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  After 30 September 2022, £20 and £50 paper banknotes will no longer be legal tender meaning most businesses and shops will no longer accept them.   It has been just over one year since the newly issued polymer £50 note featuring Alan Turing were bought into circulation. The new polymer notes are more secure…

  As of Thursday last week the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) went live for applications.   With the continuing decline of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), DEFRA is hoping that the SFI will be popular among farmers and landowners, predicting that about 70% will put land into the scheme.   As the name suggests, the…

In a recent tribunal case it was held that an umbrella company, Exchequer Solutions Ltd, had incorrectly treated travel and subsistence payment as non-taxable. The umbrella company was acting as the employer for agency contractors working on temporary contract assignments. Exchequer treated the expenses as tax free on the basis that the assignments lasted less…

There are a few important dates coming over the next couple of years affecting individual taxpayers, who will be seeing changes to the tax they pay, and how they are required to send returns to HMRC.   6 July 2022 – Increase in National Insurance thresholds The income threshold at which employees and the self-employed…

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has been asked by HMRC to share the message below about the recent pausing of Research & Development Tax Credit (RDTC) payments with their members.   Message from HMRC: “We previously notified agents that we have paused some Research & Development Tax Credit (RDTC) payments while we investigate an increase…

  If your business was adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, then you may wish to consider whether your insurance covered you for business interruption – as you could be due an insurance pay-out in relation to your loss of earnings. When calculating your loss of earnings, there are a number of factors that you…

With the rising cost of living, it has never been more important to ensure you are paying the correct amount of tax through your PAYE tax code. It is important to understand your tax code, any changes to this and why your tax code on your payslip is what it is. There are many reasons…

In April 2022 we saw Employee’s National Insurance Contributions increase by 1.25% from 12% to 13.25%, as part of the Governments Health and Social Care levy. Employer’s National insurance also increased from 13.8% to 15%. From April 2023, the health and social care levy will be paid separately to National Insurance and become a tax…

We are seeing more and more cases of individuals missing out on claiming higher rate tax relief on their employee pension contributions especially where they are not in self-assessment and required to file tax returns.   Where employers have enrolled their staff to make employees pension contributions via a ‘relief at source’ scheme, the contributions…

A new penalty regime came into effect for VAT periods starting on or after 1 January 2023. The changes will impact the charges for missing VAT filing and payment deadlines and will be replacing the current VAT default surcharge system. These changes place continued importance on being up to date with your VAT returns, aware…