Month: October 2018

  • Pension planning in your business

    How your pension savings can help finance your business. As traditional loans fall out of favour with increasing numbers of business owners, you may be looking for an alternative route for financing – and your pension could be the answer. Data from the British Business Bank shows that in 2017 the number of small businesses…

  • Extracting profits from a business

    What are the tax implications? People run businesses for a variety of reasons from passion to pride, but making a living is high up the list for most people. How do you go about drawing profit from your business, and doing so efficiently? If your business operates as a partnership or sole trader, the profits…

  • Abolish IHT says think tank

    A think tank is calling for inheritance tax to be abolished, as part of a set of proposals for major reform to the UK tax system. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published its 10-part plan for economic reform, which includes replacing the system of inheritance tax with a new ‘lifetime gifts tax’. Under…

  • Class 2 NI looks here to stay

    Chancellor Philip Hammond has opted to scrap the planned abolition of class 2 national insurance contributions (NICs). The Government was originally due to abolish class 2 NICs for the self-employed from 6 April 2018, but the move was delayed for 12 months in November 2017 and has now been abandoned. The policy, which was first…

  • Apprenticeships drop by 31% year on year

    The number of people starting apprenticeships has dropped by 31% in the last 12 months, the Department for Education has claimed. In the academic year between August 2017 and May 2018 there were 315,900 apprenticeship starts, compared to 457,200 the same time the year before. Business groups including the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and…

  • Chancellor mulls abolishing dividend allowance

    The Treasury is reportedly considering abolishing the dividend allowance in Autumn Budget 2018. The Daily Telegraph claims Chancellor Philip Hammond has business owners, directors and shareholders in his sights to help fund a Government pledge to increase spending on the NHS. Hammond cut the dividend allowance from £5,000 to £2,000 in Spring Statement 2017, with…