HINTS AND TIPS

Your business is growing. You are scaling successfully. Your cash reserves are increasing to the point that you are wondering how you can make your excess cash work harder for you. Where can you invest it? You are building a fabulous team of loyal, hard-working and...

An introduction to the PAYE Settlement Agreement. "A PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) allows you to make one annual payment to cover all the tax and National Insurance due on minor, irregular or impractical expenses (or benefits) for your employees." What does HMRC's...

An introduction to the main business tax. VAT is a business tax on the supply of goods and services. It is charged at varying rates depending on what is being supplied, who it is being supplied to and where it is being supplied to. But with Brexit, temporary rate...

COVID-19 prompts high demand for UK holidays. Owning and letting out a holiday home, otherwise known as a furnished holiday let (FHL), has always been a popular way of investing and earning income. Not only do FHLs enjoy many tax advantages over normal residential let...

What’s ahead for companies, from rate rises to Making Tax Digital. For the past 40 years or so, corporate tax rates have decreased steadily around the world. In 1980, the global average stood at around 40%, but by the end of 2020 it was closer to 24% as various...

For employers, employees and the self-employed. Our state pension, benefits, health service and more are all funded by National Insurance contributions (NICs). These are paid in different ways and at different rates by employers, employees and the self-employed, and...

Meeting your obligations amid COVID-19 disruption. It’s not often that HMRC makes exceptions to its tax deadlines or late-filing penalties, but the past year has, as in so many ways, been different. Between optional deadline deferrals, new payment schemes and...

Reaching international markets in 2021 and beyond. The UK has left the EU, and for British exporters, that presents both opportunity and uncertainty. There’s potential for businesses to branch out to new markets outside of the EU, but that comes with a new set of...

The effects on supply chains from 1 March 2021. Those working in the UK’s construction industry will have to handle and pay VAT differently from 1 March 2021, unless there’s another last-minute Government U-turn. This is when the VAT domestic reverse charge for...

Christmas is a time of generosity and festive frolick, however, it can also be a tax trap for the overly generous employer. Here are a few tips on how to avoid unwanted taxes. The Annual Christmas Party Everyone likes a good party Reasonable costs of entertaining...

Life after mortgage interest relief for landlords. Historically, landlords have enjoyed generous income and capital gains tax reliefs which helped make residential property an attractive investment for those looking to add to their monthly incomes or provide for...

A property tax shake-up fuels a house buying surge. If you are considering moving home in the second half of 2020/21, you are by no means alone. In the month leading up to 8 August 2020, 149,000 properties were put on the market – the highest number since before the...

Why 2019/20 is the year to get your self-assessment tax return done early With everything that’s happened so far this year, it might be easy to forget your obligations to file a tax return for 2019/20 by midnight on 31 January 2021. The coronavirus pandemic and...

Our top tips for keeping good VAT records Good housekeeping in the 'financial' sense is essential for keeping on top of your bookkeeping and VAT records. 1. Keeping trading records in good order Not only must you keep the records HMRC wants, but they must be ordered...

Managing and planning business tax during COVID-19. Even among those who follow good tax-planning practice and maintain forecasts running several years forward, it is unlikely that many foresaw the dramatic end to the 2019/20 tax year. With the arrival of COVID-19 and...

New measures announced in economic update. Since the Budget in March, businesses have seen a stream of different support schemes and policies announced to help them manage the financial impacts of the coronavirus lockdown. When Chancellor Rishi Sunak stood in the...

What to expect from tax probes in 2020/21. After temporarily pausing tax investigations as COVID-19 business support measures rolled out earlier this year, HMRC has restarted probes into businesses and individuals’ tax affairs. The Revenue has also started to direct...

How it works and interacts with capital allowances. The VAT capital goods scheme affects input VAT recovery relating to high-value capital assets. Input VAT is a tax incurred on most purchases made by VAT-registered firms, and they can usually reclaim it from HMRC in...