FAQ answers
1. How do I include Capital Gains computations with an online
return?
From 2008, the Capital Gains Summary
supplement provides an overview of capital gains and losses, which
enables capital gains tax liability to be calculated.
In the Tax Return program, we have provided a Capital Gains
calculator, which can be accessed from the on-screen image of page
CG1 of the Capital Gains Summary. This enables you to enter details
of asset disposals and produce a Capital Gains schedule.
HMRC requires capital gains computations to
be included with the return. This can be done in any one of the
following ways:
| 1. |
Include the Capital Gains schedule produced with the Capital
Gains calculator as an attachment.
|
| 2. |
Include a separate document containing the capital gains
computations as an attachment.
|
| 3. |
Enter details of the capital gains computations in the 'Any
other information' section on page CG2 of the Capital Gains Summary
supplement.
|
If you have used the Capital Gains
calculator to produce a Capital Gains schedule, the best way to
include the computations with the return is to use option 1 above.
To do this, click on the 'FBI Attachments' button on the Toolbar to
open the 'FBI Attachments' window. Select 'Capital gains' as one of
the schedules to be attached.
2. Why do my dates appear in the format mm/dd/yyyy?
You must actively set the date format in
Windows to dd/mm/yy or dd/mm/yyyy. Go into the Windows Control
Panel and double-click on Regional Settings then select the Date
tab. If the Short Date Style is mm/dd/yy, change it to dd/mm/yy and
click on OK. If the the Short Date Style is dd/mm/yy, change it to
mm/dd/yy, click on OK, then go back into the Regional Settings and
change the Short Date Style back to dd/mm/yy.
3. How can I use the TaxBase Diary for 2009 and future
years?
The TaxBase Diary has the capacity for up to
four years. These can be any years you choose. If you started using
TaxBase several years ago you may have data in the Diary for the
past four years. You can clear out the data for the earliest year
and rename this page 2009-10 (or just 2009 if you prefer).
To do this, first make a backup of the
client database file TBASE020.MDB in your TaxBase data folder (you
may wish to recover the data you are about to delete at some future
time).
Select the Diary page you wish to clear;
this will normally be the earliest year. Click on the 'Clear All'
button; you will be given the option to abandon the clear operation
or confirm it. When you confirm that you wish to clear this year's
diary data, all dates and "client events" are cleared for the
selected year for all clients in the database. The diary
information for other years is preserved. You can now change the
"Tax Year" text on this page to "2009-10".
4. How do I make sure a female
taxpayer who is over 60 is automatically exempt from Class 4
NIC?
In the Class 4 NIC section of the Self-employment, Lloyd's
Underwriter and Partnership supplements, a box is used to indicate
exemption from Class 4 NIC.
If the taxpayer is over 65, as determined by the date of birth
entered in box 1 in the section "Your personal details" on page TR1
of the Tax Return form, "X" is automatically entered in the Class 4
NIC exemption box.
However, if the taxpayer is female the
exemption box must be set to "X" if she is over 60. The Tax Return
form does not include any box to indicate the sex of the taxpayer,
so we have included auxiliary option buttons in the section "Your
personal details" on page TR1 of the Tax Return form where you can
indicate the taxpayer's sex. The default setting is "Male". The
appropriate option button will be selected when you import the
client details from a TaxBase database, but you can also select the
appropriate option manually.
To ensure that the Class 4 NIC exemption box
is set to "X" automatically for a female taxpayer who is over 60,
you must select the option "Female". This setting will be carried
from one year to the next when you use the Transfer function.
5. Why do my TaxBase Diary reports not show any events or
dates?
Before using Diary reports in TaxBase, you
must identify up to 6 "Key Events" from your Standard Events list.
The Key Events will appear on your Diary reports as column headers,
and the dates associated with these events will appear in the
report alongside each client's name.
To identify a Key Event you must insert an
asterisk (*) at the beginning of the Standard Event name in the
Diary. For example, if you have a Standard Event called:
Tax Return sent to HMRC
and you wish this to be one of the Key
Events, change the name to:
*Tax Return sent to
HMRC
This will ensure that this event appears on
your Diary reports.
6. Why does the tax calculation omit age-related MCA for a
taxpayer born before 6 April 1935?
From the 2000-01 tax year onwards, Married
Couple's Allowance is only available when a married man or his wife
were born before 6 April 1935.
MCA comprises a minimum element (£2,540 for
2008-09) and an age-related element. The minimum element is always
given. The maximum age-related amount depends on the age of the
older spouse.
For 2008-09, the maximum amount of the
age-related element is £4,085 if the older spouse was over 75
during the tax year, and £3,995 if the older spouse was aged
between 65 and 75 during the tax year. If the net taxable income
was above a specified minimum limit (£21,800 for 2008-09) the
amount of the age-related element of MCA is reduced in proportion
to the difference between his taxable income and the minimum limit,
and will be eliminated completely if the taxable income is
sufficiently high.
