Paying Youself a 'Salary' [newbie]

[greenpj]

I'm a bit confused to exactly how a salary is a salary. Can I just declare at the end of the tax year that I paid myself X amount as salary and pay tax accordingly, or must I always pay though PAYE every month? What does the HMRC expect from my Ltd Company regarding this?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Gonzo]

I'm a bit confused to exactly how a salary is a salary. Can I just declare at the end of the tax year that I paid myself X amount as salary and pay tax accordingly, or must I always pay though PAYE every month? What does the HMRC expect from my Ltd Company regarding this?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

You badly need an accountant.

HTH

[Sockpuppet]

Just do payroll yourself as PAYE.

Its not hard.

[cojak]

Get an accountant to advise for the first year.

Then do it yourself if you still want to.

Alternatively do A LOT of reading and research and do it right the first time. C0cking up Coporation tax/Income tax/VAT/PAYE/NICS could be very expensive and stressfull.

If you need to ask about PAYE you probably don't know much about the others, either.

I am not an Accountant an neither are any of the previous posters (unless they've got a new line of business... ).

Get proper advice is my advice.

[ASB]

I'm a bit confused to exactly how a salary is a salary. Can I just declare at the end of the tax year that I paid myself X amount as salary and pay tax accordingly, or must I always pay though PAYE every month? What does the HMRC expect from my Ltd Company regarding this?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

If you want to do it yourself:-

Ring your local tax office. Go to one of the seminars for new employers they periodically arrange. Read the employers guide to PAYE - if you haven't been sent one yet you can probably download it from HMRC website.

PAYE on salary is due when it's paid. By all means operate an annual salary. Just pay yourself once a year. [n.b. if you pay yourself <= nil rate bands so that income tax an d NI are nil then the accounts office at shipley/bradford may react positively if you ask to go on an annual scheme. Strictly they shouldn't do this unless you are actaully only paying it once a year]

As sockpuppet says it's not hard. The new employer pack is pretty straight forward in it's instructions for what to do.

[howdydoody]

Call the Inland Revenue Orderline

Or try http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

Go to the Employers section. You can get a free CD which helps you to calculate your payroll taxes. It's quite simple but the key things are

a) be comfortable you understand what you are doing and
b) pay your Payroll Tax and NIC

If a) does not apply, then get professional advice.

[Bluebird]

NI & Income Tax are payable 1/4ly aren't they ?

[PAH]

I think you can choose how frequently to make payments, monthly or quarterly, maybe even longer periods between.

When a PAYE scheme is set up you'll receive a yellow book with payment slips and envelopes to make sure you send it to the right place, then it's a case of working out how much to pay or getting an accountant to tell you, which usually involves them sending you pay slips prior to the payment due dates.