Inform

The self assessment tax returns deadline has been extended by 2 days

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:47:00 GMT

Due to proposed strike action on the 31st January 2012, HMRC and the government have announced that the filing deadline has been increased by up to 2 days for this years return and fines will be waived for tax returns submitted on the 1st and 2nd February 2012.

Please read the Accountancy Age article for the full story

As always, if you have any queries or questions please call us at either Maidstone 01622 664900, Bexley on 01322 556530 or Beckenham on 0208 650 8333

Stiddard October 2011eRH newsletter

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:31:00 GMT

Here is our latest newsletter for October 2011

Stiddard News Oct 11 - HMRC Warning, October deadlines, Tax savings on life insurance & more - http://eepurl.com/gxcrP

Six million to receive rebates from HMRC

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:36:00 GMT

HMRC have announced that six million people will receive tax rebates averaging £400. On the downside one million taxpayers will have to repay on average £500 towards their tax bills after the discovery of errors at HM Revenue & Customs.

The BBC reports that HMRC will begin sending letters out to taxpayers in the next few months and that those who owe money will be given the opportunity to agree payments plans. Here is the article in full from the BBC website

This relates to the tax year 2007-08.

We are very pleased to welcome Mike Fisher to Stiddard Financial Services

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:18:00 GMT

Mike is an experienced Independent Financial Adviser having previously run his own IFA and Independent Trustee companies for 17 years. Qualified in excess of the DipPFS Mike has a lot of experience in the corporate pensions area, especially with Defined Benefit Schemes, and with ultra high net worth clients. This experience is useful with all clients whether individuals, entrepreneurs, or business owners and Finance Directors of all sizes of companies.

Mike has also kindly written a small article about pension changes effective 6th April 2012

HMRC has announced that they are reducing the Life time allowance from £1.8 million to £1.5 million from the next tax year. The lifetime allowance is the maximum amount of pension and/or lump sum that you can get from your registered pension schemes that benefit from tax relief.

You may wonder if this will ever affect you, however Pensions are a vital tool in tax planning especially in the sale of a business or in the flexibility available to you now for the purchase of a commercial property. Therefore whilst you may think that this may not apply now, it could easily restrict your tax planning opportunities at a later date.

If you do not have either primary protection or enhanced protection (they are not affected) you can apply for a new form of protection, fixed protection. You do not need to already have built up pension rights of more than £1.5 million to apply. If you believe that your existing pension funds could grow to more to more than £1.5 million by the time you want to take them or they already are then you need to take action quickly.

However if you have fixed protection there are restrictions on what you will be able to do with your benefits, For example, you will normally need to stop building up benefits under every registered pension scheme that you belong to by 5 April 2012. Remember, your pension scheme or employer may need time to stop your active membership.

For a discussion or assistance on this or any other pension advice please contact our specialists …….Mike Fisher mobile number 07711718245 or Mark Loughlin 07595466874

Important key accounting dates for October 2011

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:12:00 GMT

1 October 2011 - payment of corporation tax for small & medium sized companies with accounting periods ended 31 December 2010

1 October 2011 - National minimum wage rates increase to the following:
·         the adult rate will increase by 15p to £6.08 an hour
·         the rate for 18-20 year olds will increase by 6p to £4.98 an hour
·         the rate for 16-17 year olds will increase by 4p to £3.68 an hour
·         the rate for apprentices will increase by 10p to £2.60 an hour

7 October 2011 - Due date for August 2011 VAT return and electronic payment

19 October 2011 - Payment of PAYE/CIS liabilities for month ended 5 October 2011 & file monthly CIS return

31 October 2011 - Companies House should have received accounts of private companies with a year end of 31 January 2011

Please let us know if you hear of any that we may have missed.

For more information about Stiddard Accountants please call us at Maidstone 01622 664900 or Bexley 01322 556530 or Beckenham 0208 650 8333 or please email john.roberts@stiddard.co.uk

September 2011 Newsletter from Stiddard

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:35:00 GMT

Our September 2011 newsletter using a QR Code (we think thats what they are called!)

Or The good Ol' fashioned way

Click here

Stiddard Bexley exhibited at the Kent & London Business Show on the 8th July 2011

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:21:00 GMT

On Friday 8^th July Heidi Pithman, Stephanie Roberts and Louisa Felstead from Stiddards Bexley office exhibited on behalf of the Company at the Kent and London Business Show at the Bexleyheath Marriott.

