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taxation issues

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Tax can be a minefield. As a small business owner, trying to get your head around the myriad of tax laws can be something of a minefield. Yes, it’s complicated. But, there are two certainties in life: death and taxes. What a sobering thought.

While it’s not our intention to put a dampener on things, getting to grips with taxation laws is imperative. After all, no one wants a visit from the tax man.

There are some basic dos and don’ts when it comes to smaller ventures and taxation laws.

Running an SME and Taxation Matters: The Basics

When you set up as a business, you need to ensure that you are au fait with the many rules of HMRC. While the laws can be complex, you can understand taxation issues better. There is a wealth of support from both HMRC and Lexis Nexis on tax matters. This can help you save time when it comes to dealing with your tax.

One of the most important things that you can do is register, online, for Corporation Tax. You must ensure that you are registered, if your company is deemed as a limited venture. You need to make sure that your Corporation Tax is active. You have a three-month period to do this within.

In the main, corporation tax is paid via the HMRC website. This means that you don’t have to appoint an accountant to deal with your tax. You can do this yourself via the web portal. You must complete a tax return and so forth within the agreed time as stated by HMRC.


Taxation Law

This photo has been supplied by Alan Cleaver

Active Companies

Once you have declared your company as active, you need to ensure that you are making the right people aware of this. You need to give HMRC a vast array of information. This means that if you have traded under a Companies House service, you need to declare this to them. But, you should also endeavour to make sure that your company is registered for VAT and PAYE. This should be done at the same time. VAT taxation differs to Corporation Tax. As a general rule of thumb, you can claim some of your VAT back at the end of the tax year.  PAYE is ‘pay as you earn’ this means that pay tax at the end of the year. But, you must save the appropriate amount of tax ready to be paid within the end of the term.

Liability

Almost all UK businesses are liable for corporation tax. If you run a limited company, which your small venture is sure to be, then you are required to pay corporation tax. However, sole traders are not obliged to pay corporation tax. Only those who are set up as limited companies are. Ensure that you are aware of what legal structure your company operates within.  All companies must pay VAT and PAYE taxes.

National Insurance

Paying NI is vital. You need to ensure that this done alongside PAYE, VAT and corporation taxes. This is done according to the thresholds. Your annual turnover will be dependent on what you earn. Completing the self-assessment will help you with this.

James Gandolfini’s estate is reportedly about to be gutted by the federal government.

James Gandolfini will calls for 80% of his estate to go to his sisters and his 9-month-old daughter Liliana, according to reports, which subjects them to death taxes – which are levied at a rate of about 55%.

The remaining 20% goes to his widow.

As written, the will subjects everyone involved to significantly more taxation than is normally the case.

“It’s a nightmare from a tax standpoint,” estate lawyer William Zabel told the New York Daily News, calling the segregation of assets a “big mistake” saying the will is “a disaster”.

The enormous tax bill – about $30 million – will be due in about nine months, according to William Zabel.

James Gandolfini, like most high net worth people, probably didn’t keep his assets in cash, which will force his family to sell off his multiple properties and liquidate other holdings to cover the bill, explained William Zabel, but they will have a little wiggle room.

James Gandolfini’s estate is about to be gutted by the federal government due to his disastrous will

James Gandolfini’s estate is about to be gutted by the federal government due to his disastrous will

“They can get an extension of time to pay the entire amount, but they’re going to have pay a substantial amount in nine months,” said William Zabel.

Though the exact amount of James Gandolfini’s estate is not known since an inventory does not have to be filed until December, estimating it to be worth $70 million leaves heirs to divvy up $40 million after taxes instead of $70 million before taxes, since the will calls for shares to be divided after settling the tax bill, according to the Daily News.

This leaves Deborah Lin, James Gandolfini’s widow, with a significantly smaller share of the pie, according to William Zabel.

“It’s a catastrophe,” the lawyer said.

Untouched by the taxation issues will be a $7 million life insurance payout to Michael Gandolfini, the actor’s 13-year-old son. Separate trust funds had also been set up for James Gandolfini’s wife and son prior to his passing, according to the Daily News.

James Gandolfini died last month in Rome after a massive heart attack. He was in Italy attending a film festival with his family.

Any royalties from his lengthy acting career in film and television going into the estate would also be subject to death taxes. It’s not yet clear whether they are set up to go into trusts or the estate, the Daily News reported.

Should the sisters and daughter renounce their shares in the estate, they would avoid taxes and be able to receive larger payments down the road, since they would default to Deborah Lin as spouses are not subject to the same rates of inheritance taxes as others.