As your business advisors, we are experiencing a continuous flow of information from the Government. With guidance for employers, employees and businesses on how you should respond to the impact of Covid-19, we have summarised some of the key points to help you and your business. We will continue to update this as more information flows
More...1 December 2020 - Due date for Corporation Tax payable for the year ended 28 February 2020. 19 December 2020 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 December 2020. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 December 2020) 19 December 2020 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 December
More...HMRC’s guidance on making claims through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was updated on 19 November 2020. The updated guidance now includes various examples of what is meant by a ‘reasonable excuse’ for employers that submit furlough claims after the stated deadline. Claims for the periods from 1 July 2020 to 31 October 2020 must be
More...Fraudsters are continuing to target taxpayers with scam emails in advance of the 31 January deadline for submission of Self-Assessment returns. In fact, over the last year, HMRC received more than 846,000 reports about suspicious HMRC contact. A number of these scams purport to tell taxpayers they are due a tax rebate or tax refund
More...The Northern Ireland Trader Support Service was launched on 28 September 2020 to support businesses moving goods under the Northern Ireland Protocol from 1 January 2021 after the Brexit transition period comes to an end. There will be changes in moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland whether or not a Free Trade Deal is
More...HMRC has issued a new consultation to examine how the principles established for Making Tax Digital (MTD) could be implemented for those entities within the charge to Corporation Tax. The consultation is open for comment until 5 March 2021. The regime MTD started in April 2019 for VAT purposes only. MTD for Income Tax is expected to be
More...The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) is a set of special rules for tax and National Insurance for those working in the construction industry. It was announced at Spring Budget 2020 that a consultation on measures to tackle abuse of the CIS would be launched. Following the consultation and further meetings with those working in the
More...The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) commonly known as the furlough scheme was due to come to an end on 31 October 2020 but has now been extended until 31 March 2021. Effective from 1 November 2020, employees will receive up to 80% of their salary for hours not worked. There will be a review date of the CJRS in January 2021, which
More...The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak delivered the government's spending plans for the coming year to Parliament on 25 November 2020. The Spending Review usually covers 3 to 4 years but given the many unknowns as a result of the pandemic the review will only cover the period from April 2021 to April 2022. The Chancellor said his immediate
More...Many of us are building a pension fund, a portfolio of shares or deposits with our bank or building society. Most of these investment options reward us for our participation by offering income (usually in the form of interest or dividends) or by demonstrating capital growth (share prices increasing). Accordingly, there are three
More...The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 received Royal Assent on 11 November 2020. This is the legislation which will end the free movement of persons under retained EU law in the UK at 11pm on 31 December 2020. It will also repeal other retained EU law relating to immigration. A new points-based
More...Companies House has issued a press release to remind all companies to sign up for email reminders for annual accounts and confirmation statement. Companies House has now stopped sending reminders by post and has sent a final reminder letter to all companies currently receiving paper reminders. The letter explains why Companies House has
More...The Government has confirmed that the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant extension will apply for 6 months from 1 November 2020. It will be possible to claim the SEISS grant extension even if no previous claim had been made under the scheme once the eligibility criteria are met. The self-employed will receive 80% of
More...The Bounce Back Loans scheme was launched in May 2020 to provide financial support to businesses across the UK that are losing revenue and seeing their cashflow disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme allows small businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 and access the cash in most cases within 24 hours of
More...In a welcome move, the government has announced that the temporary Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) cap will be extended for a further 12 months until 1 January 2022. The government says that this move is intended to boost confidence as companies look to weather the pandemic and plan for the future. This should also encourage investment
More...Now is usually the time that businesses are planning Christmas parties for staff as well as possibly for partners/spouses, clients and prospective clients. Of course, with the continued pandemic and various lockdowns Christmas is looking pretty much cancelled this year. However, we have set out the benefit conditions for annual parties
More...The trivial benefits in kind (BiK) exemption applies to small non-cash benefits like a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers given to employees or any other benefit in kind classed as 'trivial' that falls within the exemption. Although the benefit is defined as ‘trivial’, employers should remember that this offers a great opportunity to
More...The VAT system is policed by HMRC who can and do levy penalties for breaches of the legislation. There are four conditions that must be satisfied in order for an activity to be within the scope of UK VAT. These conditions are that the activity: Is a supply of goods or services That the supply takes place in the UK Is made by a
More...An updated Treasury Direction under sections 71 and 76 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 concerning the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was published on 12 November 2020. The CJRS was due to come to an end on 31 October 2020 but has now been extended until 31 March 2021. Effective 1 November 2020, employees will receive up to
More...Scotland’s Finance Secretary, Kate Forbes, has announced that the Scottish Government’s Budget will be published for 2021-22 on 28 January 2021. The date has been selected in order to allow the Scottish Government time to prepare for the new tax year. This is the second time that Scotland has held a Budget before the rest of the UK. The
More...If your business acquires goods or sells goods to the EU, and you have no import/export trade with non-EU countries you probably have no experience of dealing with the raft of red tape involved in clearing goods through customs and settling any duties or VAT payable. Affected businesses will need to abide by the new regulatory situation
More...Many of the business disruption grants that have become available in the last few weeks are being distributed by local authorities. They include support for: Businesses obliged to close due to local or national lockdown and Businesses that have been severely affected by local or national restrictions but are still trading. Central
More...The coding threshold entitles tax payers to have tax underpayments collected via a tax code, provided they are in employment or in receipt of a UK-based pension. The coding applies to certain debts such as Self-Assessment liabilities, tax credit overpayments and outstanding Class 2 NIC contributions. Instead of paying off debts in a lump
More...The government guidance for landlords and tenants as a result of the coronavirus pandemic has been updated. The Coronavirus Act 2020 provides protection to social and private tenants by delaying when landlords can start proceedings to evict tenants. To give tenants greater protection from eviction, landlords are required to provide
More...The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced new proposals to ensure that lenders provide tailored support to mortgage borrowers who continue to face payment difficulties due to the COVID-19 crisis. This follows the additional government measures announced over recent weeks to control the spread of coronavirus. Payment holidays to
More...The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) commonly known as the furlough scheme is open to all UK employers and will now run until 31 March 2021. From 1 November 2020, employees will receive up to 80% of their salary for hours not worked with a review date in January. One common question concerns holiday pay entitlement if furloughed.
More...Business Asset Disposal Relief used to be known as Entrepreneurs’ Relief before 6 April 2020. The relief was renamed in Finance Act 2020. The name change does not affect the operation of the relief. Business Asset Disposal Relief applies to the sale of a business, shares in a trading company or an individual’s interest in a trading
More...The transfer of a business as a going concern (TOGC) rules concern the VAT liability on the sale of a business. Normally the sale of the assets of a VAT registered or VAT registerable business will be subject to VAT at the appropriate rate. Where the sale of a business includes assets and meets certain conditions the sale will be
More...Corporation Tax relief may be available where a company or organisation makes a trading loss. The loss may be used to claim relief from Corporation Tax by offsetting the loss against other gains or profits of the business in the same or previous accounting period. The loss can also be set against future qualifying trading income. Any
More...The detailed Furlough Scheme rules were updated 10 November 2020. To use the extended scheme - to 31 March 2021 - the steps that are required are: Check if you can claim Check which employees you can put on furlough Steps to take before calculating your claim Calculate how much you should claim Claim for your employees’ wages
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