P35 (PAYE) Deadline 19 May: Comment from Frances Coulson, President of insolvency trade body R3

“Typically many businesses will be caught out by the P35 deadline on 19 May, having been ‘getting by’ and not submitting the full amount of PAYE they owe each month. This deadline is traditionally a time when HMRC uncovers any shortcomings in the payments due and the payments made in terms of PAYE, as well as those businesses which do not file at all.

“I suspect this will lead to an increase in actions by HMRC in a couple of months time, as well as pushing up corporate insolvency numbers towards the end of the year.

“One in four (24%) businesses are concerned about their debts, according to the R3’s latest Business Distress Index. Of this group, 37% are worried about Crown debts and this deadline will be a test for them. Seeking professional advice as soon as possible is the best way to allay those fears.”

Frances Coulson, R3 President

Methodology note on R3’s Business Distress Index: BDRC Continental conducted 501 telephone interviews with small, medium and large business owners and Financial Directors between 7th and 18th March 2011. Quotas are set by size, region and sector and the data weighted to the profile of GB businesses. The respondent in each case is a senior financial decision maker. Small businesses are those with a turnover of £50,000 to £1million pa.

R3 is the trade body for Insolvency Professionals, representing 97% of the UK’s Insolvency Practitioners.

HMRC to extend its tax campaigns

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced that it intends to target more groups of workers in its efforts to recoup unpaid taxes.

Last month, HMRC launched a campaign aimed at businesses that might be trading above the VAT threshold of £73,000 but have yet to register with the tax authorities.

Now HMRC will be looking at e-marketplaces and private tuition providers in an effort to tighten up the tax-take.

The campaigns should be rolled out in 2011/12.

As part of the new campaigns, those who provide private tuition and coaching will come under the spotlight. The aim is to look at professionals who are able to earn money from providing tuition and coaching, either as a main or a secondary income.

It will cover people providing private lessons and could include, for example, fitness/dance/lifestyle coaches through to national curriculum subject tutors and others.

Another target for HMRC will be those who use e-marketplaces to buy and sell goods as a trade or business and who fail to pay the tax owed. People who only sell a few items and who are not traders are unlikely to be liable to tax and will be excluded from the investigation.

Following on from the recent offer of a partial amnesty to businesses working in the plumbing industries, HMRC also said that it would be inviting other groups of tradespeople to come forward and declare unpaid tax.

Mike Wells, HMRC's director of risk and intelligence, said: "We want to make sure HMRC listens to as many informed views as possible for our future campaigns. We want the views and experience of people and organisations outside the department to play a fuller part in the campaigns that we design for customers.

"By being open about our areas of interest for the coming year we hope to maximise that exchange of information and ensure we reduce the tax gap and help customers pay what they owe.

"We will use the information we gather to pursue people who choose not to use the opportunities we provide for them to put their affairs in order on the best possible terms. It will be more expensive if we come and find people, so I urge them to come forward and disclose voluntarily."

So far, more than £500 million has been raised by HMRC from voluntary disclosures and a further £100 million from follow-up activity.

Business debt under the weather

Statistics on debt judgments in England & Wales released today (May 24) by Registry Trust Ltd show that the total value of county court judgments (CCJs) issued against businesses rose 14.4 percent (£19.6m) from £136.2m to £155.8m in the first quarter of 2011.

Registry Trust is the non-profit organisation which operates the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for England and Wales on behalf of the Ministry of Justice in the public interest.

Year on year the value of CCJs against businesses has fallen by 11.2 percent or £19.6m from £175.4m to £155.8m

Judgment numbers reflect a similar pattern in that they rose 8.9 percent over the last quarter but fell 7.2 percent year-on-year. Businesses in England and Wales faced 37,794 CCJs in Q1 2011, compared with 34,713 in the previous quarter and 40,711 during the same period of 2010.

This quarter a record 23,832 searches were requested. Anyone can search the registers online at www.trustonline.org.uk.

Announcing the statistics Malcolm Hurlston, Registry Trust chairman, said:

“The weather was blamed for the sluggish performance of the economy in the last quarter of 2010 and could be one of the reasons for an increase of judgments against businesses in the first quarter of 2011.

P35 (PAYE) Deadline 19 May: Comment from Frances Coulson, President of insolvency trade body R3

“Typically many businesses will be caught out by the P35 deadline on 19 May, having been ‘getting by’ and not submitting the full amount of PAYE they owe each month. This deadline is traditionally a time when HMRC uncovers any shortcomings in the payments due and the payments made in terms of PAYE, as well as those businesses which do not file at all.

“I suspect this will lead to an increase in actions by HMRC in a couple of months time, as well as pushing up corporate insolvency numbers towards the end of the year.

“One in four (24%) businesses are concerned about their debts, according to the R3’s latest Business Distress Index. Of this group, 37% are worried about Crown debts and this deadline will be a test for them. Seeking professional advice as soon as possible is the best way to allay those fears.”

Frances Coulson, R3 President

Methodology note on R3’s Business Distress Index: BDRC Continental conducted 501 telephone interviews with small, medium and large business owners and Financial Directors between 7th and 18th March 2011. Quotas are set by size, region and sector and the data weighted to the profile of GB businesses. The respondent in each case is a senior financial decision maker. Small businesses are those with a turnover of £50,000 to £1million pa.

R3 is the trade body for Insolvency Professionals, representing 97% of the UK’s Insolvency Practitioners.

Credit Action releases May Debt Statistics

Money education charity Credit Action has today released the May debt statistics, a monthly release which details the level of debt in the UK.
Key statistics from the release, which shows month-by-month trends, include:

* CAB deal with 8,004 new debt problems each working day
* 1,392 people are made redundant daily
* 847,000 people have been unemployed for more than 12 months
* £55,870 is the average household debt (including mortgages)
* £29, 843 is the average amount owed by every UK adult (including
mortgages)
* £180m is the personal interest paid in UK daily
* £24.88m is the daily write-offs of loans by banks & building societies
* Every 17 minutes a property is repossessed
* £67.90 is the amount it costs to fill a car with a 50-litre tank with
unleaded petrol
* £133,200,000 is the daily increase in Government national debt (PSDN)
* £1,156,000,000 is the total value of all purchases made using plastic
cards today

Joanna Parsley, Associate Director at Credit Action says, "May's debt
statistics show some interesting trends. Although the amount owed by every
UK adult has fallen by approximately £30, in light of rising credit card
interest rates- which at an average of 19.1% are now at the highest levels
seen in 13 years- paying down debt has never been more sensible advice.

"With the cost of petrol rising still and with households experiencing the
changes made last month to tax, national insurance and welfare benefits,
2011 looks set to be a year where household budgets are further squeezed."