We enjoyed a busy day with several excellent conversations being had with existing clients, potential new clients, new partners and indeed, new suppliers. Thank you to each and every business which took the time to come and meet us.

Stiddard as a business is keen to promote our message of quality friendly service in all areas of accounting and finance. Accordingly, two lucky (and we also note, delighted) businesses were given the opportunity to test drive that promise.

The picture below shows Heidi Pithman and event organiser, Paul Andrews of JIK Software Ltd

For further details of the event, please see www.b2bkent.com

Kent business tv have released a video covering the event - click here to view

We are the UK business of the day - 25th June 2011

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 06:44:00 GMT

If you are a Twitter follower then you may well have heard of the dynamic impact of PurpleDogNet with their Tagline of "We sniff out and promote UK companies who are looking to build their business online. You follow us, we follow you. You promote us, we promote you. Simple!". Each day one lucky business owner then gets chosen to be the UK business of the day.

Well now in their infinite wisdom, as the saying goes "every dog has its day", Stiddard Accountants and Financial Advisers have been given their day as the UK business of the day. The 25th June 2011 is a day we will remember with a great deal of fondness.

PurpleDogNet is also working very hard on a special event on the 28th June 2011#purplepledgeday Click here to find our more about this innovative social media event. Needless to say we will be attending.

So far since the announcement of Stiddard Accountants being nominated we have had amazing tributes and accolades flying in on Twitter (140 Characters permitting of course)

Here is a sample of them so far, and please follow these people as these are fantastic Twitterers in the wonderful world of Twitter. (You can register to add more comments if you like)

1. @Bridaldesigns @Purpledognet @kentaccountants congratulations!! xx

Thanks for the message Bridal designs great website and I had been up for nomination many times and I thought I was always going to be the bridesmaid.

2. @Annette_Given @kentaccountants Congratulations on winning @Purpledognet UK Business of the day, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thanks again Annette and I am pleased to see you had a great day as a previous UK business of the year. Fab website too.

3. @madabouttoys_uk @kentaccountants welcome to the #purplebiz business club

Well another previous winner and love your website as well.

4. @kentelectrics @kentaccountants Congrats..., Have a great day tomorrow

Thanks again Kentelectrics - here is your website link

5. @LF_Designs @kentaccountants Congratulations on winning #PurpleBiz today! I loved it when I won, did wonders for me - enjoy it!!

Thanks Barry - great idea about the winners prizes that are available. Here is the link

6. @DirtyFingersUK @Purpledognet @kentaccountants Congratulations to Kent accountants on being the UK business of the day

Thanks very much for the mention - fabulous website and thanks for the 10% discount code of DFJR10

7. @stuarthutch @kentaccountants congratulations on being business of the day.

Thanks Stuart - website link here nice site by the way

8. @lovelybills @kentaccountants Congrats @Purpledognet business of the day! What you gonna do to celebrate?

erm not sure - a celebratory jig in the kitchen is the first thing!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So thats all the mentions recieved so far and my number of followers is growing already today.

Thanks, once again to Purpledognet for making us UK business of the day.

Please feel free to have a browse through our website and call or email any questions.

Approved mileage allowance increases from 40p to 45p per mile

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:43:00 GMT

Chancellor George Osborne announced that, effective from 6th April 2011, the approved mileage allowance payments rates for an employee using their own car on a business trip will rise to 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles.

After 10,000 miles, the rate will continue to be 25 pence per mile.

Please call either Tim Phur - Maidstone 01622 664900 - Heidi Pithman - Bexley 01322 556530 - Alastair Mathers - Beckenham 0208 650 8333 for anymore information

Quickbooks training in Kent

Fri, 20 May 2011 17:41:00 GMT

Have you recently purchased Quickbooks and would like to know more about Quickbooks by having some Quickbooks training? We frequently help our customers by running one to one training sessions in our offices in Maidstone, Kent, Bexley, Kent and Bromley, Kent. We tailor make each session to our clients needs and within a few hours we have had comments like "Well, I didnt know it could do that" or "I am so grateful to you for helping me" If you feel you would like some Quickbooks training then please contact us at either the Maidstone, Kent office on 01622 664900 or Bexley, Kent office 01322 556530 or Bromley, Kent Office on 0208 650 8333

We are also able to help with Xero Training or Sage Training as well

Self assessment tax returns up to 5 April 2011

Sat, 21 May 2011 06:53:00 GMT

For your information, your personal self-assessment tax return for the tax year up to 5 April 2011 must be submitted to HMRC by 31 January 2012 or by 31 October 2011 if it is sent in paper form. These deadlines also apply to your separate partnership tax return if you are in a partnership.

