Having listened to stakeholder feedback from businesses and the accounting profession, the government have announced that they will introduce Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) a year later than planned, in the tax year beginning in April 2024.
With children starting to go back to schools and nurseries in September, and more employees going back to work full time due to the withdrawal of CJRS support, they may need to start thinking about childcare.
Under the Data Protection, Act 2018 any business, organisation or sole trader that processes personal data needs to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office and pay a data protection fee unless they are exempt.
If you are a landlord with undisclosed rental income then HMRC’s Let Property Campaign is an opportunity to disclose that income and get your tax affairs up to date.
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme has been extended.
If you are an employer looking to create jobs for young people, you can apply for funding as part of the Kickstart Scheme. The scheme is aimed at 16- to 24-year-olds currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.
Cyber Essentials is a government backed scheme that helps businesses to protect themselves from common cyber-attacks and demonstrates their commitment to cybersecurity. Some government contracts require businesses to be Cyber Essentials certified. There are two levels of certification, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus.
Reimburse private fuel by 6th July to avoid fuel benefit tax. One consequence of the recent periods of lockdown is that employees may have driven fewer private miles in their company cars, particularly where they have not been driving to the office.
If you have an individual income over £50,000, and you or your partner receive Child Benefit, you may have to pay a “High Income Child Benefit Charge”. If both party’s income is over the £50,000 threshold, then whoever has the higher income is responsible for paying the tax.
The Coronavirus job Retention Scheme has now been extended until 30th September 2021.
The SME Brexit Support Fund is available to offer help to smaller businesses dealing with changes in customs, rules of origin and VAT rules when trading with the EU.
If you deferred VAT payments between 20th March and 30Th June 2020, and still have payments to make, the VAT Deferral New Payment Scheme is now open.
In his November 2020 comprehensive spending review, Rishi Sunak confirmed that the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase 2.2% to £8.91 from 1 April 2021 and will become available to people aged 23 and above, down from the current age of 25.
IR35, also known as the ‘off-payroll’ legislation was originally introduced in April 2000 to ensure that workers who provide their services through an intermediary (typically their own limited company or an agency) but who would, if contracted directly, be an employee, pay the same amount of tax and National Insurance as employees.
From 1st March 2021 HMRC is introducing the VAT domestic reverse charge for building and construction services. From this date onwards businesses who provide construction services within the CIS scheme will be affected.
As the country enters its third lockdown the government has announced that businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off top-up grant worth up to £9000.
Government announcement of updated financial support during “Lockdown 2” and beyond. Earlier today (5th November2020) the chancellor issued the following statement.
The Government has announced more support will be available for the self-employed in the form of two grants, each available for three-month periods covering November 2020 to January 2021 and February 2021 to April 2021.
The government has now extended the Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) or Furlough by one month beyond the original closure date of 31 October. This means that the Job Support Scheme will not now be introduced until December 2020.
There will be new rules for trade, travel and living in the UK and EU from 1 January 2021. Our aim is to provide you with information and resources to help you manage the change as smoothly as possible.
A summary of the headlines from the Chancellors statement in Parliament where a series of measures to help jobs and businesses were announced.
In July the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government announced £20 million of new government grants to help smaller and medium sized businesses recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The next stage of the Job Retention Scheme commences on the 1st August, when the level of government support will begin to be reduced.
On 1 July the new CJRS “Flexible furlough” grant scheme started, which allows employers to gradually bring their furloughed employees back to work part-time. The new scheme will be in place until the end of October and the Government will gradually reduce the amount of grant towards employees’ furlough pay to 70% in September and 60% in October.
As the Government starts to plan for life after Lockdown a number of changes to the Covid-19 support packages have been announced including: -
Employers will be able to make claims through the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme from 26 May.
Note that the situation is changing daily and you should check the latest position before acting.
We are delighted to have been selected to join the specialist website Handpicked Accountants. The site is a national network made up of high performing accountants from across the country. The online platform connects business owners and company directors with locally based professional accountants.
According to a Cyber Securities Breaching Survey “around a third (32%) of businesses and two in ten charities (22%) report having had cyber security breaches or attacks in the last 12 months” and where a loss of data or assets occurred the average cost of that attack was £4,180.00
An audit does not just provide confidence to the owner that a business is in good shape, it also offers evidence and assurance to third parties. An Audit permits the stakeholders of a business such as shareholders, banks, suppliers, customers and even staff to make better informed decisions about its current performance and their subsequent relationship to it, providing additional comfort when deciding whether to invest in, provide finance to, or trade with that business.
Optimal efficiency is key to running a successful business in today’s fast paced environment. Using available technology to automate procedures can help to achieve significant time and cost savings across many departments, offering enormous benefits.
Most of us are aware of Cloud Accounting systems, the best known of which are QuickBooks Online and Xero, but used to their fullest these are much more than just basic bookkeeping applications.
As the UK prepares to leave the European Union and increasingly likely heading for a no-deal Brexit it is vital that businesses are prepared for the financial implications of this unprecedented change.
Whilst many companies have already started to consider how they will be affected by carrying out formal risk assessments there is still a small window of time to gain understanding and steps all firms should be taking to minimise future disruption - planning ahead now will help to ease transition and hopefully also bring long term benefits.
Businesses are being encouraged by HMRC to register for Making Tax Digital before the August deadline.
According to HMRC 1.2 million businesses with an annual turnover above £85,000 will be affected by new rules requiring them to submit online quarterly returns using compatible software by August 7th; meaning any business wishing to pay by direct debit must register by July 27th.
All businesses need a healthy cashflow to thrive – the old adage “cash is king” is as true now as it ever was.
So here are some of the main reasons businesses have poor cashflow:
Cunningtons
Chartered Certified Accountants & Registered Auditors
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Cunningtons is a trading name of Cunnington & Co Limited
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