What do you first think about when you hear the date 31 October?  Witches, ghosts, pumpkins, trick and treat?

For me the answer would be Tax.

I grant you, not necessarily the first thing most people will think about, but as all tax professionals will know, this is the last day that you are able to submit a paper tax return.  Miss this deadline and you will need to electronically submit your tax return by 31 January – if you do submit a paper return, you will not be entitled to a treat, sadly you will receive a trick – a penalty for late submission!

Need help with your tax affairs, get in touch – we are the home of clear tax advice and will be happy to help.

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All our work is prepared in the UK – we take data security seriously

All our work is prepared by Chartered Tax Advisers

Press enquiries

cleartaxation are a leading team of tax experts based in the Central Belt of Scotland, but servicing clients all over the UK.  For journalists enquiries, we always have an opinion and are happy to help – please call Arlene direct on 07595 915 164

Money may talk but time waits for no one.  Are you making good use of your time?

Time waits for no one.

As we are fast approaching the end of July are you like me, wondering where the last 7 months have gone?  It is difficult to manage the “work life balance”.

As a tax expert, I focus on my strengths.  I am not an IT consultant or HR specialist and I certainly don’t want the trouble of managing our daily office operations – I leave all of these things to the experts we employ.  This enables me to spend my valuable time growing our business and focusing on our clients.  Sounds easy?  Makes sense?  It can be hard at first to “give up” a small piece of control.

Take a minute to think how you run your business – do you spend too long on the book keeping or accounts?  Is your accountant providing proactive clear advice to you?

We are helping new clients every day – feel free to get in touch – with our friendly, proactive and service I know our team can help you.

take the cleartaxation price challenge

All our work is prepared in the UK – we take data security seriously

All our work is prepared by Chartered Tax Advisers

We can help.

Press enquiries

cleartaxation are a leading team of tax experts based in the Central Belt of Scotland, but servicing clients all over the UK.

For journalists enquiries, we always have an opinion and are happy to help – please call Arlene direct on 07595 915 164

At cleartaxation we pride our self on being “do-ers”.  We go the extra mile for our clients – we embrace change and deliver a value driven service to our clients.  You are the most important part of our business.

What are the drivers behind your business success?

We have found that a lot of businesses are living in the past.  The dodo’s – fear of extinction and scared to change.  They may have the history but with weak management they don’t have the right to continue in business.

Ask yourself – am I getting the service I pay for from my accountant, could there be a better way and when was the last time they took the time to help you?  Perhaps it is time that you moved from the past and spoke to us.

It is never too early to consider IHT planning – unfortunately too many people leave it to late and end up paying tax due to not taking steps early enough.

At cleartaxation we are experts in providing tax planning strategies and ensuring that you pass on your wealth to your family rather than the taxman at a time that suits you.

For further information, try our three minute guide and get in touch – we can help.

As well as potentially assisting with the UK’s obesity crisis, the fast food world also introduced us to many marketing tricks.

Not convinced that you knew what you wanted to eat, you would then be offered fries or to go large – the marketing men tapped into the power of suggestion and upselling was born.

Pretty simple concept, but so very powerful and is common place in todays world, for airplanes to hiring a car the additional options are always there to entice us.

This is fine, as ultimately it is you the benefits from the extras you chose, but is it the same with professional advice?

Press enquiries

cleartaxation are a leading team of tax experts based in the Central Belt of Scotland, but servicing clients all over the UK.

For journalists enquiries, we always have an opinion and are happy to help – please call Arlene direct on 07595 915 164

Bob Dylan sang about changing times in the 60’s.

Fastforward 50 years and the words still ring true – the times are definitely changing.

We have seen the changes from online shopping to banking and have experienced the benefits that technology has enabled to provide more choice and greater service to customers.

Think efficient.

Sadly the same cannot be said in the world of tax and accountancy, yes we have new technology, but how as a profession have we changed?

Let me ask you another question – has your accountants fee reduced, to allow you to benefit for the efficiencies?

This is our mission at cleartaxation – to provide top quality professional tax advice at an affordable cost.

We do this by managing our costs and operating extremely efficiently we can manage our business .  Don’t forget, you are paying for the expertise and knowledge in our brain – not plush offices or out dated processes.

That is why we are so confident that we can offer our PRICE GUARANTEE – we know our competitors cant come close on price, why not take our challenge?

cleartaxation price challenge

All our work is prepared in the UK

All our work is prepared by Chartered Tax Advisers

Never heard Bob Dylan?

Press enquiries

cleartaxation are a leading team of tax experts based in the Central Belt of Scotland, but servicing clients all over the UK.

