A tax tribunal in January 2012 ruled that small businesses that had missed the May deadline for the filing of their year end tax returns were unfairly and somewhat underhandedly penalised by HMRC. The tribunal claimed that HMRC failed to give these businesses the opportunity to address their untimeliness. They were only contacted by HMRC in September, with written notifications of a £100 late payment fine, plus £100.00 per month fees to a total of £400 for the four month interim period.
Potential tax refunds are undoubtedly great news and welcomed with open arms by the vast majority of SME businesses. Hence, the news that up to 100,000 of them might be entitled to refunds for late filing penalties could result in HMRC reimbursements to numerous happy SMEs. Such repayments are unlikely for businesses that utilise professional HR payroll services, as they have the back up of knowing that their tax returns are made correctly and on time by their outsourced service providers. However, it is not too late for businesses that have incurred late filing penalties to seek professional HR payroll advice and help.
Whilst the primary function of a payroll company is company payrolls, this naturally encompasses tax. Therefore, SME businesses enlisting external payroll solutions can look forward to receiving services that go beyond the accurate and timely payment of staff members. Payroll services can also handle the submission of year end tax returns on behalf of the small businesses they work in partnership with.
At Moorepay, we offer SME specific HR and payroll services that are formulated to save small businesses valuable time and money. As payroll specialists, tax expertise is also part and parcel of our SME packages. We undertake HMRC submissions for our SME clients. We additionally offer advice and practical help to SME businesses that have previously struggled with tax issues and that suspect HMRC might owe them money back.