Planning for your self assessment tax bill
The UK tax year is 6 April to the following 5 April. So the tax year 2011/12 ended on 5 April 2012.
You will need to complete a self assessment tax return if you are self employed or a limited company director.
Click here to read our free guide on starting a business and registering with HMRC (opens in a new window).
Although the deadline is 31 January for e-filed returns, we recommend that you complete your tax return and submit it to HMRC as early as possible. Click here to download a useful pdf tax return checklist.
A self employed person will pay both income tax and class 4 national insurance (NI) on their profits plus income tax on any other income and capital gains tax on any relevant capital gains in the tax year.
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Flat Rate VAT For Affiliate Marketing
Using the UK flat rate VAT scheme is quite often beneficial for affiliate marketeers. Many in the affiliate marketing sector have low overheads and in particular small amounts of input tax (VAT charged on purchases).
Under the flat rate scheme, input tax is not reclaimable and the VAT paid to HMRC is calculated as a percentage of gross sales. Gross sales are net sales + the VAT charged to the networks.
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Thinking of starting a business?
If you are turning a hobby into a business or starting a whole new venture, here are some tips to help you get up and running without falling foul of the (UK) tax authorities.
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How to choose your accountant
Do you really need an accountant?
If your business is small and you have less than £15k turnover pa and are organised, willing to research various business guides and the HMRC website to keep up with tax, VAT, payroll, NIC legislation … then the answer is likely to be No.
If you are not organised, then either get organised or get an accountant, as at the very least they can save you the various HMRC penalties and interest that is charged for late registration, late submission of tax returns, late payments of tax and late VAT registration.
