Specialisms

Seafarers & Seafarers Earnings Deduction SED

If you are a seafarer then you have a unique way of operating.

Invariably a tax refund is due as you are eligible for a Seafarers Earnings Deductions (SED)

Sounds simple?

It is with Hargreaves & Co. We process your claim really quickly with our tax return questionnaire. We also find out if there is any other income/ gain which needs to be assessed.

We also look at status issues and in particular for entertainers on ships.

Based in Southampton we can meet you on your next visit!

Contractors & IR35

Hargreaves & Co specialise in contractors and contractor solutions and in particular IR35. Be comforted that we can review your contract with a view to minimising IR35 exposure.

IR 35 is a way of negating the use of your limited company with a view to taxing you as an individual employee. It is specialised and we recommend a meeting to go through it.

There are many bear traps that contractors unwittingly fall into simply because the contracts are not strong enough or their working practices do not carry weight for ‘self- employed’ status tests.

We review the following:

• Contracts
• Working method
• Mutuality of obligation
• Substitution
• Independence
• Tax

In addition, we can register your company, get you VAT registered and PAYE & NIC compliant(under the new Real Time Information regime).

The IR35 rules are becoming mandatory for certain contractors working with government related agencies and so you need to take them seriously.

Take away the threat of an IR35 review with a free consultation and don’t forget to click on all the links to Ltd company services and fee protection which gives you more information.

Fee Protection

HMRC enquiries are on the rise. HMRC have employed more specialists and of course have joined forces with The Contributions Agency for a more integrated approach to your whole tax affairs. In many ways a good thing .

We offer a service which gives you total peace of mind that in the event of any enquiry, whether it be an HMRC aspect enquiry or a check by the new HMRC Records Check Bureau or any other tax matter, your costs of us dealing with it are covered for a very small annual fee.

Who is covered?

• An individual tax payer
• Self- employed
• Partner
• Director of a limited company
• Companies and LLP’s

Nobody wants an enquiry with the potential for more tax and fees added on and that’s why we recommend this to all of our clients.

What do you get?

• Up to £80,000 of barrister/specialist cover or our time
• IR35 enquiry cover
• All aspect enquiries
• VAT and PAYE queries

Your affairs need to be up to date and have been submitted on time to qualify for this amazing resource and so this should be a good motivator!

Your tax affairs should be absolutely fine but this doesn’t stop HMRC looking at them and so please be aware that it can happen to anybody!

Capital Allowances

The Annual Investment Allowances and Capital Allowance regime is certainly one to consider in tax planning.

Case Study One

A client recently delayed a purchase of a £120,000 machine to see what was in the Budget. The difference in this year was a staggering £19,000 in tax! Don’t get this area wrong.

Capital Allowances on buildings is an area where we have been very successful with retrospective claims.

Case Study Two

Another new client recently had a £32,000 tax benefit simply from the infrastructure of their building that had not been claimed before.

Timing of your asset purchase is critical and so please call if you are buying:

• Plant
• Equipment
• Buildings
• Vehicles
• Or any other qualifying assets for capital allowance purpose.

Business Valuations

We have heard so many times from clients the following ‘I reckon the business is worth about 3 x profit’? Politely, we have to explain that selling your business is often not the best retirement plan possible and that 3 x profit is a fallacy! It would be more realistic to ask – what will someone pay for my business?’.

We have valuation models which take turnover multiples, earnings multiples and goodwill models.
There is value in every part of the business but how do you maximise this?
At Hargreaves & Co we have a motto of ‘adding value & giving value’. Obviously this applies to improving all areas of your business but specifically the value of it.

To realise the worth of your business here are some areas to consider:

• Does it improve when you are not there?
• Does your website generate income continuously?
• Do you have strong passive income and a strong loyal client base?
• Do you have a dependence on certain individuals or worse – yourself?
• The demographics of the customer/client base?
• Are you in a declining industry?
• We have a 100 point valuation questionnaire – all of these point to an end value.

We also have professional software that will be used alongside the information gleaned from your business.
By the way, whatever the valuation, HMRC will try to query the goodwill so it needs to be robust.
3 x profit – don’t think so!

Please call us to see how we can improve the value of your business.

Mortgages

Mortgages are becoming more difficult to acquire. The demise of interest only mortgages for residential properties is causing more clients to review this area sooner rather than later.

Whether it is:

• Buy-to-let mortgages
• Commercial loans
• Residential

A mortgage – mort-gage – a death pledge (old meaning)

The derivation is very interesting because the property is dead to you should there be a default in your pledge to pay the loan. Actually we believe that there is good debt and bad debt and it is generally accepted that a mortgage is a good debt in most circumstances.

In any case, we take the whole debt area of your personal/business lives very seriously.
Getting the right mortgage (or one at all) takes careful planning and timing.

Rates still fluctuate between lenders and you have to be quick on your feet.

With Hargreaves & Co you have 4 distinct advantages:

1. We care about how much debt you have
2. A pool of brokers and lender contacts 2nd to none
3. A free mortgage application per director per annum
4. Quick turn round of accounting information to satisfy your lender

We are tuned into your finances!

Wills

You will always benefit from making plans especially written ones. We encourage all our clients to be goal setters.

Making your Will is no different. As a business owner, director, parent or in fact in any circumstances a Will gives you the mechanism to express how you would like to lay out your future plans.

These are some frequently asked questions that arise in Will review meetings – to all of these the answer is probably ‘yes’

• Do I need a Will – my estate isn’t worth very much although I am a company director and shareholder- oh yes and I have a spouse and children?
• Do I need a Will to have executors looking after the estate affairs?
• Would a Will help the estate being controlled after I die?
• I own my house in my sole name and I’m married – do I need a Will?
• I would like to leave a sum of money to the Cats’ Home – should gifts go in the Will?
• I would like to set up a trust for my beneficiaries – can this be done alongside my Will?
• I have heard that Intestacy means that a Government official might look after my estate when I am dead – would a Will prevent this?
• I definitely don’t want to leave any of my estate to a certain relative – can I just put the beneficiaries I want in a Will?

We have a basic Will writing service to get you started. We have a resource of specialists as well with whom we work closely to ensure you have the appropriate advice and mechanisms in place

Remember a Will is no substitute for an estate plan – please ask us for a free consultation.

Dentists & Dental Hygiene

Our practice has worked closely with the dental profession in the past few years. Due to the specialised nature of the practitioners it is particularly important that they can draw comfort from this experience. We have found that busy practitioners enjoy the efficient and highly responsive service that we can provide in time frames that suit them.

We can advise on a range of areas including the contractual arrangements of staff and team, how to manage cash-flow, expand the practice, allowances claims for equipment and the compliance side of handling employees for RTI and pension purposes.

We believe you should only be doing what you do best and so it is vital that you can outsource to professionals who have your best interests at heart.

Research & Development (R&D)

Research and Development tax claims are fast becoming a separate industry for tax advisors. The Government has been very generous in its tax allowances for growing innovative companies who are changing their field with new technological advancements.

What we have found is that a good deal of clients don’t realise that they qualify and as HMRC are quite open to substantiated claims it is always worth trying. We offer a range of solutions on a no win-no fee basis and at very competitive rates to our clients.

The area is complex and so always ask for an opinion before assuming your case qualifies or not.