Imperial Business Systems

Imperial Business Systems Accountancy, bookkeeping and taxation services provided quickly and efficiently. Local accountant providing accountancy, bookkeeping and taxation services.

Self assessment accounts and tax returns prepared and submitted quickly and efficiently.

09/10/2025

HMRC’s Making Tax Digital for Income Tax campaign supports the biggest change to personal tax since HMRC launched Self Assessment more than 30 years ago.

Instead of filling out their tax return all at once, individuals in scope will need to use recognised software (such as an app on their phone or laptop) to keep digital records of income and expenses throughout the year. This will enable them to send required quarterly updates to HMRC, along with their tax return by 31 January each year.

The aim of the campaign is to increase customers' understanding of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, encourage preparation through using compatible software, drive voluntary sign-ups to the testing service and support smooth transition to mandatory requirements from April 2026. The campaign is running across HMRC’s own channels, with a paid advertising campaign due to launch across social and online along with sector specific press titles and radio stations. The advertising is expected to commence late September.

It's being rolled out in phases for sole traders and landlords depending on their turnover. HMRC will only look at total turnover from self-employment and property, put together, on their latest tax return:

From 6 April 2026 for turnover above £50,000
From 6 April 2027 for turnover above £30,000
From 6 April 2028 for turnover above £20,000

The way you do your Income Tax returns is changing from April 2026.

If you’re a sole trader or landlord and turnover more than £50,000, you’ll need to use recognised software to keep digital records of your income and expenses.

You’ll send quarterly updates to HMRC from this software. These quarterly updates aren’t tax returns, they’re just simple summaries of how your business is doing, in four smaller chunks, pulled from your digital records.

You won’t pay four tax bills a year, the deadline for paying your tax will still be 31 January.

HMRC won’t sign you up automatically, so it’s important to do this in time. If you’d like to start using it sooner, you can

12/02/2025

Missed the Self Assessment deadline? You’re not alone.

Filing a Self Assessment tax return can be a daunting prospect, and many people miss the 31 January deadline.

According to HMRC, 1.1 million people missed the tax return deadline in 2025.

If you don’t know whether you needed to complete a Self Assessment tax return, you can use HMRC’s Self Assessment tool or check out this list below—you’ll need to complete a tax return if

- you or your partner received child benefit and either of you had an annual income of more than £50,000 for tax years up to and including the 2023/24 tax year – it’s over £60,000 for the 2024/25 tax year.
- you received more than £2,500 in other untaxed income, for example, from tips or commission; money from renting out a property; income from savings, investments and dividends; foreign income.
- you are a self-employed sole trader and earned more than £1,000.
- you are a partner in a business partnership.
- you are an employee claiming expenses in excess of £2,500.
- you have an annual income over £150,000.

The Self Assessment deadline of 31 January is also for any tax you owe for the previous tax year (known as a balancing payment) and your first payment on account.

There is also the 31 July deadline for your second payment on account.

If you missed the 31 January deadline, the most important things to do are to not panic and get to work on filing your tax return as soon as you can.

However, as it’s late, there will likely be various penalties to pay.

An initial £100 fixed penalty plus interest, which applies even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time.

After three months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day may be charged, up to a maximum of £900, plus interest.

After six months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater, plus interest.

After 12 months, another 5% or £300 charge, whichever is greater, plus interest.

There are also additional penalties for paying late of 5% of the tax unpaid at 30 days, six months, and 12 months. Interest will be charged on all late payments, so paying as soon as possible after the deadline helps keep penalty costs from spiralling.

If you get on the phone to HMRC immediately [when you know you have missed the deadline], HMRC can be sympathetic and might agree to allow you to pay off the fine in instalments suitable to your salary or earnings.

The £100 fine has been known to be waived if extenuating circumstances are present and provable; if this is your first time then they might factor this into their decision.

These fines are usually only rescinded once you’ve filed your new assessment, so there’s an incentive to get cracking.

The second word of advice we have is to formalise your approach to tax going forward.

Using accounting software or hiring an independent accountant for your business can be a wise investment and will take some of the stress out of tax next year.”

04/11/2024

Following a Court of Appeal judgement, the government will treat double cab pick-up vehicles (DCPUs) with a payload of one tonne or more as cars for certain tax purposes. From 1‌‌‌ April‌‌‌ 2025 for Corporation Tax, and 6‌‌‌ April‌‌‌ 2025 for income tax, DCPUs will be treated as cars for the purposes of capital allowances, benefits in kind, and some deductions from business profits. The existing capital allowances treatment will apply to those who purchase DCPUs before April‌‌‌ 2025. Transitional benefit in kind arrangements will apply for employers that have purchased, leased, or ordered a DCPU before 6‌‌‌ April 2025. They will be able to use the previous treatment, until the earlier of disposal, lease expiry, or 5‌‌‌ April‌‌‌ 2029.

04/11/2024

The rate of employer NICs will increase from 13.8% to 15% from 6 April 2025. The Secondary Threshold is the point at which employers become liable to pay NICs on employees’ earnings, and is currently set at £9,100 a year. The government will reduce the Secondary Threshold to £5,000 a year from 6 April 2025 until 6 April 2028, and then increase it by Consumer Price Inflation thereafter. The Employment Allowance currently allows businesses with employer NICs bills of £100,000 or less in the previous tax year to deduct £5,000 from their employer NICs bill. The government will increase the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, and remove the £100,000 threshold for eligibility, expanding this to all eligible employers with employer NICs bills from 6 April 2025.

31/10/2024

The Budget will hit living standards in the short-term as the government hopes to drive economic growth in the longer-term, according to the Resolution Foundation think tank.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' decision to increase taxes and borrowing to raise funding for public services and investment is a clear move away from the cuts set out by the previous government, it said.

But it warned the Budget "has not yet delivered a decisive shift away from Britain’s record as a ‘stagnation nation’," as the outlook for both growth and living standards remains weak.

On Wednesday, Reeves announced Labour’s first Budget since 2010, after the party’s return to power in July’s general election.

“The short-term effect of these changes will be better-funded public services," Mike Brewer, interim chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said.

"But families are also set for a further squeeze on living standards as the rise in employer National Insurance dampens wage growth," he added.

The new tax and benefits policies will affect everyone, said the think tank, which aims to improve living standards for low-to-middle income families.

Disposable incomes - the amount people have to spend once taxes and benefits have been taken into account - are expected to grow more slowly due to the measures in the Budget. Real household disposable income per person is projected to grow by 0.5% a year on average across the parliament.

The Resolution Foundation calculated the incomes of the poorest half of households will grow by 0.8% less than they would have otherwise.

The richest half face a reduction in where their income would have been of 0.6%.

Wealthy households are expected to experience the biggest overall impact due to capital gains and inheritance tax changes.

The foundation expects wage rises to be hit by a combination of an already challenging outlook, weaker growth due to increased taxes on employment and higher inflation.

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