultants' tax affairs.
If you would like to attend this event then please contact Lisa Goodall on 01625 527 351 or send her an email to lisa@sandisoneasson.co.uk
The Scottish Public Pensions Agency has announced it will now accept a scheme pays election from members who become subject to an Annual Allowance tax charge even where the charge or part of the charge relates to pensions growth ('pension input amount') between their reduced tapered Annual Allowance and the Standard Annual Allowance of £40,000.
This applies from the 2016/17 tax year and this will be welcome news for members of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency.
Without this option, if a member had pension growth of say £40,000 but was only entitled to a tapered annual allowance of £10,000 then they may have faced an annual allowance tax charge of up to £13,500 payable by 31 January following the tax year. In the first year this applies, they may also need to make a payment on account towards the following tax year which increases the amount due from £13,500 to £20,250.
As far as we are aware, the NHS Pension Scheme in England has not introduced the same voluntary option.
Today one of our partners Aaron Swinton held a talk as an Invited Guest Speaker at the 2018 Winter Scientific Meeting of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. The feedback from the audience was excellent and the topic covered was in relation to the Tapering of the Annual Allowance.
He was also invited to answer questions on the Q&A Expert Panel which followed the talk.
If you are hosting your own event and would like to invite one of our Expert Medical Accountants to talk at your event then please contact us today.
Stop the taxman visiting
One of our partners, Ian Tongue explores some common areas of risk and the steps that can be taken to minimise the risk of the tax inspector ringing your doorbell
You can read his article here
Are you considering buying a new car?
One of our partners, Ian Tongue, has written an article in Independent Practitioner for those considering buying a tax-efficient car.
You can read his article here
From 6 April 2018 the £5,000 dividend allowance will reduce to £2,000.
If you are a shareholder of your own company and have not yet taken advantage of the £5,000 dividend allowance since 6 April 2017 then you may wish to consider whether or not you should make the most of the larger dividend allowance whilst it is still available.
Primary Care Support England have introduced a new online form to be used for all GP Payments and Pension administration and queries. The form will be available on their Contact Us Page here https://pcse.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/
When the new form is live, the email addresses pcse.gp-pensions@nhs.net and pcse.gp-payments@nhs.net will no longer be monitored, and all forms and queries must be submitted online.
On the topic of GP Pensions, we are still waiting for NHS Pensions to release the 2016/17 Certificate of Pensionable Profit form for GPs which must be submitted by 28 February 2018.
An employer can provide Trivial Benefits to their employees and directors without incurring a tax charge. This means as an employer you can provide your staff, or your limited company can provide its staff and or directors with gifts of up to £50 each without a tax liability arising. Multiple £50 gifts can be given during the tax year.
If the benefit is provided to a director or other office holder of a family run company, the exemption is capped at £300 in the tax year. So in essence, HMRC allow tax relief on six £50 gifts each tax year.
From HMRCs perspective, a benefit is exempt from tax if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
- The cost of providing the benefit does not exceed £50
- The benefit is not cash or convertible into cash. Gift cards are OK as long as they are not exchangeable for cash
- The employee or director is not entitled to the benefit as part of any contractual obligation
- The benefit is not provided in recognition of particular services performed by the employee as part of their employment duties
