As the National Minimum Wage prepares to go up this month, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has released its latest ‘rogue’s gallery’ of under payers – and it is the biggest list to date. More than 350 employers were found to have failed to pay either the National Minimum Wage (NMW) or… Read more…

New research from the Bank of England has shown that Britain’s businesses are feeling more confident and are planning to invest more in the months ahead. According to the Bank’s most recent Agents’ Summary of Business Conditions, investment in research and development, renewable energy and automation is likely to increase later this year, despite fears… Read more…

While changes affecting private residential landlords have made headlines in recent years, the ATED regime is a significant cost for companies, LLPs and partnerships that own a UK residential property valued at more than £500,000. The ATED regime requires you to file a return and pay tax due for the 2017-18 tax year by 30… Read more…

With the clocks now having sprung forward and the new tax year upon us, what better time to give your business’ finances a spring clean? There are a number of steps you can take to ensure that you make the most of 2017-18 and to set your business up for future success. The most important… Read more…

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is actively pursuing cash businesses to ensure that they properly account for VAT. Business owners often encounter overzealous HMRC officers, who try to extrapolate findings for certain days of trade over many years to estimate a liability. This extrapolation gives rise to large assessments, which are then followed by large… Read more…

Payments in Lieu of Notice (PILON), one aspect of a typical redundancy payment, alongside compensation for loss of employment, is set to lose its tax-free exemption, which currently applies to payments of up to £30,000, where it is not a contractual requirement. The changes, which are included in draft legislation and set to come into… Read more…

If you provide cars to your employees for their own private use, you will need to report this to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) using form P11D at the end of the tax year. The value you will need to list for any vehicles provided in this way is set by HMRC and reflects the… Read more…

Research published by FreeAgent has found that a fifth of the smallest business are unaware of Making Tax Digital (MTD) – HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) flagship policy, which will introduce quarterly electronic reporting for most businesses. The FreeAgent survey also found that 84 per cent of micro-businesses thought the Government had not provided enough… Read more…

In April 2017, businesses are expecting to receive the first indication of their new business rates following the latest revaluation. Although many businesses are expecting small falls in business rates, around a third are expecting very sharp rises. Around a fifth of these, mainly located in the South East where property prices are higher, are… Read more…

From 1 April 2017, the statutory wage for employees in the UK is to increase. The change will mean that those aged 25 and over in receipt of the National Living Wage will see their hourly rate increase from £7.20 to £7.50. Meanwhile, workers aged 21–24 will also see an increase of 10p from £6.95… Read more…