Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your operator’s access charge. This is a call forwarding service which will connect you directly to the HMRC helpline.
At the beginning of the UK fiscal year 2016, a new personal savings allowance was introduced. From April 6th, 2016, banks and building societies in the country started to pay gross interest to all customers, instead of automatically deducting 20%, in line with the basic rate of income tax. You may still be liable for a certain amount of tax on the interest you receive on your savings, but only if it exceeds the new personal allowance that applies to you.
Will You Still Have to Pay Tax on Personal Savings Interest?
Whether you will still be liable for tax on your savings interest will depend on exactly how much interest you receive during the course of each fiscal year.
Basic Rate Taxpayers – The new personal allowance for basic rate taxpayers is £1000. If the gross interest you receive on your savings accounts during the course of the year is £1000 or less, you will not have to pay any tax on it. If you are lucky enough to find a savings account that pays 1.5% interest, you would need to have more than £66,666 in the account before you became liable for tax on the interest paid.
Higher Rate Taxpayers – Individuals whose income takes them into the higher rate of tax (40%) will receive an allowance of £500. This means that if part of your salary attracts the higher rate of income tax, you would need to have more than £33,333 in a savings account, paying 1.5% annual interest, before you became liable for tax on interest received.
Additional Rate Taxpayers – Unfortunately, for those whose income attracts the top rate tax of 45%, there is no personal savings allowance. You will still have to pay tax on all of the interest paid to you on your savings.
Calculating Your Tax Liability on Interest Received
When you are calculating whether you will still be liable to pay tax on interest received, you should bear in mind that any interest earned from an ISA will not count toward your annual allowance. If you have invested in any fixed-rate bonds however, the interest from these will be counted but it will be averaged over the term of the bonds in question. For example: If you invested in a £10,000, 5-year bond that pays an annual interest rate of 2.9%, you would receive £10,290 when the bond matures. However, the £290 interest you receive would not be counted toward your allowance for that tax year alone; it would be spread over the 5 years that the bond was held. In other words, for each year the bond was held, £58 of interest would be counted toward your annual allowance.
We should point out that there are various types of fixed-rate bonds available in the United Kingdom and the above example is just that, an example. For the sake of simplicity, we did not compound the interest when making our calculations or differentiate between accessible and non-accessible bonds. Exactly how the interest is calculated as part of your personal allowance and when it may become taxable will depend on the type of bonds that you have purchased. If you are not sure how the interest on your own personal bonds will be counted toward your annual personal savings allowance, you can contact the appropriate Revenue and Customs department and ask them directly by getting in touch with HMRC here.
Given the current low rates of interest on savings accounts in the UK and the fact that most people do not have over £66,666 in interest-bearing accounts or fixed-rate bonds, the majority of the population will no longer have to pay any tax on the interest they receive on their savings. However, if you think your annual interest receipts will take you close to the limit, it is important to remember that any interest you receive on your current accounts will also be counted toward the total allowance. Basically, interest received from any non-ISA accounts or bonds should be included in your calculations.
How Will Tax Be Collected?
Those who will still be liable for tax on some of the interest they receive from their savings may be wondering how the government is proposing to collect this tax, given the fact that banks and building societies will now be paying interest gross, with no tax deducted. The government has stated that it will adjust individuals’ tax codes to take account of any interest they receive that is taxable, so for those in full-time employment, it should be deducted via the PAYE system. For those who are self employed, an annual tax return will still have to be completed and interest received on savings and bonds will naturally have to be declared so that your annual tax liability can be accurately calculated.
Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your operator’s access charge. This is a call forwarding service which will connect you directly to the HMRC helpline.
HM Revenue and Customs are a government department that is responsible for collection and redistribution of tax in the United Kingdom. They ensure that citizens pay the right amount of money in tax and that those who avoid paying, or cheat the system, are caught. If taxes are not your strong point or you do not have enough time to handle it all, you can hire an Accountant, Tax Agent or Advisor to deal with HMRC on your behalf. Depending on the advisor’s experience, they can take care of your taxes, help you to fill out tax forms, like Self Assessment, and will deal with HMRC on your behalf.
Using an Agent
If you would like to know more about using an Accountant, Tax Agent or Advisor then contact HM Revenue and Customs using the telephone number above. This direct phone number will put you in touch with an advisor who will be able to answer any questions you may have.
You can also contact HMRC via post using the address listed below. If you would like to hire an Accountant or Advisor to act on your behalf then first you must complete a 64-8 form and send it via post to HMRC. This form should be sent to:
Central Agent Maintainer Team
National Insurance Contributions and Employer Office
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AN
United Kingdom
Check the guidance information provided on the form to see if you should send your 64-8 form to a different address. Here you will find an abundance of information and guidance to complete the form. If you have read the guidance and still feel that you would like to speak to someone directly, contact HMRC using the number above.
