Author: Neil Dando

The Bank of England (BoE) has predicted that the UK will enter a recession before the end of the year. The prediction, backed up by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), follows consecutive rises in interest rates, with inflation reaching a 40-year high of 10.1% in July. Although the BoE expects the economy to contract…

The additional tax rate has been scrapped completely by the new Chancellor. Kwasi Kwarteng has announced the biggest bundle of tax cuts since 1972 in his first fiscal statement as Chancellor. Income tax, corporation tax and stamp duty make up the majority of the most significant cuts in a bid to promote growth within the…

How to make savings during the cost-of-living crisis. Nobody wants one, but a recession in the UK is looming, with the Bank of England (BoE) and British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) predicting the UK will enter one by the end of 2022. The monetary policy committee of the BoE wrote: “The latest rise in gas…

MTD non-compliance penalties also published. After much anticipation from accountancy bodies and businesses, HMRC has finally updated its guidance on Making Tax Digital (MTD), filling in several blanks. HMRC updated some of its informational pages on GOV.UK in late August, including fresh information on how to meet the requirements for MTD for income tax self-assessment…

Introduction Last week’s fiscal statement, the ‘mini-Budget’ that the Government insisted wasn’t, in fact, a Budget at all, came at 9:30am on Friday 23 September and brought with it some significant, unexpected and (in some cases) controversial measures. Amid preceding uncertainty about if, when, or whether there’d even be a fiscal statement this month, recently…

The Bank of England (BoE) has increased interest rates to 1.75%, the first rise of half a per cent in over 20 years. The latest increase is the fifth rise since December 2021, with the BoE arguing that rate rises are needed to tackle soaring inflation. Inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI)…

Make use of these allowances while they last. When a business incurs costs, such as salary payments or stationary procurement, it can usually fully deduct them as expenses from its taxable profits, reducing the tax due. However, when it buys assets for operational purposes, things are not quite so straightforward. There are HMRC incentives to…

The Government has announced plans to relax capital gains tax (CGT) rules in divorce settlements, giving spouses and civil partners more time to transfer assets without incurring CGT charges. If the new rules are approved, they will come into effect from 6 April 2023. Newly separated couples are currently given until the end of the…

The Government’s ‘help to grow: digital’ scheme has now expanded to include businesses with fewer than five employees. Over a million more businesses will now be eligible for the scheme, which has also been expanded to include one-to-one advice and additional software. Launched in January this year, the scheme was established to help small to…

The Government has announced a £400 energy bill grant will be paid to customers over six payments to help households cope with the cost of living crisis. As part of an £11.7 billion energy support package, some 29 million households will receive grants to help pay for their energy bills this winter, starting in October.…

An overview of the Government’s seven steps. Hiring an employee for the first time is an exciting moment for any business owner. Suddenly, you’ve got another pair of hands to help out with jobs that used to fall entirely on you – and with that extra support, new opportunities for growth are possible. There’s a…

The Bank of England is determined to return UK inflation to its 2% target as prices continue to soar. In a speech at King’s College in London, chief economist and executive director for monetary analysis at the Bank of England Huw Pill said it was “essential” to bring inflation back to target. In May 2022,…

Self-employed individuals are having difficulties completing their self-assessment tax return, according to a new report commissioned by HMRC. A lot of people have trouble with their tax reporting duties because of “confusing terminology, ambiguity around allowable business expenses and uncertainty transferring figures to HMRC’s system,” according to the report. Undertaken by Kantar on behalf of…

Smaller businesses don’t believe that Making Tax Digital (MTD) applies to them, according to a study carried out by Yonder Consulting for HMRC. While businesses indicated they were aware of MTD for VAT, many still do not understand the process of the scheme and whether their business needs to comply with the rules. In a…

The Government has published a response to its consultation on strengthening audits, corporate reporting and corporate governance systems. The long-awaited response outlines the Government’s plans to tackle dominance of large auditors, ban failing ones and bring unlisted companies under the scope of the regulator. The current Financial Reporting Council will also be replaced by a…

The Government is increasing the threshold at which workers start to pay National Insurance contributions (NICs) by £12,570 this month – the largest increase in a basic rate threshold. The increase in the threshold means workers can earn an extra £2,690 before having to pay NICs. The change also brings the NIC and income tax…

People are unprepared and unenthusiastic for Making Tax Digital (MTD), according to a survey commissioned by HMRC. Global market research group Ipsos recently released data suggesting “awareness of MTD in general, and MTD for income tax self-assessment (ITSA) specifically was low”. MTD ITSA will require people with annual business or property income above £10,000 to…