Latest blogs for Specialisms

Last year the UK imported £350 billion of goods and services from businesses in fellow EU member states. Although a lot of talk in the run-up to Brexit is currently about what UK business should do to protect their interests post-Brexit, these European businesses should, similarly, be hedging their exposure to the expected changes. Germany,…

As we are now potentially within 2 years of Brexit, it seems natural to speculate over what changes we should expect. As tax is a key component of our fiscal policy, to finance the public purse and influence our behaviour, various tax commentators are now dusting off their crystal balls.  Within the EU, tax has…

Brexit: New tariffs, what new tariffs? Now that Prime Minister May has written to the EU, triggering Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, Brexit moves one step closer and SME’s slowly begin to wonder, “how might this affect us”? For your average local family business, the main areas of concern will probably be:…

Buy-to-let Mortgages: Tax relief restrictions soon to commence. The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) issued a press release today reminding residential property landlords that the first phase of the restriction of tax relief for mortgage interest commences in April. The change means that finance costs (including mortgage interest) will no longer be deductible in full…

Invitation: Prospects for UK Agriculture. Once again agriculture is facing many changes and challenges. In order for us all to try and understand the many factors affecting us we have again engaged Andersons, the Farm Business Consultants, to present to us their “Prospects for UK Agriculture” Seminar, on Wednesday 26 April 2017. We are pleased,…

Contractors: New flat rate VAT rules (Limited Cost Traders) HMRC has released updated guidance regarding changes to the flat rate VAT scheme which come into effect on 1 April 2017. The advantage gained by using the flat rate scheme is going to be restricted for ‘limited cost businesses’. A limited cost business is one whose…

HMRC: Finally release new Employment Status tool. The new public sector IR35 assessment rules come into effect on 6 April 2017 and contractors have been concerned that they are unable to confirm their IR35 status. HMRC has now released its long awaited online Employment Status Tool. The tool is available to contractors, engagers and agencies…

What’s in it for Technology Companies? Philip Hammond’s first Spring Budget announced a handful of steady-as-she-goes measures. The new announcements that will catch the eye of technology companies include: From 6-Apr-18, the tax free allowance for personal dividend income will reduce from £5k to £2k pa, For tax advantaged share schemes: clarifying the EIS and SEIS…

Making Tax Digital: or Making Tax Difficult? Our MTD team look at a general update on MTD, Landlords, Timelines and Deadlines, Third Party Data, Bridging the Digital Gap, Unincorporated Businesses and ‘are you ready?’: Full Newsletter Blog entry by: Catherine Hubbard.

MTD: Revenue hold firm. HMRC have published their long awaited response to the making tax digital (MTD) consultation documents.  In essence the original timeline as detailed in the consultation documents remains unchanged, with the first taxpayers being affected by MTD from April 2018. Therefore for those businesses with an accounting year end of 5 April and…