Income from self-employment Flashcards

1
Q

What is a trading income?

A
  • the profits of an unincorporated trader arising form a trade, profession or vocation
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2
Q

Who is referred as self-employed or sole traders?

A
  • individuals with an unincorporated business
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3
Q

What means current year basis? (CYB)

A
  • the profits assessed in a tax year are those of the twelve month period of account ending in that tax year
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4
Q

What is known as badges of trade?

A
  • to determine whether an individual is trading, a number of tests
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5
Q

What are badges of trade SOFIRM and FAST?

A
  • S- the subject matter of the transaction
    (are the goods of a type normally used for trading?)
  • O - the length of the period of ownership
    (a short period of ownership is more likely to indicate trading)
  • F- the frequency of similar transactions by the same person
    (frequent transactions indicate trading)
  • I - supplementary work, improvements and marketing
    (work performed on goods to make them more marketable indicates trading
  • R- the circumstances/reason for the sale
    (a forced sale to raise cash indicates not trading)
  • M - motive
    (intention to profit may indicate trading)
  • Finance F
    • where the taxpayer took out a loan to buy the asset which he, she of they expects to repay from the proceeds of sale
  • Method of acquisition A
    • where the taxpayer acquired the asset by way of purchase rather than receiving it as a gift or by inheritance
  • Existence of similar trading transactions ST
    • where the transactions are similar to those of an existing trade carried on by the taxpayer
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6
Q

Subject matter of the transaction

A

Asset has been acquired for one of three reasons:
- an investment
capital in nature and not subject to income tax
- goods for private use of individual (or family)
no subject to tax
- trade inventory
a trading transaction and subject to income tax

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7
Q

The length of the period of ownership

A
  • the longer the period between acquisition and disposal, the more likely the transaction will not be treated as trading
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8
Q

What are the four types of adjustment that need to be made to move from accounting profit to the tax adjusted trading profit?

A
  1. Expenditure which tax law prevents from being an allowable deduction may be charged in the statement of profit or loss
    - add back to accounting profit
  2. Taxable trading income may not be included in the statement of profit or loss
    - add to accounting profit
  3. Expenditure that is deductible for tax purposes may not charged in the statement of profit or loss
    - deduct from accounting profit
  4. Income may be included in the statement of profit of loss that is not taxable as trading income
    - deduct from accounting profit
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9
Q

Pro forma - Tax adjusted trading profit

A

Net profit accounts x
Add:
Expenditure not allowed for taxation purposes x
Expenditure allowable for taxation purposes 0
Taxable trading profit not credited in the accountsx
Less:
Expenditure not charged in the accounts but allowable for taxation purposes x
Income included in the accounts that is not taxable as trading profit x
Capital allowances x

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10
Q

What is the general rule to follow in deciding whether expenditure is an allowable deduction from trading profits?

A
  • is that only expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade is allowable
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11
Q

When expenditure may be disallowed?

A
  • it is too remote from the purposes of the trade - the remoteness test
  • it has more than one purpose and one of them is not trading - the duality principle
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12
Q

What are the appropritions?

A
  • are the withdrawal of funds from a business (i.e. profit extraction rather than expenses incurred in earning them) and, as such, are disallowed expenses
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13
Q

What are the most common examples for appropriations?

A
  • interest paid to the owner on capital invested in the business
  • salary/drawings taken by a sole trader or partner
  • any private element of expenditure relating to the owner’s car, telephone etc.
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14
Q

Excessive salary paid to a sloe trader’s family

A
  • any salary paid to the family of the owner o an unincorporated business is allowable provided it is not excessive
  • it must be remuneration at the commercial rate for the work performed
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15
Q

Is interest payable allowable trading expenses - accrual basis

A
  • yes, interest on borrowings such as business account overdrafts, credit cards, hire purchase contracts
  • not interest for HMRC late payments…
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16
Q

Capital expenditure

A
  • is not allowable trading expense
  • any form of depreciation, loss - not allowable
  • revenue expenditure - allowable
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17
Q

What are the difference between repairs and improvement regarding capital expenditure?

A
  • the cost of initial repairs in order to make an asset usable is disallowed
  • the cost of initial repairs is allowed if the asset can be put into use before any repairs are carried out
  • capital expenditure on plant and machinery and structures and buildings is disallowed but may qualify for capital allowances
18
Q

Car leasing

A

-rental and lease charges payable in respect of leased cars are allowable where the CO2 emissions of the car are 50g/km or less
- where CO2 emissions exceed 50g/km, 15% of the rental/lease charges are disallowed

19
Q

Trade or professional subscription

A
  • are normally deductible since they are made wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade
20
Q

What a charitable donation must meet to be allowable?

A
  • wholly and exclusively for trading purposes
  • local and reasonable in size in relation to the business making the donation
  • made to a registered charity
21
Q

Can be entertaining and gifts allowed expenditure?

A

-no
- only exception is for expenditure relating to employees, provided it is not incidental to the entertainment of others

22
Q

Can be gifts to employees allowed expenditure?

A
  • yes
  • care must be taken, however, as the gift may fall within the benefit rules and be assessed on the employee as employment income
23
Q

Can be gifts to customers allowed expenditure?

A

Only if:
- they cost less than £50 per recipient per year
- the gift is not of food, drink, tobacco or vouchers exchangeable for goods
- the gift carries a conspicuous advertisement of the business making the gift
Gifts of business samples to advertise the goods to the public are allowable

24
Q

Are legal and professional charges allowable?

