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Pension reforms could cost £5 billion
The pension reforms introduced by George Osborne could cost £5 billion and push house prices up in the long term, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
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VAT after Brexit
What could happen to VAT after the UK has left the European Union? On 23 June 2016, the British public voted in one of the most important referendums of modern times. The public’s decision to leave the EU will have an impact on almost every aspect of economic life. Trading relationships will need to be…
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Employee benefits & rewarding staff
A guide to rewarding your staff and the tax treatment of employee benefits. Many of us do not really think about the commitment that employees make to their employers in terms of time. The average 9 – 5 worker with their 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday is likely to work around 1,880 hours a year.…
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Paper tax return deadline
The deadline to submit your self-assessment paper tax return for the 2015/16 tax year is 31 October 2016. Tax returns must account for all income received during each tax year running from 6 April to 5 April.
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Tax-free childcare scheme 2017
The government’s tax-free childcare scheme is due to launch in early 2017. As part of the scheme, parents will be able to set up an online account with HMRC to pay for childcare with a registered provider. The government will top up the account by 20% up to a total of £10,000. The maximum government…
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EU employees & residency
EU employees are concerned about their residency status following the EU referendum. A British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) survey of 800 companies who employ EU workers found that 41% of businesses say their EU staff are worried.
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Corporation tax & allowances
Businesses paid £44.4 billion in corporation tax in 2015/16, according to figures from HMRC.
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Personal financial planning – what you need to know
No one should be without a financial plan. Read our guide to get started. Achieving your financial goals is made harder when you don’t have a plan laid out on paper. Without a timescale, a sense of priority and an idea of how you will use your money in the future, how can you be…
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National insurance planning
An overview of the types of national insurance and advice on how to make sure you don’t pay too much. Since its introduction in 1911, national insurance (NI) has changed from a form of protection against ill-health and unemployment to include a wider range of benefits. Today it helps people build entitlement to the state…
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IHT receipts increase year on year
Inheritance tax (IHT) receipts totalled £4.7 billion in 2015/16, a 22% increase on the previous year. Without taking inflation into account, this is the highest receipts have been since the IHT system was introduced in 1986.
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Hourly minimum wage 1st October 2016
New hourly national minimum wage (NMW) rates come into effect on 1 October 2016. Employers are already legally required to pay eligible workers who are 25 or over the national living wage (NLW) of £7.20 an hour.
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Property wealth exceeds savings and pensions
69% of over-45 homeowners say that their home is worth more than their pensions, savings and investments combined, research by Aviva has found.
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Apprenticeship training costs
Employers with 50 employees or fewer will have up to 100% of their apprenticeship training costs funded by the government. The government has announced more details about its apprenticeship programme and the funding that will be available to businesses that take on apprentices. The proposals relate to the reform of apprentice funding in May 2017.
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Gifts and IHT
How gifts can reduce your liability for inheritance tax. Inheritance tax (IHT) at 40% is due on the portion of a person’s estate that exceeds £325,000. This can be reduced to 36% if 10% (or more) of the estate is given to charity. Married couples and civil partners can transfer any unused allowance to their…
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Audits and accounts
A guide to keeping accounts and how an audit can benefit your business. An audit is an official inspection of a company or organisation’s accounts by an independent body. A company can choose to be audited in order to prove to its investors or shareholders that its accounts are sound.
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Cash flow issues
Small business owners spend 10% of their working day chasing payments, according to research by Xero. London businesses spend the most time chasing payments, up to 1.5 days each month followed by 1.3 days in Wales. Customers who themselves are waiting for payments and a lack of consistency on payment terms are the main reasons…
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Help to buy ISA’s
More than half a million people have opened a Help to Buy ISA since the scheme was launched in December 2015. The Help to Buy ISA allows people to save up to £200 a month while receiving a 25% government bonus. The figures show that the average price of a home purchased using a Help…
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Self-employment
The number of self-employed workers increased from 3.8 million in 2008 to 4.6 million in 2015. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the number of part-time, self-employed workers grew 88% between 2001 and 2015, compared to 25% for full-time, self-employed workers. Part-time workers accounted for 1.2 percentage points of the overall…
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Business rates
A system to allow businesses to check and appeal business rates bills has been announced. The aim is to ensure that disputes are settled more promptly. Currently, over 955,000 appeals have been submitted against rating valuations but less than 2% of business rates appeals proceed to a tribunal hearing. The new process is part of…
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Lifetime ISA’s – what you need to know
A guide to the Lifetime ISA. Announced by Chancellor George Osborne in Budget 2016 and launching on 6 April 2017, the Lifetime ISA is designed to provide a tax-efficient option for people saving for a first home or retirement.
