Latest News

Can you afford to ignore the new Employment Allowance?

From 6 April 2014 employers can claim to reduce their employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) by up to £2,000 under a scheme called the ‘Employment Allowance’.

You can claim the Employment Allowance if you are a business or charity (including CASC’s) that pays employer Class 1 NICs on your employees’ or directors’ earnings. You can only claim the £2,000 Employment Allowance against one PAYE scheme where multiple schemes are in operation for a business.

Some businesses are excluded from this allowance including those who;

A good Budget for coffee shop owners?

The first episode in the BBC’s Business Boomers series aired last week with the series of four episodes focusing on businesses that have boomed despite the tough economic climate. Episode one took a look at the UK coffee shop market, one in which well-known brands such as Starbucks, Costa and Café Nero dominate but where small independents also have their place to thrive.

Landlords – HMRC let property campaign

Landlords who have failed to declare their rental earnings are being warned to pay up or face harsher penalties. HMRC’s let property campaign is targeting widespread tax evasion on property lettings, and estimates that 1m buy-to-let and other private landlords are not declaring their rental income, depriving the public treasury funds of £550m a year. Such initiatives have been a cost-effective way for HMRC to recover tax in a range of sectors, with voluntary disclosures in past campaigns yielding more than £500m since 2007.

Is now a good time for you to consider a Members Voluntary Liquidation?

Incorporations on the up across the Armstrong Watson region

Information provided by Bureau Van Dijk (data compiled from Companies House) shows that the number of company incorporations have risen during the calendar year 2013 across all our regions compared to 2012.  This is yet a further sign that the economic outlook is improving.

Corporate partner structures – what happens now

The Government announced at the Autumn Statement last year new legislation regarding ‘mixed partnerships’.  These are partnerships which are made up of individuals and, generally, a company or ‘Corporate Partner’ and have been popular and flexible structures that provide the benefits of both a partnership and an incorporated entity.

Legislation was introduced on 5 December 2013 and the main changes are set to apply from 6 April 2014. Our Tax Consultancy Team have reviewed the legislation in detail and considered the likely impact on our Corporate Partner Structures.

Nine reasons why you should consider accepting card payments

Accepting card payments has become the norm for many businesses but there are still many that have not yet taken the leap and joined the plastic revolution, and the main reason for resisting is cost.

I have recommended to many of my clients that they should see past the downside of cost, and consider the benefits of accepting card payments. This is not the preserve of retailers, it is also equally beneficial for business to business operations.

I have set out below nine benefits to businesses that accept card payments.

Four tax benefits (and one disadvantage) to marriage/civil partnership

Since it’s only a couple of days until the Valentines weekend, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to balance out my last article on divorce with a look at how tax works in marriage and civil partnerships. I’d like to say it’s essential reading should you be thinking of popping the question, but I suspect mentioning the tax advantages in your proposal won’t be seen as desperately romantic. Still, it does no harm to be fully prepared…

Agriculture grants open for a limited time

The latest rounds of both the Farming and Forestry Improvement and Catchments Sensitive Farming Grants are now open again.

The application windows for these grants are quite tight. Please see the links below for more details on both schemes.

Farming and Forestry Improvement Grants - deadline 4 April 2014

Catchments Sensitive Farming Grants - deadline 31 March 2014

Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster Member Meeting

Today I attended the monthly BECBC member meeting at Energus, Lillyhall (Workington) . There were over 100 in the auditorium again, which seems to be the case every month now. The membership of the cluster now exceeds 200, and 13 new members were listed on screen for January 2014.