A
  • yes, if is incurred for the purposes of the trade
    Examples:
  • legal fees chasing trading debts
  • charges incurred in defending the title to non-current trade assets
25
Q

Examples of expenditure of capital nature/disallowable

A
  • fees associated with acquiring new non-current assets
    Exceptions:
  • fees and other costs of obtaining long-term debt finance are allowable for a sole trader
  • the cost of registered patents is allowable
  • renewing a short lease
26
Q

What is allowable or not in impairment losses and allowances for trade receivables

A

yes:
- the write-off of a trade debt
- an allowance for the irrecoverability or impairment of trade receivables
no:
- the write off of a non-trade debt

27
Q

What types of expenditure are in other items allowed?

A
  • provisions for future costs: provided they are calculated in accordance with UK GAAP
  • compensation for loss of office paid to an employee: only if for benefit of trade
  • redundancy pay to an employee in excess of the statutory amount: limited if due to cessation of trade, to a maximum of 4 x the statutory amount
  • counselling services for redundant employees
    -damaged paid: only if paid in connection with trade matter and is not a fine for breaking the law
  • defalcations (theft/fraud) only if by employee, not the business owner/director
  • educational courses: only if for trade purposes
  • pension contributions to registered pension scheme: if for employees - provided paid by the year end
  • premiums for insurance against an employee’s death or illness
  • removal expenses: provided not an expansionary move
  • salaries accrued at year end: provided paid not more than 9 months after year end
28
Q

What types of expenditure are in the other items disallowed?

A
  • fines: unless parking fines incurred on business by employee, but not business owner/director
  • payment that constitutes a criminal offence
29
Q

Taxable trading income not included in the statement of profit or loss

A
  • the trader is treated for tax purposes as making a sale based on the selling price of the goods concerned
  • note that this rule does not apply to the supply of services
30
Q

What are the deductible expenditure not charged in the statement of profit or loss

A
  • capital allowances
  • allowable trading element of lease premiums paid on short leases
  • where a business owner uses his, her or their private residence partly for business purposes the business portion of running expenses is allowable
  • business calls from the private telephone of the sole trader
  • expenses that are wholly and exclusively for the trade that have been met from the private funds of the owner
31
Q

Short lease premiums

A
  • when a landlord receives a premium for the grant of a short lease, a proportion of the lease premium is charged to income tax on the landlord as property income
  • where a business pays a premium for a short lease on premises for business use, a proportion of the amount taxable on the landlord as property income can be deducted as an expense for the tenant, in calculating their taxable trading profit
32
Q

The tax adjustments required for a lease premium in a trader’s annual accounts are:

A

Add back:
the amortisation charged in the statement of profit or loss
Deduct:
allowable expenses proportion of the lease premium

33
Q

Property income taxable on the landlord calculation

A

P less (P x 2% x (n-1)) or P x (51-n)/50
where P = total premium
n = duration of lease in years

34
Q

What are the three categories of income which need to be adjusted for? (trading income)

A
  • capital receipts
  • other forms of income ( such as savings income, property income or dividends) must be deducted in arriving at the taxable trading profit
  • income that is exempt from tax
    (such as interest received on overpaid income tax)
35
Q

Relief for pre-trading expenditure

A
  • any revenue expenditure, incurred in the seven years before a business starts to trade, which would have been allowable if the business was trading, is treated as an expense on the day that the business starts trading
36
Q

Cash basis option for small businesses

A
  • just for unincorporated business - sole traders, partnerships
  • provided they have annual cash receipts of not more than £150,000
  • if cash basis, it can continue to account on this basis until its annual cash receipts exceeds £300,000
37
Q

Cash base for trading income

A
  • the business accounts for cash receipts and payments in the period of account, i.e. period for which the business prepares accounts
  • there is no distinction between capital and revenue expenditure in respect of plant, machinery and equipment for tax purposes, therefore: - purchases are allowable deductions when paid for,
    - proceeds are treated as taxable cash receipts when an asset is sold
    - capital allowances remain available for expenditure on cars only, the capital cost of a car is not an allowable deduction when paid
  • expenditure on buildings cannot be deducted when paid; structures and building allowances can be claimed in respect of qualifying expenditure
38
Q

What are the key advantages of cash basis?

A
  • simpler accounting requirements are there is no need to account for receivables, payables and inventory
  • profit is not accounted for and taxed until it is realised therefore cash is available to pay the associated tax liability
39
Q

What is the main disadvantage of cash basis?

A
  • losses can only be carried forward to se against future trading profits, whereas under the accruals basis many more options for loss relief are available
40
Q

Flat rate expense deduction option for any unincorporated business

A
  • opt to use flat rate expense adjustments
  • to replace the calculation of actual costs incurred in respect of certain expenses
41
Q

What is the flat rate expense adjustment for car expenses - capital costs and running costs (e.g. insurance, repairs, servicing and fuel)

A

Allowable deduction
= amount using the AMAP rates of 45p and 25p per business mile (i.e. same allowance as for property businesses and employed individual’s use of own car)

42
Q

What is the flat rate expense adjustment for private use of part of a commercial building - private accommodation in a guest house or small hotel (e.g. a bed and breakfast)

A

Private use adjustment re household goods and services, rent, food and utilities
= fixed amount based on the number of occupants
Note that the private element of other expenses
(e.g. mortgage interest and building rates) must be adjusted for as normal