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Congratulations on taking the first step, which can be daunting. We’re here to help you understand and deal with the tax implications of this. Firstly, you’ll need to let HMRC know that you’re self-employed and there are 3 crucial steps to this: 1) You’ll need to register for a Government Gateway account   2) Once you’ve […]

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is what you must legally pay your staff. It’s an hourly rate and changes based on the age of your staff, as well as across-the-board increases every April. You may see the phrase “National Living Wage” too. This is simply the name for the top rate of NMW, payable to

Blue Penguin is now a member of Handpicked Accountants, a nationwide network of carefully selected accountancy firms recognised for delivering outstanding customer service levels and showcasing a commendable understanding of the industry. Our people-friendly accountancy firm caters to small businesses established in Somerset and serving the surrounding areas. The Blue Penguin accountancy team represent a

If your children work in your business and they’re working for free (or a pittance), you’re both missing out.  Paying the kids to work in your business can create some pretty low-hanging-fruit-style tax savings, hence shifting some of the business profits from you (at between 29% and 47%) to them (at, usually, a big fat

There can be times when you get an invoice from a supplier which includes VAT and you just want to check if they really are registered. Because, shock horror, there’s some nasty people out there who run a business for a few years, charging VAT to their customers but never passing that over to HMRC.

If you want to find out your state pension age and your state pension forecast, it’s really quite straightforward these days. You used to have to write a letter or phone HMRC and they would – eventually – post it out to you. But now, you can do it online through your Government Gateway accounts.

You literally could not make a duller sounding title. But please, stay with us!  VAT’s VAT, surely? Well, yes and no. There’s a “Standard” scheme which most businesses are on, but don’t let HMRC tell you how to handle your VAT. There’s a number of alternate schemes which you might qualify for. To make things

Are you self-employed and wondering about National Insurance? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Let’s dive into the world of National Insurance contributions (NIC). For those of you who’ve been around as long as I have, it used to be called “Stamp”. But it no longer goes into a ring-fenced pot to support healthcare and

Imagine you’re a boss and you’re feeling generous. You decide to treat your hardworking employees to some nice perks like a company car, gym membership or private health insurance. But before you can pat yourself on the back, you realise that the taxman wants to know about all the goodies you’ve given out. That’s where

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is what you must legally pay your staff. It’s an hourly rate and changes based on the age of your staff, as well as across-the-board increases every April. You may see the phrase “National Living Wage” too. This is simply the name for the top rate of NMW, payable to