The government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ended on 30 September after supporting millions of workers during the pandemic. The government said the wages of more than 11 million people were subsidised for at least some of the scheme’s duration at a cost of around £70 billion. Economists say there is likely to be a… Read more…

The government’s scheme that enables small businesses to recoup statutory sick pay costs caused by COVID-19 closed at the end of September. Legislation ending the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (SSPRS) was laid before parliament on 9 September. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, employers were obliged to pay Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to eligible employees… Read more…

The government has opened a £800 million Reinsurance Scheme to cover live events against cancellations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The live events sector is worth more than £70 billion annually to the UK economy and supports more than 700,000 jobs, including small businesses and the self-employed. The UK Live Events Reinsurance Scheme will support… Read more…

UK workers could get more choice over when and where they work under new proposals to make the right to request flexible working a day one entitlement. The government will also introduce a day one right to one week’s unpaid leave for carers balancing a job with caring responsibilities. The government says the plans will… Read more…

COVID-19 emergency finance schemes offered £80.5 billion of finance to almost 1.7 million businesses through the British Business Bank (BBB) during the last financial year. This support, which is not included under the Bank’s core programmes, was evenly distributed across the nations and regions of the UK. In addition, the BBB supported £8.5 billion through… Read more…

Property within the UK offers a lucrative investment opportunity and is likely to become even more popular in the coming years. We all know how hard it is to get on to the property ladder, particularly for first-time buyers. One of the consequences of this is that more and more people are choosing to rent,… Read more…

HMRC has published a policy paper outlining the forthcoming changes to the penalties for late payment and interest harmonisation for taxpayers. The government intends to reform sanctions for late submission and late payments to make them ‘fairer and more consistent across taxes’. Initially the changes will apply to VAT and Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA).  … Read more…

HMRC has published a consultation that outlines plans to implement reporting rules for digital platforms first put forward by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In February 2020, the OECD consulted on proposed rules setting out how digital platforms should collect information about the income of sellers and report it to tax authorities.… Read more…

The CIOT has warned that some claims being made by firms offering help with Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) refunds are too good to be true. The CIOT says an increasing number of firms are contacting buyers of properties after completion of a purchase, suggesting that SDLT has been overpaid. The most common issues raised… Read more…

The national roll-out of the new £100 spending limit for contactless card payments will begin from 15 October 2021, banking trade body UK Finance has confirmed. The decision to raise the contactless limit from £45 to £100 was made by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following a public consultation and discussions with… Read more…