7. How do I produce an estimated tax calculation for the
following tax year?
To produce an estimated tax calculation for
the 2009-10 tax year within the 2009 Tax Return, proceed as
follows:
| 1. |
Open the client's tax return file.
|
| 2. |
Click on the 'Tax Calculation Summary' button on the Toolbar to
open the 'Tax Calculation Summary' supplement.
Alternatively, click on the TCS1 button at the bottom of the
main Tax Return window to open page 1 of the 'Tax Calculation
Summary' supplement.
|
| 3. |
Click on the '2008-09' button to open the 'Estimated Tax
Calculation for 2008-09' window.
|
| 4. |
Enter the required amounts on each screen using the tab bars at
left of the window to select each screen.
|
| 5. |
Click on the 'Summary' button to preview and print the estimated
tax calculation for 2009-10.
|
8. How do I produce the CT600 (Short) form using the Company
Tax Return?
The Company Tax Return program always
displays the full CT600 form on screen. When you print the return,
the CT600 (Short) form will be printed if both the
following apply:
| 1. |
In the Print window, you have ticked the box labelled "Tick this
box to print the Short Company Tax Return when appropriate".
|
| 2. |
You have not entered any information in boxes that require the
full CT600.
|
9. How do I set the identifier for a Tax Assistant data
folder?
When using FBI in Tax Assistant you must
identify each Tax Assistant data folder using a unique 2-character
identifier.
Even if you are only using a single data
folder you must assign an identifier to it.
If you use more than one data folder, for example one for each
partner in the firm, you must assign a different identifier to each
folder.
This does not mean you have to assign a
different identifier for each return type (i.e. 2006 Tax Return,
2007 Partnership Tax Return, etc.) within a data folder. In fact it
is preferable to use the same identifier for all data types within
the same data folder. In the simplest case, where you use the same
data folder for all returns, we recommend using the same identifier
in all the Tax Assistant programs.
Once you have set up the data folder
identifier(s) they will normally carry forward to future years, so
you should only need to set them up once.
To set up data folder identifiers, proceed
as follows:
| 1. |
Start a Tax Return program by clicking on the appropriate button
on the Tax Assistant Desktop.
|
| 2. |
Select 'Administration...' on the 'FBI' menu to open the 'FBI
Administration' window (if required, enter your FBI password).
|
| 3. |
In the frame labelled 'Client File Folders', enter an identifier
for each available folder. Each identifier must be unique. For
example, if you have a data folder for each partner, enter each
partner's initials in the appropriate boxes.
|
| 4. |
Click on the 'Close' button to save the information you have
entered.
|
10. How do I refile a return that has been submitted as
an amendment but needs to go as an original return?
There are several steps to enable this:
• Make a note of the UTR for this particular client
• Make a note of the data location which be found by selecting the
following menu options File – Folder – Manager (e.g. C:\Tax
Data\Tax10)
• Browse to the data location using My Computer or Windows
Explorer
• Double click on the Submissions folder and delete the file for
this client which can be identified by the UTR
• Double click on the Receipts folder and delete the file for this
client which can be identified by the UTR
• Open the tax return in Tax Assistant
• Go to the FBI menu (entering the password if required) and click
on File
• Click the Edit button at the top right
• Delete any dates e.g. Lodged, Accepted
• Click the Lock button at the top right
• The return can now be refiled as an original return, ensuring
that the amended return box is unticked on page 1 of the return
11. Why when I open the software do I get a message to say
"Directory path X:\xxxx\Tax10 not found"
If the machine is Wincows 7 or vista and the path begines with a
mapped drive letter, change this to a UNC path e.e \\server\data\xxxx\Tax10 may be
the equivalent of X:\xxxx\Tax10 in this example. Otherwise check
that the data path is correct, and that there are no problems with
network connectivity, by browsing directly to the data location via
My Computer or Windows Explorer.
12. Why when I have received my activation key and go into
Licence Control the Activate button is greyed out on my Windows
Vista or Windows 7 machine?
A: The permissions will need to be reset on the Tax
Assistant program folder before generating a fresh licence
request:
• Select Start -> Computer to open the Computer window
• Double-click on the C: drive icon to open it
• Double-click on the Program Files icon to open that folder
• Right-click on the Tax Assistant icon and select Properties on
the menu to open the Properties window
• Click on the Security tab
• Click on the Edit button
• In the Group or user names list, select Users
• In the Permissions for Users list, tick the Full control checkbox
in the Allow column
• Click on the OK button in the Permissions window
• Click on the OK button in the Properties window
• Generate a fresh licence request and send through to Drummohr,
the Activate button should now be enabled