Accountancy Blog

Javid ‘to broaden the apprenticeship levy into a wider skills levy’

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Further tweaks to the apprenticeship levy look certain to be made in the autumn, when new chancellor Savid Javid is expected to deliver his first Budget.

In his final Budget speech in October 2018, former chancellor Philip Hammond halved the amount small firms taking on apprentices had to pay from 10% to 5%.

But Javid revealed his intention “to broaden the apprenticeship levy into a wider skills levy” when writing in the Financial Times shortly after his appointment.

“This would give employers the flexibility they need to train their workforce, while ensuring they continue to back apprenticeships”, Hammond’s successor said.

The levy was introduced in April 2017 and requires employers with annual pay bills of more than £3 million to allocate a sum equal to 0.5% of their wage bill. More…

Retailers unite in call for business rates solution

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Some of the UK’s biggest retailers have come together to demand action is taken to revamp the business rates system.

Business leaders from more than 50 companies wrote to chancellor Sajid Javid to ask for four changes.

These include reforming transitional relief, which limits how much a bill can change following revalution.

The letter also called for a freeze in the business rate multiplier, the introduction of a new improvement relief, and for the Valuation Office Agency to be adequately funded.

It said that these four recommendations “could be undertaken quickly, would reduce regional disparities, remove barriers to the proper working of market forces, incentivise economic investment, and cut away at bureaucracy”. More…

Treasury to review tapered annual allowance as dispute rumbles on

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The Treasury has announced it will review the tapered annual allowance for pensions, following calls to abolish it.

The amount of pension contributions that can be made tax-free in 2019/20 stands at £40,000 in most cases, but this is restricted for higher earners by the tapered annual allowance.

The taper applies to people with a taxable adjusted income of more than £150,000 and a threshold income over £110,000.

For every £2 of income an individual has over £150,000, their annual allowance is reduced by £1, down to £10,000. More…

Update to post of 2nd August – Reverse charge VAT for builders delayed for 12 months

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A major change to the way VAT is collected in the building and construction industry has been delayed until 1 October 2020.  

The domestic reverse charge VAT for construction services was due to take effect from 1 October 2019.

It will put the onus on the customer receiving a service to pay the VAT element to HMRC, instead of paying the supplier.

The measure will apply to VAT-registered individuals or firms in the UK, who supply specific services under the construction industry scheme.

The domestic reverse charge aims to combat missing trader fraud in the construction sector.

Campaigners had expressed concerns that up to 150,000 businesses in the sector were not ready for the changes to be implemented next month. More…