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If you move goods between the UK and countries in the EU, you need to follow new customs and tax rules. Your business will be affected by the new rules if you:
The Supreme Court has ruled that drivers for the ride hailing App Uber are workers not self-employed individuals and hence are entitled to holiday pay, pension rights and the right to be paid the national minimum wage.
In order to continue to support businesses and jobs in the hospitality sector, the reduced 5% VAT rate will continue to apply to supplies of food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés and similar premises across the UK until 30 September 2021.
The thresholds for employee and employer national insurance contributions (NICs) have been increased by £1 a week for the 2021/22 tax year. Employees will be liable to 12% NICs between £184 and £967 a week (£50,270 a year). Employer contributions will start at £170 a week.
Get ready for the new off-payroll working rules:
This time last year businesses were preparing for important changes to the rules where workers supply their services via their own personal service companies. The start date was then deferred from 6 April 2020 to 6 April 2021.
Top tips for driving your Business Development (BD) efforts this year. BD is often misunderstood. Some might say that it’s all about relationships, another will say it’s all about sales and others will talk about marketing. They are all right, in a way. BD is the creation of long-term value for a firm, through effective management of customers, markets and relationships.
Providing training for your team when they are working remotely can be challenging. Delivering a training session to a room full of people can be difficult enough. Engaging with your audience remotely presents a whole new challenge.
Here we will look at the key business trends to watch in 2021. The challenges faced by businesses in 2020 have driven firms across the world to develop, adapt and innovate. Here are some of the key business trends to watch in 2021.
From 1 January 2021, you’ll need to make changes to how you complete your VAT Return if you’re a UK VAT-registered business and account for import VAT on your return for goods you import into: Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) from anywhere outside the UK Northern Ireland from outside the UK and EU.
At this time of year we think about New Year’s resolutions and pension planning could be a great way. It is also a good time to start planning your tax affairs before the end of the tax year on 5th April.
Where possible taxpayers should “Gift Aid” any payments to charity to provide additional benefit to the charity. Higher rate taxpayers obtain additional tax relief on the grossed up amount donated.
For example, where an individual makes a £20 cash donation to charity the charity is able to reclaim a further £5 from HMRC making a gross gift of £25. Where the individual is a 40% higher rate taxpayer he or she is able to claim a further £5 tax relief under self-assessment, reducing the net cost of their donation to £15.
Note that the donor is required to make a declaration that they are a UK taxpayer and those that have not suffered sufficient UK tax to support the Gift Aid amount will taxed on the shortfall.
Remember that Gift Aid does not just apply to gifts of cash. Many charity shops will now sell donated items on your behalf and are able to treat the sale proceeds as Gift Aided donations. It is also possible to gift quoted securities and land and buildings to charity and claim Gift Aid on the market value
Have you thought about your Christmas gifts for employees yet? Remember that certain gifts to staff at Christmas are also tax free if structured correctly. Employers are allowed to provide their directors and employees with certain “trivial” benefits in kind tax free.
With more of us working from home there is good news from HMRC that employees can now make a claim for tax relief to cover some of their costs while they are working from home.
HMRC have announced that they will be imposing penalties of up to 100% of the amounts over claimed CJRS, SEISS and “eat out to help out” grants, on businesses during the coronavirus pandemic so make sure that your claims are correct.
An employee’s reference pay will depend upon whether or not they were on the payroll and subject to an RTI submission for 2019/20 on or before 19 March 2020. Where that is the case their reference pay will be that used under previous furlough claims.
We now have further details of the operation of the extension of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme “furlough” grant that will apply from 1 November 2020 through to the end of March 2021.
The government will provide a voucher up to £5,000 that covers up to two-thirds of the cost of energy efficiency and low carbon heat improvements to your home. See which improvements are included in the scheme below.
Good news for the self-employed – the government announced yesterday it will increase support over the coming months with a Support Scheme Grant Extension. Please read below for more information.
With many of us now working remotely from home, making video conference calls, uploading documents and conducting business online, how can firms ensure that their data and systems are secure?
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is designed to provide support for self-employed individuals whose businesses have been adversely affected as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The government is providing up to four taxable grants to those who meet the eligibility conditions. Claims for the first grant are now closed. If you want to claim the second grant you must make your claim on or before 19 October 2020.You need to consider whether your business has been adversely (negatively) affected before you apply for the SEISS grants. You need to confirm that your business has been adversely affected as part of the claim process.
This scheme is for lower income earners who cannot work from home and have lost income as a result. This is an NHS Test and Trace Support payment of £500 and applies to employees who are required to self-isolate.
Considering an electric company car? There is currently a zero P11d benefit for the drivers of electric cars in 2020/21. The legislation for this change is included in Finance Act 2020 which also states that the benefit will be 1% of list price in 2021/22 and then 2% in 2022/23.
Leaving the European Union: The United Kingdom leaves the European Union at 11pm on 31 December 2020 when the transitional period ends. It is still unclear whether a trade deal will have been agreed with the EU by that date, and such an agreement is looking increasingly unlikely.