For tax returns for earlier years there are penalties of £100 if you submit it late, but that penalty would be reduced to nil if you were due a tax repayment, or all the tax due was paid by 31 January. There is no reduction for penalties relating to late partnership returns. For 2010/11 tax returns and later years, the penalties for submitting the return late will not be reduced even if all the tax due has been paid on time. As well as the £100 penalty there are normally other charges to pay.

Please call us at either Stiddard Maidstone 01622 664900 or Stiddard Bexley 01322 556530 if you need any clarification or more information at all

HMRC flag deadline for plumbers’ disclosure

Mon, 09 May 2011 16:50:00 GMT

HMRC’s letter will confirm that once the disclosure opportunity expires, the department will ‘begin a clampdown on those working in the sector who have failed to declare earnings and pay the tax they owe’.

HMRC are set to write to ‘about 50,000’ plumbers, gas fitters and heating engineers alerting them to the Plumbers’ Tax Safe Plan (PTSP) – the first initiative in a ‘campaign focused on tradespeople’ – which offers people making a full disclosure of undeclared income a ‘simple and straightforward way to put their tax affairs right’ and a low penalty rate.

‘Plumbers, gas fitters, heating engineers and members of associated trades who owe tax which they have not yet declared can come forward any time up to 31 May to tell HMRC they want to take part,’ HMRC said yesterday.

Those who do come forward by 31 May will have until 31 August to make their disclosure and arrange for payment. ‘After that date, using information pulled together from different sources, HMRC will investigate those who have failed to come forward. Substantial penalties or even criminal prosecution could follow,’ HMRC said.

Guidance is provided on the HMRC website.

Stiddard would be keen to help any plumbers with any issues that arise

Budget 2011 report

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:11:00 GMT

Hello everyone,

This blog is to inform all our clients of the latest changes that have occurred in the latest budget which took place on the 23 March. I’m sure you have read a lot in the press regarding changes made to boost the economy. Should you be interested in some further reading, a link to a guide to budget 2011 is available which has been issued by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

I hope you all find this blog useful and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss the budget in greater detail.

This website is frequently updated with useful information regarding all areas of business and finance so remember to register for the RSS feed.

Please call either Tim Phur - Maidstone 01622 664900 - Heidi Pithman - Bexley 01322 556530 - Alastair Mathers - Beckenham 0208 650 8333 for anymore information on the Budget 2011

Stiddard Accountants to attend Kent 2020

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:04:00 GMT

Stiddard Accountants are attending this years Kent 2020 exhibition at Detling Showground, Detling, Kent, ME14 3JF.

We would be delighted if you were to visit us at our stand B6. We will have many of our team there to discuss any accountancy services queries, Dave Bowman will be there to help with any Company lending queries including asset finance and invoice factoring and also Mark Loughlin our Chartered Independant financial planner will be there to assist any queries of that nature.

If you would like anymore information on the Kent 2020 exhibition then please click here.

Hopefully see you there on the day.

Stiddard raise over £463 in Comic Relief fundraiser

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:04:00 GMT

Stiddard Maidstone are pleased to announce that today they have raised £263.98 at their Cuppa and Cake fundraiser in their Maidstone offices.

Mark Loughlin also raised £200 separately following some pledges to update his profile picture on Twitter view his new photo on @nakedadviser

This wouldnt have been possible today without some excellent help from Everything Cupcakes and other cake makers including, Danielle Coles, Karen Forder, Liz Stiddard, Jess Parnell, Louisa Felstead, Heidi Pithman & Mandy Roberts.

We also had a celebrity raffle draw and Danielle Coles won £15 by correctly choosing Gok Wan.

Thankyou everybody for your support and enjoy the rest of your Red Nose Day 2011