Tax accounting software for a private limited company in the UK includes the prime elements of using accounting software to produce the required quarterly vat returns and annual net profit with the tax software automating the calculation of the tax liability and producing an automated corporation tax return.
Company Accounting Software.
All types of business accounting software produce a net taxable profit being the difference between sales income received and purchase expenses. The company accounts package often does not include capital and tax allowances on fixed assets which are essential elements to enable final tax accounting which the production of the tax liability.
Since tax allowances change then not all accounting packages cope well with this aspect as either it is ignored and any claims for capital allowances need to be input manually which often requires knowledge of the tax system. In any event many systems require the current year tax allowances to be input.
Tax accounting packages do exist where the current tax rates and rules issued by the taxation authority for a specific financial tax year. Such tax accounting software either has to include an upgrade service to incorporate the different tax rules that apply each year or a new package has to be purchased for each new financial year.
Every quality tax accounting software package should calculate the corporation tax liability which is one of the most significant costs of every business. If the accounting software does not produce an automated calculation of the tax liability then the tax due has to be entered manually usually by journal entry.
Manually entering the tax liability is a function frequently best dealt with by an accountant since the transaction also involves the final completion of the company accounts and potentially journal entries to account for distributions from the after tax profit and retained profits.
Vat Tax Return Software.
It would be unusual to find a company accounts package that did not automatically generate the quarterly figures for the vat return since almost all companies are vat registered.
The vast majority of companies have a sales turnover which exceeds the vat threshold limit at which vat registration is obligatory; most companies sales turnover exceeds this threshold at which point vat registration is mandatory.
The accounting software must be capable of satisfying the requirements of the taxation authority which in regard to a vat return includes the provision of an accounting audit trail of financial transactions.
Tax Software and CT600 Corporation Tax Return.
In the UK a private limited company has to complete a corporation tax return each financial year. Known as the CT600 companies with a sales turnover which qualifies as a small company can complete the CT600 short return.
Completing even the short version of the CT600 tax return is a specialist accountancy area which few non accountants are familiar with or find easy to deal with since it demands intimate knowledge of the tax system. Completing the corporation tax return can be a daunting task for a non accountant including several hours study of the accompanying notes. It is no simple task for many accountants who do not specialise as a tax accountant.
Most accounts packages do not include tax software encrypted within the packages to produce the corporation tax return but may include an online feed to assist in the submission of ther company tax return.
Using the right tax software the CT600 corporation tax return can be completed automatically.
To do so the company accounts package has to include all the relevant tax rules and rates applicable for fixed assets and the calculation of the tax liability. Both tax rates and the rules in which tax is collected are frequently changed. It is in fact unusual if the tax rules are not changed in some part every single year. Suitable tax software is essential to perform this annual process.
The tax accounting takes the tax rates and rules automating the work of a tax accountant to produce the tax liability. The term tax software indicates automation based upon data input which the computer package then processes to produce the desired output. Company tax software produces the tax requirements of the company including both the corporation tax liability and completion of the tax return.
