Starting & Running a Business All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition (UK)

Chapter 2

Managing Your Tax Position

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding taxes for different types of businesses

Finding out how much tax you have to pay

Handling your employment taxes

Getting through a tax investigation intact

The government raised £915 billion in taxes in 2021/22 – that’s double what it raised in 2014-2015. Some of that, no doubt, was essential to support the nation through the Covid-19 pandemic. But tax has a nasty habit of mostly going one way. Not only is the amount colossal, but now about a zillion ways exist in which tax is raised.

Aside from income tax, which only accounts for a quarter of the money raised, you have value-added tax (VAT) and National Insurance (NI), which most people come across. Then you have taxes or relief from paying tax on fuel, capital gains, capital expenditure, research and development, business rates, excise duty, a climate change levy, air passenger duty, landfill tax, an aggregates levy, small company tax relief, vehicle excise duties and stamp duties, to mention but a few that the successful owner-manager can expect to encounter. Each ...