Tax and Banks.
TAX: –
If you are wondering why I keep saying a good accountant is a must when starting a business let me spell out one thing now:
How you set up the Company affects how much tax you pay!
There are many ways of putting the money into a Company at start up and a good accountant will discuss them all with you. I needed to fill in a Tax form 64-8 for each of my personal tax affairs and the Companies tax affairs together with an SA1 to register personally with the Inland Revenue.
Filling these in takes time so I was glad that my Accountant had completed most parts for me. It still took two hours to go through and check everything prior to signing on the line.
Incorporating the Company also causes the IR to send you a Corporation Tax reference – you need this at year end (if not before) so it’s being carefully filed.
The Bank Account : –
Choosing a Bank account is another one of those things that can hobble a business if you get it wrong. The right type of bank account depends on many factors which is why it’s a good idea to get your accountant to discuss with you.
In my case the business will have a low volume of transactions in the early days which will be mostly electronic transfers. My office expenses are likely to be low, and I don’t need much in the way of petty cash/change, being a consultancy.
The factors I considered important are:
- Free banking
- Good availability to funds
- Ease of applying
John from Albert Goodman recommended Santander as I already bank with them and that gives me another 6 months free banking on top of the 12 months they give to their new business accounts (keyword “Start-up Business Accounts” on their site if you want details).
Checking a few comparison sites the Santander account was in the top 4 recommended and seemed like a good fit.
I applied over the phone which took about 1/2 an hour to go through all the credit checks required and get accepted. Unfortunately this isn’t the end of the process as there is then a pack which is sent to you to be signed and returned with proofs of identity . Once this is done the account will be up in 5 working days from receipt.
I’ll keep you posted how this goes….
Martin House Consulting 