Latest blogs for Specialisms

Landlords: Get ready for submitting 4 tax returns a year? H M Revenue & Customs will be implementing ‘ Making Tax Digital’ over the coming few years. Their aim is for ‘most’ landlords to be reporting their income each quarter via their digital tax account rather than after the end of the tax year on a tax return.

Itchy Feet: Is now the time to start your own business? We are here for all of your accountancy requirements, Corporation Tax, Income Tax, VAT, PAYE, as well as Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax. We pride ourselves at being experienced with dealing with businesses and being available no matter how big or small the…

CIS: Big administration changes. With effect from 6 April 2016, a lot has changed within the CIS processing sector: The abolishment of the paper return, Amendment to the nil return obligation, Changes to the Compliance and Turnover tests when applying for Gross status. Paper seems to be a thing of the past and so HMRC…

Contractors: Don’t pay too much flat rate VAT. Just three weeks ago it was reported that the VAT flat rate scheme guidance was flawed. The ATT had highlighted that HMRC’s practice was costing traders, as they were forced to pay more VAT to HMRC under the flat rate scheme than the law required. HMRC has…

IR35: Could proposed changes actually result in lower taxes for HMRC? As previously reported, the government are consulting into reforming IR35 for public sector workers. They wish to make public sector engagers responsible for determining the IR35 status of the their contractors. Research by ContractorCalculator has predicted these proposals will result in a £115m tax loss…

Whitings’ 5th Annual  Agri-Seminar: “No” to Brexit We have just held our 5th annual Prospects for UK Agriculture seminar. Once again our guest speakers from Andersons expertly presented the current topics impacting on UK farming businesses. It was great to also have as many guests join us to listen to what the speakers had to…

Transferring Second Property into Joint Names: Beware SDLT trap! We commonly advise married clients who are considering a transfer of rental property from one spouse into joint names. Where the owner spouse is a higher rate taxpayer, there is often a potential to make use of the other spouse’s basic rate tax band. The potential income…

Updated: 9th July 2025   Business Credit Rating: Poor rating hurting your business?   If there is one positive that has come out of the UK’s double-dip recession, then it is reminding businesses of how important their credit rating is. In many sectors, both suppliers and customers have now re-engineered their processes to routinely look at…

Self-Employed Lorry Drivers: Beware HMRC crackdown. HMRC have written to the RHA about the tax status of lorry drivers. The letter outlines the key points of HMRC rules in this area and suggests that a lorry driver is unlikely to be self-employed unless he is an owner driver. HMRC is particularly concerned about some ‘avoidance…

HMRC: Roll-over on farm cottages. Are farm cottages owned by a farming company and occupied by farm workers business property for capital gains tax roll-over relief purposes? It was held in the case of Anderton v Lamb that property occupied by partners in a farming partnership were not. In order to qualify for relief, farm…