Reply to: Do any banks offer cards to businesses with no annual fee?

[mat8iou]

I'm not certain that he meant a personal deposit account. Perhaps it's a company one?

As others have said, technically you can't take money out of the company except as expenses, salary, dividends or a directors loan but I know people who put all their companies money into their personal account and only transfer it back when the company needs it.

I suppose HMRC could treat this as a director's loan and you would have to pay interest - if you ever got investigated to that level.

Correct - apologies for causing confusion - it is a business deposit account registered in the business name - with a different bank (Alliance & Leicester - although they're all the same bank in reality now).

[Wanderer]

So you pay your company VAT and company tax from a personal account? That sounds dodgy. It means your company accounts don't actually hold enough funds to pay tax, which I didn't think was allowable.

I'm not certain that he meant a personal deposit account. Perhaps it's a company one?

As others have said, technically you can't take money out of the company except as expenses, salary, dividends or a directors loan but I know people who put all their companies money into their personal account and only transfer it back when the company needs it.

I suppose HMRC could treat this as a director's loan and you would have to pay interest - if you ever got investigated to that level.

[Clare@InTouch]

So you pay your company VAT and company tax from a personal account? That sounds dodgy. It means your company accounts don't actually hold enough funds to pay tax, which I didn't think was allowable.

Also creating a directors' loan account I imagine. It's likely that the benefit in kind liability on such a loan, assuming it's over £5,000, will cancel out any interest received on the deposit account anyway.

[d000hg]

So you pay your company VAT and company tax from a personal account? That sounds dodgy. It means your company accounts don't actually hold enough funds to pay tax, which I didn't think was allowable.

[mat8iou]

You must have a pretty low turnover if you don't average at least £5k in your business account? I mean, there is VAT and CT to be retained there so that adds up pretty quickly, no? Or has your company just been setup...

I try & keep the minimum of money tied up in the company - any money for VAT, CT & PAYE gets transferred to a separate deposit account (to earn ridiculously tiny levels of interest...).

It might be that I'm at the 5K level - it would depend a lot on exactly how they calculate the average though. I'll give them a call & see what they say.

[d000hg]

• A free debit card is easy from HSBC, Santander, etc
• A business credit card is easy, HSBC offered me one with first year free
• I don't think it's normal for busines credit cards to be free, business banking does not follow same rules as personal banking

[Wanderer]

TMy current business account is with Cater Allen. They do offer a card - but looking at the details I have to have had an average balance of £5k for the last 6 months. I didn't sign up for a card when I got the account, as the company was too recently established at that point.

You must have a pretty low turnover if you don't average at least £5k in your business account? I mean, there is VAT and CT to be retained there so that adds up pretty quickly, no? Or has your company just been setup...

[Mr.Whippy]

You have to include it in VAT Returns if you operate the flat scheme ..

Ah ok... well would be nice if I was in the position of having enough money in my account to earn interest in the first place........

[Lumiere]

So, does getting interest in your bank account incur VAT?

You have to include it in VAT Returns if you operate the flat scheme ..

[Mr.Whippy]

Indeed, it does more harm than good if you think of all associated accounting efforts, VAT Returns etc. ...

So, does getting interest in your bank account incur VAT?

[Lumiere]

Yeah, I expect all those with £500,000+ balances are really jumping up and down with the 0.40% interest they're receiving

Indeed, it does more harm than good if you think of all associated accounting efforts, VAT Returns etc. ...

[Mr.Whippy]

This means you keep earning interest on the money you've spend in the month which might mean something to someone

Yeah, I expect all those with £500,000+ balances are really jumping up and down with the 0.40% interest they're receiving

[Boo]

I'm looking for a business credit card (or charge card for that matter).

Only to echo other posters here and mention that if you happen to bank with Cater Allen then they do a deferred Debit VISA card where items are charged to your card immediately but don't appear as debits on your account until the end of the month. This means you keep earning interest on the money you've spend in the month which might mean something to someone

Also, just to add that there is no charge for this card.

Boo

[BolshieBastard]

I'm looking for a business credit card (or charge card for that matter). It'd be paid off in full every month, so the rates aren't that relevant for me. I would however really like one that doesn't charge an annual fee. It appears that MBNA used to do a few, but from what I can see on their site now, these offers are no longer there. American Express do one, but in my experience (I have a personal AMEX card), there are lots of places that don't accept them, so you'd want another fallback card to deal with those instances.

Any suggestions?

Bank of America who trade under the name of MBNA in the UK have a scheme called campanion card for amex. Its really an amex account but if you go to use the Amex card and the establishment doesnt accept it, you use the 'companion.'

Im not sure if this applied to business cards, it deffo applied to personal cards so I'd be surprised if it didnt.

[VectraMan]

Barclays gave me a Business Barclaycard without me asking for it. They even sent me a letter thanking me for filling out a direct debit, which I didn't.

Many phone calls later, and I gave up trying to get to the bottom of why or if it was a fraud. They didn't seem very interested.

I've got the card, never used it, no charges. I was going to fork out for Visual Studio so I might try using the card and see what happens.