For journalists enquiries, we always have an opinion and are happy to help – please call Arlene direct on 07595 915 164

On a trip down to our London office I was speaking to my colleague about the wonders of the London Transport network.  From the flight down, to the train and then the tube everything works together.

Take a minute to consider the careful planning that goes into delivering the service everyday of the week.  It truly is amazing.

However, problems can arise.  It takes only one part to stop working, and suddenly the efficient service that you were enjoying can not only cause severe headaches but also cost you extra and take more time.

What does this have to do with tax?

The point for me is that you may not know you have a problem with your tax affairs until a part stops working.  With Self Assessment the tax authorities have placed the responsibility with you to ensure that your tax return us correct – the first time you are likely to realise you have a problem is when that brown envelope drops through your door.

Whether you complete your own tax return or rely on an adviser if you have made a mistake, you will also have that headache and the extra cost, interest and penalties.

At cleartaxation, we help people.

Perhaps you have had a letter for the tax authority asking questions.  We can help you with our clear tax advice, you don’t need to suffer that headache alone.

Don’t forget, if you have an existing adviser, try our fee challenge – you might find we will save you money.

Press enquiries

cleartaxation are a leading team of tax experts based in the Central Belt of Scotland, but servicing clients all over the UK.

For journalists enquiries, we always have an opinion and are happy to help – please call Arlene direct on 07595 915 164

Looking at the headlines this morning we have the teaser that the Lib Dem’s will “demand” an increase to the income tax personal allowance in any coalition talks after the 2015 election.

Great headline – when will we start saving tax?

Before we all get carried away, have we not heard this before?

Did you know that when the coalition government was formed in May 2010 the personal allowance stood at £6,475 and in the current tax year has risen to £9,440.  That is a big increase and has provided a real benefit for the lower paid, but it hasn’t helped everyone.

The part that doesn’t often get mentioned is that the higher rate band started at £37,400 in 2010.  Fast forward to the current tax year and any income above £32,010 is taxed at 40%.

What does that actually mean?

Let us take a simple example.

If you were paid £43,875 in 2010, you would be a basic rate taxpayer and all your income would be taxed at 20%.  If you are paid the same amount today you are now a higher rate tax payer.

I will not bore you with the maths, but you will be pleased to know that it is not all bad news.  Looking only at income tax, even though you are a higher rate taxpayer, you are actually £108 a year better off today than you would have been in 2010.

Good news then, we are all better off?

Well, sadly not.  The problem is that we should not stop the maths there.  We also need to consider the increases in National Insurance, VAT, the freezing of the inheritance tax nil rate band and I haven’t even mentioned the general increase in the costs of living.

Still sounding good?

Dont get me wrong, the “demands” do make a good headline, but the whole picture should never be overlooked.

Press enquiries

cleartaxation are a leading team of tax experts based in the Central Belt of Scotland, but servicing clients all over the UK.

For journalists enquiries, we always have an opinion and are happy to help – please call Arlene direct on 07595 915 164

Don’t forget that the Standard Lifetime Allowance and Annual Allowance with regard to pension savings and tax are reducing from 6 April 2014.

The Standard Lifetime Allowance, is to reduce from £1.5M to £1.25M with the Annual Allowance falling from £50,000 to £40,000.  These changes will apply from 6 April 2014.

Pension planning provides a very valuable tax relief, to make sure that you are maximising your benefits, please do get in touch.

Press enquiries

cleartaxation are a leading team of tax experts based in the Central Belt of Scotland, but servicing clients all over the UK.

For journalists enquiries, we always have an opinion and are happy to help –  please contact Arlene directly on 07595 915 164

We were delighted to be the tax experts at the “Thinking of becoming a Landlord” seminar hosted by the ESPC in Edinburgh yesterday.

What an interesting evening.

More than 70 people braved the February cold and rain and were rewarded by hearing updates from industry experts on the pros, and also the cons, of becoming a landlord.

It was great to see a confidence returning to the property market.

Were you there?

It was also noticeable, with this confidence there was a need to understand the risk.  The attendees were very appreciative of the professional advice – listening to the property expert, the legal advice and also learning about the taxation implications.

They have seen, and may have suffered, from the mistakes in the past and wanted to ensure that they were on the right path.

The evening also fitted perfectly with our mission at cleartaxation: for people to understand that professional advice does not need to be expensive – the real expense can arise when people take a risk.   Whether saving on a survey for the roof, not using a correct lease agreement or DIY tax return – the cost of a mistake can far outweigh the cost of advice.

We hope all who attended last night found the evening useful – we were delighted to help.