Are rates of pay and skills shortages limiting the manufacturing industry?

In recent times the national living wage (NLW) and the national minimum wage (NMW), have been introduced to ensure workers earn sufficient funds to afford a decent standard of living.

The Manufacturing Industry and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

For those of you with a good grasp of numbers, the fourth Industrial Revolution would suggest that there have been three earlier ones. I did have a box of mince pies left over from Christmas for the first person who could tell me what the first three were but unfortunately I ate them!!

The First Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the late 1700s to the early 1800s.  This included the coal, iron, textiles and rail roads and early introduction of machinery, steam power and the rise of the factory system.

Spotlight on Manufacturing: Is servitisation the future and what is the Internet of Things?

I recently bought a pair of running shoes.  It occurred to me that there was a time when I would have simply wandered around the shop to check that they were comfortable and, if they were, I’d have bought them.

Nowadays when I buy running shoes, I’m sold on the technological advancements.  I want to see gait analysis to ensure the running shoes will match my style of running and I want to be offered additional products and services to enhance my running.

Changes to the Charity Commission Annual Return

All charities whose annual income exceeds £10,000 must complete the annual return.  The Annual Return 2018 applies to all charities with financial years ending from 1 January 2018.  Charities have ten months from the end of the financial year to complete the return.

HMRC seizes assets from 2,000 small firms.

It was October 2017 when I commented that “HMRC have their sights on small business” as HMRC were on record saying that SME’s dodge the most tax, releasing figures showing that small to medium sized businesses are responsible for 51% of the £5.2bn “tax gap” between what is owed and what is paid.

HMRC put tax-avoiding small businesses in to four categories, the “unthinking evader”, the “invested evader”, the “lifestyle evader” and the “systematic evader”.

Are you thinking about VAT at your works Christmas party?

I am almost sure that the first thing that everyone thinks about when the office Christmas party is mentioned is what should be done about the input VAT incurred, but for those that don’t think like this (maybe it’s just me), I thought it would be useful to give a quick reminder on the correct treatment.

When only employees of the business attend the Christmas party then this is seen as staff entertainment and is deemed to be wholly for the purposes of the business, and input VAT incurred on the event is fully recoverable.

Inheritance tax – a tax of choice?

Originally featured on Unbiased, November 28. 

If you asked your friends, ‘Who do you want to leave your money to when you die?’ some of them might say, ‘The taxman’ – but only if they have grown-up children who work for HMRC. Otherwise, it’s safe to say that most of us would prefer our families to inherit as much of our wealth as possible.

Get them while they're hot!

In the Budget of 2012 George Osborne initially proposed imposing VAT on all hot food. This had the effect of uniting the North and South—(Well the South West anyway). Yes 20% vat on pies, steak bakes and the venerable Cornish pasty beloved by the masses and not just in Cornwall!

The media loved this and portrayed it as an attack on the staple diet of the working classes of Great Britain. After a relatively short media campaign, the government relented and brought in some new, more complicated rules on hot food. This was sufficient to appease the bakers, and the consumers.

Staff parties and gifts at Christmas are not always tax free!

With Christmas just around the corner and staff Christmas parties in full swing, businesses need to ensure they keep the taxman happy as well as employees.  

There are Christmas exemptions for trivial gifts, but there are some conditions.

Budget Highlights for UK Manufacturing

Whilst the recent budget didn’t throw up any significant headline announcements for our Manufacturing Sector, there were various items outlined which should have a positive impact on the sector, including:

Research & Development

The rate of the R&D expenditure credit for non SMEs will be increased from 11% to 12% with effect from 1 January 2018.

Enterprise Investment Scheme