If you are sending this form by courier service then you will need to use a different address to the one listed above:
HM Revenue and Customs
Benton Park View
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
United Kingdom
Tax Agents, Accountants and Advisors cannot operate on your behalf without first being formally authorised to do so. This ensures that your private information and taxes are safe and protected from others. Without this formal authorisation, HMRC is legally unable to speak about yourself or your account with any other person. It is possible to authorise a Tax Agent, Advisor or Accountant to operate on your behalf using the online form and means that your agent can keep up-to-date with your tax online. You can do this easily using the online portal. Alternatively, you can complete a paper form and send it to the address listed above.
You will need to get an agent code for your agent to be able to act on your behalf. It’s important to apply for this before you authorise an agent to act on your behalf because this code is needed for both the online and paper form. Apply for your agent code simply by writing to HMRC for Self Assessment and Corporation Tax, and apply online for PAYE/CIS for employers clients. To set up an agent for any other kind of tax payment then the process is slightly different so it is important to contact HMRC for more information if you are looking to authorise an agent for any other type of tax.
How to Authorise an Accountant
To set up an agent authorisation online the accountant must first register as an agent. They will need to enrol for each service that they are going to be using. Once this has been completed, you can authorise your agent using the 64-8 form. Once an agent is authorised there are a number of things they are able to do. They can:
Manage your client lists
file returns on your behalf
update a client’s details
receive information about yourself from HMRC
contact HMRC on your behalf
What can an Agent or Adviser help with?
An Accountant, Tax Agent and Advisor can act on your behalf for the following services:
Self Assessment for Agents
Corporation Tax for Agents
PAYE for Agents – for PAYE for employers and Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)
Machine Games Duty for Agents
Gambling Tax for Agents
Notification of Vehicle Arrivals
VAT for Agents – to submit clients’ VAT returns and manage their VAT records
VAT EU Refunds for Agents
VAT EC Sales List and Reverse Charge Sales List
VAT Mini One Stop Shop for Agents
If you can’t set up your agent online, then you will need to complete the 64-8 paper form and send it to HMRC before an agent will be able to act on your behalf. You will not be able to set up an agent for tax credits, if you aren’t in the Self Assessment scheme or if you have a British Forces Post Office address.
To find out more about using an agent, how to authorise an agent or to speak to someone about your needs, contact HMRC using the telephone number above. They will be able to answer any general questions you may have and can update you on the progress of your application.
If you’re an Agent or Adviser
If you are an agent and would like to change or cancel the authorisation of a client on your account, contact HMRC either online, by post or by phone. Depending on the type of change you wish to make to your account, you will need to contact HMRC in the appropriate way. All changes that can be made online include:
An agent wishing to remove a client that they no longer act for. This will need to be done separately for each online service.
An agent updating their contact details – for example, your firm’s email address or phone number
Changes that can be made over the phone include:
No longer acting on behalf of a client
Changes to some client details
Changes to your agent details – for PAYE for employers
Changes that will need to be made by post include:
Your business name
Your business address
trading status as an agent – for example, if you stop trading as an agent or your firm merges with another agent
Contact HM Revenue and Customs for more information about Accountants, Tax Agents and Advisors and how they can act on your behalf. Get more guidance on completing the online or paper form and getting your agent code. Contact HMRC directly on the telephone number above and get your questions answered.
Being an agent that deals with HMRC on the behalf of the client is not easy. If you only had to call HMRC general inquiries contact number, then it would be easy. But it isn’t so, but it is totally different. You will have to have numerous contact numbers of HMRC, and you will have to keep a tab on which one is necessary for what part of your job. HMRC also has helpline online option, but only general data will be shared in that way, and as an agent, you should already know all of the general knowledge about HMRC and taxes you are working with. One more thing, HMRC numbers change, so you will have to constantly check whether the number you have is still active.
HM Revenue and Customs is an organisation that, through taxes, helps people in need and they work towards the improvement of general nature of work. One good example of this would be environmental taxes that serve to encourage the operation of business in an environmentally-friendly way.
Some businesses can be exempt from paying these taxes, but only if they use a lot of nature-friendly energy in their line of work, they are small businesses that spend very little energy or if they buy energy-efficient machines and technology.
The HMRC business contact number is just one of the many numbers operated by this department, as they have contact numbers for all major types of taxes. To ensure you get the right help, be sure to make the right selections by saying clearly what it is you require assistance with. Alternatively you can make a selection using your keypad.
