HINTS AND TIPS
The latest hints and tips from our blog.Please note: The information contained in this site is provided for information purposes only and is of a general nature. It is not a substitute for specific professional advice related to your own circumstances. You are recommended to obtain specific professional advice before you take any action.
R&D tax credits in practice
R&D Tax breaks for innovative business. The UK tax system is complicated but research and development (R&D) tax credits can be especially tricky to understand. That’s partly because what counts as R&D, and what amounts to true innovation, is judged on a...
Caseron Insider – January 2020
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Quarter of small businesses in the UK expect to go bust by 2024...
Low-risk ways to start a business in 2020
Methods to overcome uncertainty in 2020. So you’ve got a business idea, and you think it might be a runner. But then again, just as you’ve geared yourself up to commit, all sorts of midnight worries start to creep in. Is now the time? Are people spending money? What...
Caseron Insider – December 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Delay to controversial loan charge review leaves thousands in limbo...
Gearing up for self-assessment
Don’t leave it until the last minute, especially in 2020. With only two months left until the 31 January deadline for online returns, self-assessment is very much on our minds. There’s a first flurry of activity around the deadline for paper filing at the end of...
Protecting Your Business From Fraud
Steps to shield your firm from fraud and fraudulent activity. Fraud costs the UK around £190 billion a year, with businesses bearing almost three quarters – £140bn – of those losses. This worrying picture is backed up by the 2019 Fraudscape report compiled by...
The Curious Case of the Missing Budget
Introduction It’s been an eventful few years in British politics, but 2019 has been something else again with one jolt after another. The 29 March deadline for the UK to leave the EU was extended to 31 October and then again until 31 January 2020. Boris Johnson...
Capital Gains Tax Planning for 2020/21
Tax changes to private residences for 2020/21. From 6 April 2020, HMRC is proposing three significant changes which will potentially increase the capital gains tax paid on the disposal of any residential property by an individual. These changes seek to raise extra...
Caseron Insider – November 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Messages aim to promote pension saving to the self-employed Stamp...
6 Reasons why you should raise your prices
Yesterday I spoke about the 8 reasons why you MUST raise your prices. These are the reasons why you absolutely positively have to raise your prices. Sometimes, you don't HAVE to raise your prices, but you SHOULD raise them anyway! (1) When your customers are really,...
8 Reasons why you MUST raise your prices
Is it time to raise your prices? Raising prices is one of the 'elephant in the room' discussions we often have with clients. They know they ought to but they don't. They feel it is time, but they won't. It's not the right time of the month, the quarter or the year!...
Property as an investment for landlords
With low-interest rates, property remains attractive. As the global financial crisis began to bite in 2008, central banks in several nations took action, attempting to shock the world economy back to life by slashing base interest rates. The idea behind this kind of...
IR35 in the private sector
Key considerations for contractors before April 2020. Large and medium-sized organisations have just six months left to prepare for changes to off-payroll working rules, which are due to extend to the private sector next spring. From 6 April 2020, firms that engage...
Caseron Insider – October 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Most VAT-registered businesses are signed up for Making Tax Digital...
VAT: An insight into its many complexities
Insight and understanding of the many complexities of VAT. Are Jaffa Cakes biscuits or, as the name implies, cakes? This question is one of the most famous examples of the kind of debate that happens frequently in the world of VAT because precise definitions can make...
Caseron Insider – September 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Treasury to review tapered annual allowance as dispute rumbles on...
Can you afford to retire?
Are you on track for a comfortable retirement? All of us dream of the day we can retire, saying goodbye to the alarm clock and commute, filling our days with sun-soaked beach holidays, leisurely rounds of golf, or cruising the world. As delightful as that sounds, the...
The Construction Industry Scheme
And upcoming changes for reverse charge VAT. Few sectors have such an impact in the UK as the construction industry. It not only provides the fabric of our nation – the places where we live and work – but also underpins our entire economy. In 2017, construction...
Caseron Insider – August 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Demand for digital skills among businesses tipped to 'skyrocket'...
Identifying the inefficiencies in your business
Avoiding waste, maximising profit. Accountants, as a breed, are fans of efficiency. We tend to appreciate optimised systems and abhor waste, whether it’s time, effort or resources being frittered away. The concept of efficiency as we know it today is a product of the...
The tapered annual pension allowance
How it affects high net-worth individuals. The tapered annual pension allowance for high net-worth individuals was in the headlines again recently. Concerns were raised that its impact on doctors within the NHS pension scheme is prompting high-earning NHS staff to...
Caseron Insider – July 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights HMRC error affects payments on account bills for some taxpayersMost...
The scourge of late payments
Outstanding invoices compromise your business’s cashflow. When you supply goods and services, you expect to be paid, and promptly, but Britain has a deeply embedded culture of late payments. Indeed, for some businesses, delaying payment is an essential part of the...
Working from home – what are the benefits?
Advice for contractors and the self-employed. Working from home offers all kinds of benefits, from the opportunity to create the perfect environment in which you can be most productive, to the improvements to work-life balance that come with ditching the commute....
Caseron Insider – June 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Small business owners hit out at 'unfair' UK tax systemRetirees...
