Latest News

Gift Aid changes on giving to charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASCs)

HMRC have updated their guidance concerning a charity's obligation to make donors aware of their liability for any shortfall should they have paid insufficient tax to cover Gift Aid claims.

Donors must be charged an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for the tax year in which Gift Aid donations are made at least equal to the Income Tax treated as deducted from the total of all their Gift Aid donations made in that tax year. Donors who haven’t been charged sufficient tax to cover the Income Tax deducted from their Gift Aid donations will owe the amount of the shortfall in Income Tax to HMRC.

Get ready for the latest changes to the SRA Accounts Rules

After initially saying it was thinking of removing the requirement for law firms to submit an accountant’s report, the SRA has issued its new requirements, which make a number of changes for firms with periods ending on or after 1 November 2015.

Armstrong Watson win Best use of Digital and Social Media award at the CN Group Business Awards

Armstrong Watson were privileged to attend the CN Group Business Awards Ceremony at Carlisle Racecourse last Wednesday where they won the award for ‘Best use of Digital and Social Media’.

Farmers able to get specialist grant advice at Borderway Agri-Expo

Armstrong Watson are offering local farmers a unique opportunity to talk to a specialist at the Borderway Agri-Expo about the grants that they might be eligible for. The event takes place on Friday 30 October at Borderway Mart, Rosehill, Carlisle.

Linda Collins wins Accolade at Northern Society of Chartered Accountants

Linda Collins, 29, Trainee Chartered Accountant at Armstrong Watson has received an award at the Northern Society of Chartered Accountants Business and Awards Dinner, which took place last Friday 16 October at Newcastle Civic Centre.

Linda was awarded the ‘Northern Society BASE Mentor of the Year Award’, over competition from the whole of the North of England, including Tyne and Wear, Cumbria and Teeside.

Let Property Campaign collects £5,000 per taxpayer

A total of £50m has been brought in by the ongoing HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) let property campaign since its launch in September 2013.

In our let property campaign article in March 2014, we advised that HMRC were targeting £550m which they believed was being under-declared so the actual collection falls some way short of the expected tax haul. It is also far less than their more successful campaign that targeted offshore savings and netted in excess of £500m.

Armstrong Watson joins the Xero Partner Advisory Council

Last month I had the pleasure of being invited to Xero’s Head Quarters, in Milton Keynes to take part in their newly launched Xero Partner Advisory Council (XPAC).  The XPAC is made up of carefully selected Xero partners who will help shape the future of Xero from an accounting firm’s point of view.

So what did I learn from the day?

Firstly, that Xero was the right decision.

Energy & Renewables - how we can help you keep the lights on

As a firm with a keen interest in Energy & Renewables, it’s easy to see why we are hearing more and more about “keeping the lights on”. Regardless of what stance you take in the energy debate, few would argue that energy security isn’t one of the most critical things on the country’s agenda right now.

The UK’s energy that comes from low carbon sources is still low at 12%. Other countries leading the way stand at over 40%. Decarbonisation is a huge challenge and it will take a significant effort in the coming years to hit government and EU targets.

The season of change

It is at this time of year that we see the most distinct change in our natural surroundings, with autumn bringing a dramatic array of colours from greens to reds, yellows and browns in our trees. This of course marks the move from the summer months to the winter months and like nature, those of us running businesses must prepare for the tough months ahead.

Buy before Christmas to get more tax relief!

Well, strictly, if your business has a year end which straddles 31 December 2015, then it needs to buy any assets that qualify for the annual investment allowance (AIA) before 31 December 2015 in order to maximise its AIA claim.

The AIA is currently £500,000. This decreases to £200,000 from 1 January 2016.  However, the rules work in a bizarre way for businesses that have accounting periods which straddle 31 December 2015. For a business with a 31 January 2016 year end the maximum AIA is 11/12 of £500,000 + 1/12 of £200,000 = £475,000. So far, so good.  However, the maximum spend in January 2016 that would qualify is only 1/12 of £200,000 = £16,667!