ACCOUNTING: 

It has become even more important that accounts in regard to one’s business are correctly drafted. The Finance Act of 2007 introduces a new penalty regime from April 2009, covering Income Tax/ Corporation Tax and VAT plus some lesser known taxes.

The penalty for making a deliberate inaccuracy in writing-up your books or, preparing your accounts, can be anything between 20% and 100%. If you can prove that you have taken proper and reasonable care in preparing returns to H M Revenue & Customs, any error will be regarded as an innocent mistake and no penalty will be charged.

Examples of some misconduct has been given by the Taxman and cover such issues as overdrawing a Director’s Loan Account; camouflaging expenditure to make it look as if such costs are true business expenses, when in fact they relate to some  personal items, and the misuse of Company bank accounts.

The penalty for the late-filing of a Company Account with Companies House, starts at £150 and could rise to as much as £1500.Your Accountant should be able to prevent such fines being applied.