Mergers within the charities sector continue to rise. According to data collected by the Charities Commission, mergers have increased over the last three years.
New figures from GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Action Fraud have revealed rising losses to online scammers during the festive shopping season.
Recent increases in interest rates have led many professional services firms to earn more interest on client funds held in deposit accounts. As bank interest may be treated as a VAT-exempt supply, law firms and other businesses with significant interest income should assess whether this additional income affects their ability to recover VAT on overhead costs under the partial exemption rules.
VAT rules in construction are complex and it’s vital that building and construction companies are aware of the VAT liability of their supplies, and any associated VAT reclaim criteria on costs. From zero rated VAT to the Domestic Reverse Charge, it’s important to understand what rules apply when for specific projects.
The freeze continues as widely expected, the Chancellor, faced with a black hole in the public finances, has chosen to freeze income tax thresholds beyond April 2028, when they were due to start to increase. However, she went beyond the expectations of many and has decided that the thresholds should remain frozen for the following three years, meaning there will be no increase until April 2031.
Today’s budget announcement was awaited by many with a degree of trepidation. Once we got past the early release of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report, the markets stabilised with the FTSE100, bond markets and sterling all being a little positive. As ever, there is more detail to come out in the respective papers, but the overriding feeling is one of complication.
The build up to today’s Budget has been one of the most drawn out and talked about that I can remember. Not a day has gone by without some new tax increase/measure being discussed in the press, with many predicting that we were in for an announcement full of bad news.
Employers are once again expected to shoulder a greater share of the cost impact of today's Budget, which arguably contradicts Labour's pledge to support businesses and grow the economy.
Savers and those holding large amounts of cash after a house sale, an insurance payout or receipt of an inheritance will soon receive further protection for their cash.
Increasing costs, regulatory changes and recruitment stood out as the key challenges impacting business growth over the next three years, as highlighted by this year’s respondents to our recently released 2025 Family, Privately Owned and Owner-managed Business Survey.