You will have to contact HMRC for claim over capital allowances once you buy assets you want to use in your line of business. As you can see they are a government body which deals with many things alongside taxes. The assets in question may include machinery, equipment or business vehicles and together they are all called plant and machinery. You won’t have to pay full tax for those assets because you can deduct their value from the revenue you earned.
You can also claim allowance for other things that are not part of your business assets and they include:
Every-day running costs of your business
The items that you use in selling and buying process
And finance costs and interest payments for buying the assets
These expenses can be claimed as allowance as business expenses (if you happen to be a partner or sole trader) or they can be deducted from profits (if you are a part of limited company).
With HMRC you can also claim tax return on Claim Gift Aid charities, which in turn can be done online. In order to claim it you will have to have HMRC online services account. To enter the charity you will have to enter its postcode, HMRC reference and customer account number.
Once you get the HMRC online services account and apply for charity you will get a Charities Online activation code which will be delivered to you within a week after registration. You can use that code to activate Charities Online by entering it in the field that asks for the code.
Child Benefit
Many people have had problems with Child benefit and Guardian’s allowance money. The reason behind those issues is that this money can’t be paid into:
Any form of Child Trust Fund account
Children’s accounts
Passbook using business as well as building society accounts
NS&I accounts (National Savings and Investments)
Some types of mortgage accounts
Nationwide account that is listed in someone else’s name
Post Office card accounts can be used to get payments from state pensions or benefits. These accounts are used by people who can’t manage online or bank accounts. You will not be able to use this account if you have some form of income being paid into it or if you performed payments through Direct Debit card.
HMRC is an abbreviation of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and it is a department of the government, which is not ministerial but is directly responsible for tax collection, some types of aid for state and administration that comes from state for some regulatory regimes, minimum wage being most notable amongst them. HMRC was created through the merging of “HM Customs and Excise” and “Inland Revenue” on 18th April 2005.
What is HM Revenue and Customs responsible for?
One of the responsibilities of HMRC is the collection of an array of taxes including:
Direct tax (income and corporation tax)
Capital tax (inheritance tax, capital gains tax)
Indirect tax that includes VAT, excise duties as well as stamp land tax
Environmental taxes.
Apart from tax collection HMRC is responsible for following things:
All national insurance contributions
Child benefits distribution as well as other forms of state support for children, like Child Trust Fund
Payment and processing of tax credits
Minimum wage
The empowerment of anti-money laundering registrations
Collection and publication of statistics concerning trade-in-goods.
How to Get Help
When you look at the list of responsibilities, you realise why there are so many contact numbers for HMRC. It’s inevitable that at some point in your life you’ll have dealings with this department of the government and you will likely have to get in touch for a general enquiry or complaint. The best way to get help with any revenue or customs related enquiry is to call the contact number to speak with a helpful advisor.
Even with the huge amount of contact numbers, HM Revenue and Customs still has to put people on hold every day. So, if you are placed on hold by one of the HMRC operators, understand they are probably dealing with a complex tax related enquiry and will answer your call as soon as they can.
Preventing Financial Crime
HMRC is also the agency that enforces law with numerous criminal investigators that are placed on cases that involve organised financial crime. A good portion of cases from HM Customs and Excise is taken over by HMRC (only drug trafficking crimes are typically given to other agencies). The powers they have taken from Customs and Excise are used to deal with Inland Revenue cases (before that it was not possible because Inland Revenue had no such powers to exercise). They are responsible for preventing the loss and seizing of HMG revenue (this means their job involves billions of pounds that must be sent to the right place and protected from third parties). The extent of HMRC responsibilities is reflected in their senior partnership in Organized Crime Partnership Board. They have powers that allow the use of extensive amount of covert and intrusive surveillance.
HMRC has 3.5 billions of pounds of Total Departmental expenditure limit for the following year. That money is used to help those in need, and a lot of it comes from taxes people pay. The majority of people in the UK pay their taxes, but there are still cases of tax evasion. The government gave the HMRC full power to deal with tax evasion. HMRC plan is to take actions that will prevent tax evasion, and in cases where prevention fails there are effective counter actions. HMRC has been working diligently up until now (just look at over 500 billion pounds in total revenues collected in the past year), and they promise that they will continue working like that.
What Can You Expect From HMRC?
HMRC are dedicated in working diligently and promise to treat everyone even handedly, professionally and with compassion whilst still safeguarding payments of tax from UK citizens. It is important therefore that UK citizens act honestly, respect staff, keep personal records safe and always try to find out what you need to do and keep them up to date with any change of information or anything that they require.
HMRC offer financial support to families and individuals that require specific and targeted financial support.
