Happy New Year to all our customers and clients!!

But, of course, it’s not the New Year for tax purposes but instead it’s getting towards the end of the tax year!

At KEW Accountants, we offer tax advice to help you make the most of tax planning opportunities so you can keep more of your income perfectly legally!

Here are our top 10 tips to make sure you are claiming for everything you can on your self-assessment form!

• Office supplies: Have you kept track of your spending? Find the receipts for that new desk phone, postage and printing costs and even computers, as long as they are only used for business purposes.

• Donations to charity: If you donated to charity, you can claim those donations as Self-Assessment expenses. 

• Marketing costs: Often business owners forget to claim for the cost of marketing their company. You can claim for any advertising in newspapers, bulk mail advertising, costs associated with free samples and website costs.

• Travel: You can claim for business travel, including accommodation costs, if the primary reason for your journey was business. If you use a vehicle as part of your business, you can claim tax relief on the insurance, repairs and serving, fuel, parking and breakdown cover. You cannot claim for entertainment.

• Clothing: If you need to buy a uniform or special protective clothing for your job, you can claim for that. You can’t gain tax relief for clothes from your everyday wardrobe.

• Professional and financial services: If you need advice from a professional for your business, you can claim tax back on the fees. This would include surveyors and architects for your business.

• Membership fee expenses: You can claim tax back on the fees and subscriptions to some professional bodies, if that membership is necessary to do your job. They must be on a list approved by HMRC

• Business premises:  You can claim tax relief for rent, repairs, utility bills, property insurance and security but you cannot claim if you have bought the premises. If you are working from home, you can include part of your utility bills but you need to work out what proportion is used for your business.

• Unpaid invoices: This is hugely helpful to businesses as HMRC allows you to claim for money included in your turnover that you aren’t planning to receive. You can claim for it if you are sure the customer is not going to pay the invoice in the future. 

• Staff costs: HMRC allows you to claim a wide range of expenses regarding employment, including salaries, bonuses, pensions, National Insurance and business-related training courses.

For more tax advice, please get in touch with us at KEW Accountants.