In his latest Budget speech to the Commons, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage would increase from April next year. However, despite many employees across the UK welcoming this sudden pay rise, small business owners across the UK are being left to pick up the bill. From April… Read more…

According to a new report by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), there have been a growing number of R40 computation errors on refunds processed by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Individuals can use R40 forms to claim tax refunds on tax deducted from savings income. Following the CIOT report, HMRC has now confirmed that… Read more…

Minimum wage breaches, including breaches of the National Living Wage, have cost workers from across the UK a combined total of £15.6 million in lost wages. Figures released by the Government show that around 200,000 workers were affected in 2017/18, in what was the highest underpayment since the National Minimum Wage was introduced. In total,… Read more…

With only six months left until the launch of Making Tax Digital for VAT, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has finally begun sharing information with businesses about the new regime. While accountants and professional advisers across the UK have been making clients aware of the new digital system for more than two years, the nation’s… Read more…

Recent research has shown that micro businesses are bearing the brunt of late payments, with just 52 per cent of the invoices they issue being paid on time. However, the research found significant regional variation, with 68 per cent of micro businesses in Peterborough encountering the scourge of late payments. The research was based on… Read more…

The number of investigations conducted against estates thought to be avoiding Inheritance Tax (IHT) has increased, according to new data from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The tax authority has revealed that 5,400 estates were investigated during the 2017/18 tax year – a five per cent increase on the previous year’s figure (5,100 estates). This… Read more…

The Government has launched a new savings account that offers savers a 50 per cent tax-free bonus on the money they deposit. The new Help to Save account will offer savers up to 50p for every £1 that they save, which could mean that people could benefit from as much as £1,200 of tax-free money… Read more…

On average, less than one in 10 SME loan applications to one nameless high street bank are successful. The figures were released by SME funding platform, Code Investing, whose CEO, Ayan Mitra, said: “Due to regulation, due to banks having huge cost structures, due to SMEs not having standardised data, there’s quite a big funding… Read more…