Happy New Year

And for some tax payers and accountants it certainly is as HMRC have effectively extended the filing and payment deadlines for self-assessment to the 28th February, broadly in line with what they did last year. Hear at TSA we've worked tirelessly to ensure that our backlog of self-assessments at this time of year is as small as possible, so we expect to file all the self-assessments we have outstanding (so long as we have received the documentation that we need).

2021 was another challenging year for all accountants, from the very largest to the very smallest. Furlough claims increased most accountants workload considerably, and few accountants charged the full price of this additional work, us included. Add to that the difficulty of contacting HMRC and their terrible service and you can appreciate even the simplest requests taking months and requiring many more calls, letters and e-mails backwards and forwards to HMRC and clients alike. 18 months to transfer a VAT number from one business to another is the standard lead time. unpredictable refunds from HMRC, and 8 months to open a letter (assuming they don't lose it) is normal.

So, what does 2022 have in store for businesses? Firstly we don't think HMRC's service levels will improve significantly or that they will put a dent in the backlog. Look forward to a more aggressive approach from HMRC as they look to recoup some of the money the government has thrown around during covid, and many more investigations.

Secondly, inflation is returning to rates not seen in decades, so look for to prices increasing generally. And if you can, consider increasing your prices too. Finally, look forward to the world returning to some sort of normality as politicians realise they can't afford further lockdowns and the world gets used to living with covid.

What to expect from TSA from 2022? Having just about caught up in December I was hospitalised with Covid and had to take 3 weeks off of work. Thankfully some of that time was over the Christmas break when we normally take a week or two off anyway. We will be taking our long overdue honeymoon in February. We expect to be back in the office permanently from now on as well. We will be offering more in the way of business coaching which we are really excited about and which we'll talk about further in our next blog. In a nutshell we are looking forward to getting back to business as usual, at least until making tax digital for income tax hits!

So from all of the team here at TSA, we hope you had a great Christmas break, and hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022!