Risk assessment and contingency planning for your small business
How to minimise disruption in your business. It has been a challenging and eventful three years for UK businesses with a series of high-profile incidents highlighting how situations can change suddenly and often without warning. From the continued pressure of...
How to Manage Charity Accounts
An overview of accountancy issues in the third sector. If you’re in charge of running a charity, you will know how it differs from operating a business and how its motives and goals vary. Non-profit organisations are treated very differently under the law, and...
Caseron Insider – May 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights MPs call for break-up of Big Four's accountancy Services HMRC...
Personal tax planning for 2019/2020
What you need to know for 2019/20. With the Brexit process rumbling on, Making Tax Digital finally coming into force, and Easter around the corner, now is the time to put your financial plans in place for 2019/20. Income The way you receive an income, and the rates...
Caseron Insider – April 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Government consults on new stamp duty surchargeThousands face huge...
Registering for Making Tax Digital for VAT
Making Tax Digital zero-hour is here. The moment has come: if your business has a taxable turnover above the VAT-registration threshold, which is currently £85,000, you’re now obliged to keep records in digital form and to file your VAT returns using HMRC-approved...
The politics of tax breaks
How did we end up with such a complex system of tax reliefs? If there’s one thing accountants love, it’s identifying obscure tax reliefs to which you may be entitled and using them to reduce your tax bills. Tax reliefs, or tax breaks as they are sometimes called,...
Brexit: Preparing businesses for leaving the EU
What can your firm do before 29 March 2019? As the clock continues to tick down to the 29 March 2019, when the UK is scheduled to officially leave the EU at 11pm, there is still much uncertainty around what Brexit will mean for UK business. What is certain is that it...
Caseron Insider – March 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights HMRC error hits early-paying self-assessment taxpayers Minimum...
Changes to probate in 2019
Controversial fee increase set to take place from April. From April 2019, some estates in England and Wales could be required to pay almost £6,000 for a service that currently costs less than 4% of that amount. This is because of a proposed change to the fees families...
The risks of a tax investigation
Will HMRC come knocking on your door? It’s a fact – humans are bad at assessing risk. We’re terrified of things that rarely happen (plane crashes, power station meltdowns) but relatively blasé about things that are statistically more likely to harm us, such as...
Caseron Insider – February 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Auto-enrolment fines rise 146% Dual-registration service passes...
National Insurance Planning
Obligations and opportunities. National insurance contributions (NICs) are set aside to pay the state pension and other benefits, but due to the UK’s ageing population the National Insurance Fund is under increasing strain, with the state pension taking up more than...
Outsourcing Payroll
Does it make sense for your business? Around 1.4 million businesses in the UK employed members of staff in 2018, and all of them shared one thing in common: the legal requirement to run payroll. This task consumes a large amount of time each month, with multiple...
Caseron Insider – January 2019
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Businesses getting to grips with Apprenticeship levyR&D...
Estate Planning – Writing your Will
How to plan and make a legally valid will. Most people don’t like to think about their own mortality, but planning for the future is important to ensure your property, money and possessions are distributed the way you intend. Writing a legally valid will is an...
Completing your self-assessment tax return
What you need to know before filing your self-assessment tax return for 2018/2019. It’s a common scenario. As the year draws to a close, the thought of your tax return is there, at the back of your mind. But with so much time before the deadline, you decide not to...
Caseron Insider – December 2018
Each month we bring you the latest tax and business updates with our Insider Newsletter. Take a look at this month's insights below, or download our Newsletter and read it at your leisure. Highlights Annual investment allowance to rise to £1m Small retailers get...
Starting a business
What you need to know before launching a startup. Britain is a nation of fearless entrepreneurs, but the likes of Richard Branson and James Dyson didn’t go from rags to riches instantly. Branson needed a £300 loan to get his magazine up and running after dropping out...
Deregistering for VAT
When and how to begin the process of deregistration. These days VAT thresholds are the subject of much speculation, with the Government concerned that many business owners deliberately choose to stay below the VAT-registration threshold. Limiting your ambition in this...
Caseron Insider – November 2018
Chancellor mull abolishing dividend allowance
Apprenticeships fall 31% in the last academic year
Treasury shelves plan to scrap class 2 NICs
IPPR leads call to replace inheritance tax system
Autumn Budget 2018
Autumn Statement 2017 – Chancellor Philip Hammond said he’d take a “balanced approach” to his second Budget of 2017
Using pension funds in your business
How your pension funds can help finance your business. As traditional loans fall out of favour with increasing numbers of business owners, you may be looking for an alternative route for financing – and your pension could be the answer. Data from the British Business...
Extracting profits from a business
What are the tax implications? People run businesses for a variety of reasons from passion to pride, but making a living is high up the list for most people. How do you go about drawing profit from your business, and doing so efficiently? If your business operates as...
How to complete a W-8 BEN-E Form
If you trade with a customer in the US, you may be asked to complete a W-8 form before your customer will arrange payment of your invoice. This article looks at the W-8 form in more detail and considers how a micro business would fill the W-8 form in. What is a W-8...