The government has launched consultations on key changes to employee benefits and expenses. The consultations, which began on 18 June, followed an announcement in the March 2014 Budget of measures designed to simplify the administration of employee benefits in kind (BiKs) and expenses. Separate consultations are being held on each of four proposals: abolishing the… Read more…

Businesses have been warned that HM Revenue & Customs will challenge attempts to claim capital allowances beyond their scope after a multi-million pound claim made by one of the UK’s largest clothing retailers was rejected for the second time by a tax tribunal. Next Distribution Limited, part of the Next Group Plc, claimed the Industrial… Read more…

UK small businesses could be damaging their growth prospects by paying accountants who aren’t even qualified, an accountancy body has warned. The ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) issued the alert on 27 May, after research from cloud accounting software provider ClearBooks showed just eight per cent of small businesses considered an accountant’s qualifications… Read more…

Late payment remains a concern for many small businesses, according to the latest research from the national small business group, the Forum of Private Business. In the organisation’s latest banking and finance survey, published on 13 May, 23 per cent of members reported an increase in late payment over the past year compared with only… Read more…

UK businesses will be able to better protect their intellectual property rights in the UK and abroad as new legislation was given the final go-ahead. A key part of the new Intellectual Property Act, which received Royal Assent on 14 May, is to create new powers for the UK to implement the Unified Patent Court… Read more…

Thousands of UK businesses have given a frank assessment of banking services on a groundbreaking new website. The Business Banking Insight (BBI) website, which looks at how well the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are being served by banks, went live on 28 May. Commissioned by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, BBI is… Read more…

New figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have revealed that it brought in a record £23.9 billion in extra taxes over the last year, after stepping activity to make sure people pay all the tax they owe. The additional tax, brought in through HMRC investigations, on top of funds collected from those who pay their… Read more…

Further details have been published of a time-limited opportunity for pensioners to make extra national insurance contributions (NICs) top up their state pension. The scheme was originally announced as part of the Autumn Statement on 5 December last year and Budget 2014 confirmed that it would be open for 18 months from October 2015 and… Read more…

Late payment remains a concern for many small businesses according to the latest research from the national small business group, the Forum of Private Business. In the organisation’s latest banking and finance survey, published on 22 April, 23 per cent of members reported an increase in late payment over the past year compared with only… Read more…

Employers struggling to meet their automatic enrolment duties should raise the alert with the Pensions Regulator sooner rather than later, the organisation has warned. The alert came as the regulator published its first automatic enrolment report under section 89 of the Pensions Act 2004, designed to help employers avoid non-compliance. The report, issued on 24… Read more…