Insights

We're pleased to announce we will be continuing with the Tourism and Leisure Business Survey in 2020

In my recent blog I looked at some of the ways farmers could diversify, such as property rental, tourism activities, contract farming and organic farming. This blog will explain some of the possible tax implications of these common farm diversification methods.

It’s clear that currently there’s a lot of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the legal sector as we’re seeing increased interest from a number of law firms seeking to acquire B2B with an increasing number of equity partners coming up for retirement. How can law firms ensure smooth succession planning?

Making Tax Digital for Business (MTDfB) is a key part in the Government’s plan to modernise the tax system – it’s the biggest change in tax administration in decades. It will affect every business in the UK, including those with rental income, and will change the way that businesses keep their accounting records, report profits and interact with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Welcome to the AISMA Doctor Newsline winter 2019-20 edition. At the heart of medical finance...

Diversification has many different forms and can be on as small or large a scale as you choose. It often provides farmers with an income spread more evenly throughout the year than traditional arable farming.

The country has spoken and we have chosen Brexit and five years of Conservative government under Boris Johnson. We accountants are now starting to look forward to the next Budget although, at the time of writing, the date hasn’t been published.

Running a shoot can be very enjoyable, although it does come with a number of pressures. Making sure that there’s enough healthy game and praying for the right weather conditions are just a couple of worries, and then there are the financial commitments, such as the Minimum Wage for casual beaters on shoots.

Friday 13 December 2019 is a date which is likely to be remembered for many years. For younger clients it will be the biggest political landslide of a lifetime, and for all it will be seared into the collective memory. 

An Information Memorandum is a document shared with parties interested in buying your business. Typically, these parties have already signed a confidentiality agreement, and this is the first time that the identity of your business is revealed.

The theme this year is very apt for the current farming climate: Resilience. Our lead article is about a Norfolk farmer at the forefront of drone technology. In line with this, many agricultural businesses don't realise they could qualify for research and development (R&D) relief. Read our R&D article to see if you could qualify for this lucrative tax relief.

We're pleased to confirm that our popular Business Breakfasts will be continuing throughout 2020. The topics will be announced in the New Year.

For most farms and agriculture businesses, the key announcement of the 2018 Budget wasn’t the change in personal tax rates or allowances (welcome as they were), but the increase in Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) from £200,000 to £1 million for the two years commencing 1 January 2019.

Now that Primary Care Networks (PCN) have been up and running for several months, I’m writing a series of blogs around this topic. Part 1: The Clinical Director.

When writing last month’s blog, the political world was in a state of flux. I was looking forward to Sajid Javid’s Budget, an orderly Brexit and everything being rosy. At the time of writing, the Labour party has just published its manifesto and the Conservative manifesto is due to be published over the weekend.

A new round of Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) grants was announced on 4 November.

Tax considerations can be vital in a business sale. The ability to structure a sale on a tax-efficient basis is central to maximising shareholder value. A review of the position in advance of marketing a business for sale may identify opportunities which can be capitalised on or risks which can be dealt with.

The Great Yarmouth Community Trust, which runs nurseries and days centres in Norfolk and Suffolk, is to go into liquidation.

As part of our long-term commitment to build bigger and better specialist teams, to help and support our clients, MHA Larking Gowen has taken the decision to combine our Dereham and Fakenham offices.

Falling foul of the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage rules is all too easy, and for most employers, it’s an innocent oversight that will catch them out.

Land, of any sort, is difficult to value. As accountants, we often have to value assets of one sort or another, and there are various tools that we can use to do so. However, none of these tools is particularly helpful when we look at farmland.

Last week, Laurie Hill looked at how New Zealand farmers pushed through a period of harsh economic set-backs in the 1980s to become a world leader in agriculture exports. Now he discusses whether UK farming can learn any lessons from that New Zealand experience.

MHA Larking Gowen is delighted to be named Best Employer in this year's Norfolk Business Awards. The firm was shortlisted for the award last month along with the East Anglian Air Ambulance, Holkham and Liftshare.com.

Welcome to month 11 of our publication, Using Conflict as a Catalyst for Change – A Guide for Embracing, Managing and Mitigating Conflict Within Your Charity. This month we focus on how effective trustees and others within the charity can manage conflict and what to do when conflict arises.

We all know the feeling of being in a business meeting we couldn’t see any benefit in attending. We’re stuck in a loop of people discussing (or arguing) their side of the story. All structure has gone out of the window and the only bright side is the offering of biscuits, presumably to give a sugar boost to get everybody through safely to the end!

This Webinar will be of interest to COFAs, Cashiers and Partners with a specific interest in client money matters. MHA Larking Gowen will provide a brief overview of the changes to the Solicitors Accounts Rules, which come into effect in November 2019, and offer practical advice on using these new rules to your advantage.

Laurie Hill discusses UK farming subsidies, and compares the tough economic pressures facing farmers in the UK to the difficulties faced by New Zealand farmers when they lost their subsidies in the 1980s. 

It was worrying to read recently that Lloyds Bank has discovered thousands of customers’ wills stored in its ‘safe custody’ service, which was closed to new customers in 2011. This situation is a good reminder to anyone making a will or who already has a will.  Read on for advice on avoiding the pitfalls.

Amidst all the furore surrounding Brexit and the consequences for agriculture and owners of farmland, it’s easy to concentrate on the day-to-day news whilst overlooking some of the reports that don’t immediately hit the headlines, such as inheritance tax reliefs.

Sajid Javid had intended to deliver his first Budget on 6 November 2019, but, with a general election now looming, this has been delayed, probably into the new year. If he does get the opportunity to deliver his post-Brexit Budget, he will set out the plan to shape the economy for the future and trigger the start of our infrastructure revolution.