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The scourge of late payments
Outstanding invoices compromise your business’s cashflow. When you supply goods and services, you expect to be paid, and promptly, but Britain has a deeply embedded culture of late payments. Indeed, for some businesses, delaying payment is an essential part of the business model. Outstanding payments are problematic for various reasons. First, there’s the basic problem…
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Tax implications of working from home
Working from home offers all kinds of benefits, from the opportunity to create the perfect environment in which you can be most productive, to the improvements to work-life balance that come with ditching the commute. There are advantages for businesses, too, assuming they trust their employees to work without direct supervision. For example, if only…
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CBI: ‘Unsustainable’ business rates system in need of reform
The business rates system has become “uneconomical” and “unsustainable”, and should be reviewed, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has said. Business rates are a tax on most properties used for business purposes, and are calculated based on an estimate of the property’s open market rental value. The CBI argues that long gaps between rate…
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Govt. urged to introduce stamp duty tax break for downsizing
The Government is facing calls to announce a stamp duty holiday for homeowners who seek to downsize. Saga polled 2,000 people over the age of 50 and found that 73% would support a tax break to help them move into a smaller property. Almost three-quarters (70%) said their motivation for downsizing was because their current…
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Retirees taxed £4bn more than previously thought
Pensioners are paying around £4 billion more in income tax than previously estimated, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has claimed. The latest figures published by HMRC show that pensioners paid £17.9bn in income tax on their pensions in 2016/17, which increased to £18.4bn in 2017/18. A footnote in the paper said the method for…
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Small business owners hit out at ‘unfair’ UK tax system
Most small business owners in the UK do not think the tax system treats their business fairly, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). In a survey of 1,000 firms, 58% of SME owners said they think the UK tax system is unfair, with different tax rules applying to different types of business. More…
