Latest News

R&D Tax Relief Claims rise again

HMRC has today published its most recent R&D tax relief statistics and they continue to show a positive upward trend.

The stats are up to the 2013-14 tax year and include RDEC for the first time (the replacement to the Large company scheme).

Since the introduction of the relief in 2000, almost 120,000 companies have made claims and £11.4bn in tax relief has been claimed. 33,800 companies have claimed the SME relief and 7,800 have claimed under the Large scheme.

Double shortlist success in The British Accountancy Awards

Armstrong Watson are delighted to announce they have been shortlisted in not one but two categories in The British Accountancy Awards. The firm has been shortlisted in the ‘Top 50 Wealth Management Team of The Year’ and ‘Top 50 Tax Team of The Year’ categories.

The national awards, now in their 5th year, will take place on Tuesday 24th November at the Brewery in London.

The 2014 awards attracted more than 600 guests from practices all over the country including the small local firms to the larger regional, national and global players.

Technical, Manager or Entrepreneur – what role do you fulfil in your business?

Following on from my article last month recommending the business book the E-Myth Revisited, I thought I’d share in a little more detail about the introduction to the book.

What is The E-Myth? - That all business owners are Entrepreneurs. Michael Gerber disputes this and believes that all business owners have an entrepreneurial moment and in that moment they decide to set up in business.

Gerber believes that in any successful business you need three types of people:

Grant funding for business

The number and type of funding schemes available across the country are vast and ever changing. Many businesses can easily miss out on some extremely useful opportunities to help support the growth of their business, for many different reasons. Common reasons will include; not knowing what is out there, uncertainty about what is suitable for their business or even fear of the application process.

Thinking about taking your pension benefits? Beware of the potential tax traps

Due to the potential complexities involved, it makes sense to be able to deal with a firm that offers both financial planning and tax advice under one roof and Armstrong Watson can help.

As our previous articles have highlighted, those aged 55 and over now have significantly greater flexibility when accessing their pension funds and according to recent press reports, have withdrawn in excess of £1bn from their pension savings since the freedoms were introduced in April.

A (Taxing) Summer in Provence

Many of our clients have French connections and if you have spent any time in France this summer and are considering investment there, or already own property there, here are some of the tax issues you might want to consider. 

Letting French Property 

We have a number of clients who live in the UK, but own and let property in France. 

Corporate debt – how does a business survive in the event of death or illness of a partner or director?

Many businesses have some form of borrowing in place; often loans to assist with capital projects such as the purchase of premises or plant and machinery, or overdrafts to assist with shorter term working capital. Many directors also make substantial financial commitments to their businesses via director’s loan accounts.

The only book you need to take to the beach this year

Over the last ten years I have helped many start-up businesses, along with more established businesses looking for growth. September/October is always a busy period for business start-ups and I’ve found that time off with the family creates the thinking time needed to make decisions about launching a new venture.

A coup for Armstrong Watson as new Director of Payroll Services takes up position

Armstrong Watson is delighted to announce the appointment of Karen Thomson who will be taking up the position of Director of Payroll Services from this week.

Karen, who is vastly influential in the world of Payroll, will be bringing her wealth of experience and knowledge to the role and will be taking up the position, utilising her skills and knowledge to drive Armstrong Watson’s payroll services forward with a national agenda. 

Karen has spent the past 13 years creating, influencing and directing Policy at the CIPP where she worked as Associate Director of Policy.

HMRC accessing bank accounts – should you be worried?

Once the Finance (No 2) Act 2015 receives Royal Assent (likely to be in late September or early October), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will gain powers to collect tax debts directly from taxpayers’ bank accounts.

The debts affected by this include any tax liability, penalties, interest, overpaid tax credits and amounts included in an Accelerated Payment Notice.

HMRC have said that these powers are aimed for those who won’t pay rather than those who can’t pay, and as such there are certain safeguards which have been put in place.