Why trusting your accountant is key

Is it possible that the big players can ever really take over the position of the “high street accountant” or the reliable online accountancy practice that is always happy to offer one-on-one advice?

Of course not – not in our opinion, anyway.

An accountant should be there for you to advise you on the best way to manage your business finances and tax affairs. Let’s face it; this is a huge responsibility and one that you should only ever hand over to a company that you 100% trust in.

For example, you may be looking for the best price, but do cheap prices always mean great value?

Save more than just your accountancy bills

At Omni Chartered Accountants, we do what we say on the tin. We are direct, honest, experienced and – like our title says – we are Chartered Accountants, so you can be sure you are getting a professional level of service at all times.

We offer our clients excellent value for money but at the same time, we don’t scrimp on client service. All of our customers are given an initial consultation and we are always on-hand to offer advice in all aspects of their accounting queries when they need us.

In short, we are in business to save our clients money – we don’t put our profits first.

Why trusting your accountant is key

If you are unhappy with the way in which your company affairs are being managed, or if you would like to review your current accountancy bills, why not contact us for a free review? We will be happy to speak to you over the telephone initially and put forward our ideas as to how we feel our services could benefit your business.

Call 01902 837408 today or request a free of charge back from our website – also, check out our pricing page now to see how competitive our fees actually are.

And that is before we have started helping you to make the most of your company finances and tax affairs! Call Omni today: you won’t look back.

Do your travel to work expenses stand up to scrutiny?

Although there are differences between tax rules for self-employed and employed people, many of us are able to identify our travel to & from our normal place of work – the commute, as we call it, is not deductible for tax purposes.

However, until recently, HM Revenue & Customs has taken a very narrow and literal view of what is allowable work travel, and what amounts to “commuting” to or from home. The findings of two recent cases, however, could pose problems for you if you have both employment and self-employment.

     1.Commute allowable expenses tribunal case study

In the first case, a doctor worked partly for the NHS, and partly as a self-employed consultant, and travelled by car between his home, the NHS hospital and his private consulting rooms.

After an exhaustive and detailed analysis of his travel patterns, the tribunal eventually diagnosed that all of his travel to and from the NHS hospital, from his home to his consulting rooms, and between the hospital and his consulting rooms was not allowable for tax.

As such, his travel expenses were described as not having been incurred in the furtherance of his business, but rather arose from where he lived.

2. Case study for allowable work travel expenses

In the second case, a self-employed flying instructor claimed to be operating from his home and that his travel to the two airfields where he gave lessons amounted to business travel in the course of his trade.

The Tribunal decided that both airfields were his regular places of work and that no deduction was due for his travel to or from them.

Would your work travel arrangements stand up to inspection?

Both cases point to the fact that a person’s business or employment base is not always where they think it is. They demonstrate that HMRC and the Tribunals are making a greater distinction than in the past between travelling in the course of a business, and travelling to a place where their work is regularly carried out.