Employers across the UK are starting April with a sudden increase in employment costs following a rise in workplace pension contributions and minimum wage costs. The sharp increase in expenditure on staff couldn’t come at a worse time for business who are experiencing growing uncertainty over the UK and wider global economy. Minimum contributions for… Read more…

A recent survey conducted by UK Finance revealed that more than four in 10 UK businesses are unaware of the potential risks associated with invoice fraud. Last year these scams cost UK firms almost £93 million, with 3,280 invoice and bank scam cases reported – costing on average £28,000 per case. Fortunately, in 2018, £29.6… Read more…

A Government scheme set up by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is advising parents to apply for the Tax-Free Childcare scheme, which provides contributions on savings used to cover childcare costs. Research has revealed that more than a million families are failing to make use of the Tax-Free Childcare scheme. The Tax-Free Childcare scheme is… Read more…

New research from internet service provider, Beaming, has revealed that in 2018 UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were affected by cybercrime to the tune of £17.4 billion. Business cybercrime is the flavour of the month for fraudsters, with hacking, phishing and data breaches affecting millions of UK companies and causing billions of pounds of… Read more…

Lorraine Kelly has won an appeal against HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) at a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) following a £1.2 million demand for unpaid income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs). HMRC claimed that Lorraine Kelly should have been working inside the rules of IR35 at ITV Breakfast Ltd during the relevant period. This… Read more…

Launched on 1 April 2019, most VAT registered businesses are now required to comply with the new Making Tax Digital for VAT regime. However, many businesses may not be aware that they are required to register to use the new system and that this process can take up to seven working days to complete. If… Read more…

New research suggests that the UK’s SMEs could benefit to the tune of as much as £57 billion over the next five years because of digital productivity improvements associated with HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative. The report by research firm, Volterra Partners, anticipates a ‘digital snowball’ effect from the launch… Read more…

While 93.68 per cent of the 11.5 million taxpayers who were required to file their Self-Assessment Tax Returns by midnight on 31 January did so on time, 731,186 missed the deadline. Those who missed the deadline will have to wait longer than in previous years to receive penalty notifications from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).… Read more…

New advisory fuel rates from 1 March 2019 for drivers of company cars have fallen for all but one class of vehicle. The rates apply where a business is reimbursing employees for travel in a company car, or where employees must repay the cost of fuel used when travelling in a company car in a… Read more…