So here we are again at the start of the new financial year. Happy New Year!
You've probably noticed stuff about changes to tax and national insurance thresholds.
Apart from sounding very dull, most of this involves tweaks to a creaking system which makes little sense to right minded people.
Mr Osborne says he's going to have a good look at how the Treasury collects our money, possibly putting tax and national insurance into one big tax to make it simpler. A bit like the the simplifying approach they've proposed for the state pension and universal credit.
We'll see.
Meanwhile are there any changes which make a difference on a daily basis to small businesses and freelances like you and me?
Well if you've been following my tweets over the last two weeks you'll have spotted a few small ones.
The car mileage allowance for business trips goes up to 45p per mile. It's been 40p per mile since 2002, so not exactly generous, but hey....
The motorbike (24p) and cycle (20p) mileage rates are not being changed it seems.
If you are trying to avoid VAT, the new level at which you have to be VAT registered is £73,000 turnover. That applies to sole traders as well as limited companies, remember. And it's turnover, not profit.
Things for freelances to look out for in the longer term include a possible re-vamping of IR35 legislation (which stops people pretending to be self-employed when they're really acting like an employee). But that probably won't happen until tax and national insurance are re-invented.
If you're a former trainee, all your handouts and downloads are now updated with new info for 2011-12.
And will this be the year where you starting keeping your expenses records from day one as you go along? Put aside 5 minutes every week to do it and you'll have pretty well completed your tax return by this time next year.
Enjoy!
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