Claiming VAT relief on bad debts isn't as easy as it should be, in order to support the claim that I made for £90 following deregistration of my accounting practice I was asked for;
"(1) certified copies of othe supporting evidence (for example, invoices);
(2) proof that the debt has remained unpaid for 6 months from the date payment became due and payable, or the time of supply if later;
(3) evidence that you/your client has pursued the debts (and no longer pursuing the debts); and
(4) proof that you possess a separate bad debt ledger"
Having sent copies of the invoices how can they ask for further information at (1)? (2) is asking me to prove a negative.
The tone of the letter strikes me as discouraging a claim for bad debt relief after deregistration and it has almost worked in my case.
It will be really helpful if Aweb can monitor what the software houses implementation dates are for incorporating the APIs. I appreciate that they are dependent on the timing and quality of HMRC delivery but I hope that positive publicity will spur those to whom we pay a lot of money into speedy updates and expose any laggards.
I had hoped to read something of the timescale that Iris has for updating their software so that it will work with HMRC's API. I am hoping that these will be available next year but the silence from the software houses is deafening.
There aren't any obvious responses above from the software houses on their development work, are they able to do anything before HMRC finish their API?
Your comment if Xero had paid more consistent attention to the accountancy market is spot-on. I remember Gary Turner at Xerocon 2012 (Chartered Accountants Hall) and 2014 (The Brewery, Chsiwell Street) promising that they were developing accounts production software for the UK (which I believe they have in New Zealand and Australia) but that has yet to appear and I think the horse may now have bolted.
I have just moved to a practice which has lots of Sage desktop products and we had a pitch from our Sage account manager a couple of days ago for their online offer. We are yet to assess the quality but Sage seem prepared to cannibalise their existing Accounts Production (SAP) product by selling the online AP and CT modules at £120 each, with SA to follow in the next few weeks at the same price.
Despite wholeheartedly agreeing with agents being marginalised by the new HMRC digital services (roll on AOSS....) my take on this is that it is just HMRC creating a new method of disclosure which they can direct their customers towards where necessary. In fact by not having something of this nature it could be argued that HMRC are currently missing a trick, which is a consequence of the elimination the Local Enquiry Centres.
I cannot imagine existing (represented) clients using DDS so perhaps it would only ever affect the high street accountant by giving unrepresented taxpayers who need to make a disclosure a chance to repent online instead of either going to an HMRC office (which is no longer possible) or coming to an accountant. And how many clients like this do we see every year? Very few to none is my experience.
Should we be awkward? So what happens if agents decide to join the awkward club and have some kind of co-ordinated action where we all use client credentials on the same day, perhaps 1st April? Perhaps this would send a message to HMRC?
My answers
Claiming VAT relief on bad debts isn't as easy as it should be, in order to support the claim that I made for £90 following deregistration of my accounting practice I was asked for;
"(1) certified copies of othe supporting evidence (for example, invoices);
(2) proof that the debt has remained unpaid for 6 months from the date payment became due and payable, or the time of supply if later;
(3) evidence that you/your client has pursued the debts (and no longer pursuing the debts); and
(4) proof that you possess a separate bad debt ledger"
Having sent copies of the invoices how can they ask for further information at (1)? (2) is asking me to prove a negative.
The tone of the letter strikes me as discouraging a claim for bad debt relief after deregistration and it has almost worked in my case.
Tim
It will be really helpful if Aweb can monitor what the software houses implementation dates are for incorporating the APIs. I appreciate that they are dependent on the timing and quality of HMRC delivery but I hope that positive publicity will spur those to whom we pay a lot of money into speedy updates and expose any laggards.
I had hoped to read something of the timescale that Iris has for updating their software so that it will work with HMRC's API. I am hoping that these will be available next year but the silence from the software houses is deafening.
Tim
It baffles me why HMRC change their bank accounts so often!
There aren't any obvious responses above from the software houses on their development work, are they able to do anything before HMRC finish their API?
Xero
John
Your comment if Xero had paid more consistent attention to the accountancy market is spot-on. I remember Gary Turner at Xerocon 2012 (Chartered Accountants Hall) and 2014 (The Brewery, Chsiwell Street) promising that they were developing accounts production software for the UK (which I believe they have in New Zealand and Australia) but that has yet to appear and I think the horse may now have bolted.
Not a horse-racing fan
But thanks for the form guide, its very useful.
I have just moved to a practice which has lots of Sage desktop products and we had a pitch from our Sage account manager a couple of days ago for their online offer. We are yet to assess the quality but Sage seem prepared to cannibalise their existing Accounts Production (SAP) product by selling the online AP and CT modules at £120 each, with SA to follow in the next few weeks at the same price.
The words 'land-grab' were used!
Much ado about very little
Despite wholeheartedly agreeing with agents being marginalised by the new HMRC digital services (roll on AOSS....) my take on this is that it is just HMRC creating a new method of disclosure which they can direct their customers towards where necessary. In fact by not having something of this nature it could be argued that HMRC are currently missing a trick, which is a consequence of the elimination the Local Enquiry Centres.
I cannot imagine existing (represented) clients using DDS so perhaps it would only ever affect the high street accountant by giving unrepresented taxpayers who need to make a disclosure a chance to repent online instead of either going to an HMRC office (which is no longer possible) or coming to an accountant. And how many clients like this do we see every year? Very few to none is my experience.
One Word
Privilege.
The lawyers love it and we won't get it. Why would anyone appoint an accountant who doesn't have legal privilege over a lawyer who does?
Should we be awkward?
So what happens if agents decide to join the awkward club and have some kind of co-ordinated action where we all use client credentials on the same day, perhaps 1st April? Perhaps this would send a message to HMRC?