Latest blogs for Specialisms

Road Haulage: Driver fines on the rise. Jack Semple from the RHA published a video on the rising fines for drivers on 5 August, which can be found at:  http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/video-road-haulage-association-on-rising-fines-for-drivers-31429477.html Key points discussed are fines for drivers who are found with migrants in their vehicles and the increase of 50% on last year in the…

Contractors: Beware possible end to 24 month travel & subsistence tax rules. The more observant readers of the recent Summer Budget will have noticed that tucked away from the main headlines was the announcement that HMRC have started a 3 month consultation exercise into:     Employment Intermediaries and Tax Relief for Travel and Subsistence The aim…

Hauliers: HMRC introduce roadside fuel testing Operators will be interested to hear that HMRC announced on 28 July 2015 that new hi-tech equipment has been introduced to allow officers to test heavy goods vehicles at the roadside for illicit diesel. As HMRC will be ‘keen’ to use the new technology, it is envisaged the number…

Product Development Costs:  CapEx or OpEx ? Nowadays there are very few areas where accounting standards give you a big choice over what accounting treatment you can adopt. The costs of developing a new product (once it has passed its research phase) are one such area. Tech companies have the choice of accounting treatment –…

EMI Share Options: the tax advantages. Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) are a tax advantaged share option scheme that can be used to provide an incentive to key staff. The key tax advantage of EMI options in most cases is that no income tax or national insurance will be payable on the exercise of the option. The…

Charities VAT: investment management fees are now reclaimable. A tribunal finding in favour of Cambridge University Endowment Fund could lead to financial benefit for a host of charities who have previously been unable to reclaim input VAT on ‘non-business’ investment fund fees. The Cambridge University Endowment Fund argued that it could reclaim some of the VAT…

CIS: Welcome relaxation in red tape. The government has announced that it will implement a package of improvements to the CIS. The stated aim of the changes is to reduce the administrative and related cost burden on construction businesses. The measures should result in more subcontracting businesses being able to achieve and maintain gross payment…

Santander: Now offering specialist growth finance for TechCo’s Santander have signalled their appetite to lend to the Technology sector by establishing a dedicated £200m growth capital fund, marketed under their ‘Breakthrough’ banner. This is specifically designated to bridge the funding gap faced by fast growing SME’s. Funds borrowed from this source must be used to finance…

EIS Relief: HMRC publish new procedures. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is introducing new processes to help manage applications for advance assurance and EIS compliance statements from companies for investments made on or after 6 April 2015 that fall outside certain limits. With immediate effect, HMRC will not process advance assurance applications in respect of…

Charities: Changes to audit exemption thresholds. Changes to charity audit thresholds came into force on 31 March 2015, aimed at reducing the regulatory burden for charities. They include increasing the basic audit threshold from £500,000 to £1 million, meaning less charities will be required to subject their accounts to a statutory audit. Those charities can instead…