Insights

On 24 July, Sajid Javid was confirmed as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.  At the top of the new Chancellor’s to do list will be whether to implement all of Boris Johnson’s tax and spending pledges made during the Tory leadership campaign and, if so, how.

Motor retail is one of the more challenging sectors to operate in from a VAT perspective.

The latest quarterly Insolvency Statistics were released on 30 July 2019 by the Insolvency Service.

In a long running battle, the University of Cambridge has challenged the way HM Revenue & Customs’ recovers VAT on investment funds of donations and endowments.  The University claimed that they should be able to claim back a proportion of the VAT because the investment returns were used to support wider business activities.

HMRC’s latest statistics reveal that taxpayers underpaid £7.4bn in tax last year, up 10% from £6.7bn in 2016/17. This represents 21% of the total UK Tax Gap last year (£35bn), which is an increase from 20% in 2016/17 (£33bn).

Whilst much noise has, and continues to be made about the proposed changes to IR35, which will take effect in relation to services provided to medium and large businesses in the private sector from April 2020 (draft legislation was issued last week), it largely falls on deaf ears within government.

East Anglian-based accountancy and business advisory firm MHA Larking Gowen is extending its company wellbeing programme to reach beyond the doors of its offices.

New rules on pricing transparency for solicitors came into force on 6 December 2018. The rules require solicitors to publish their pricing and service information on their websites about certain legal services. 

The rules about PETs are a bit more complicated but, in summary, to be free of inheritance tax you need to survive the gift by at least seven years; although what’s known as taper relief arises after year three.

Welcome to month seven 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 sometimes conflict can be just what a charity needs.

Last month we looked at the example of Mrs Lambert, who sold her residence and realised a capital gain. At present her tax bill is £1,400 but HMRC are consulting on changes to a valuable relief that would see her tax charge increase to £14,700 if she sells the property on or after 6 April 2020

How can you mitigate potential inheritance tax liabilities? Do the recent pension changes for women affect you?

Have you ever heard the saying, “Put not your trust in money but put your money in trust”? Actually, this advice is urging nineteenth century heiresses to protect their wealth, which would otherwise pass to their husbands, when they married

Welcome to month six 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 conflict amongst charity trustees.

In my recent inheritance tax blog I commented on the need for a valid will. A will directs the distribution of your estate, but how can you save inheritance tax?

MHA Larking Gowen named national winners of the Working Families Best Practice Award for Best Flexible Working, the award establishes the East Anglian-based accountancy and business advisory group at the forefront of new thinking on the relationship between employers, employees, and their work. 

MHA Larking Gowen exhibited in the #FarmMyFood event which took place on Friday 21 June at Elveden Estate. Our agricultural experts were there today giving the young teenagers an insight into agricultural accountancy and what the team here at MHA Larking Gowen do to help our agricultural clients. 

At MHA Larking Gowen, we see ourselves as more than purely chartered accountants. We’ll look after all your tax and finance issues, and we’ll be trusted business advisors with a friendly one-to-one service you can count on

Welcome to the fifth and final part of our five part insolvency blog covering the most frequently asked questions around insolvency and liquidation.

MHA Larking Gowen, Corporate Finance Partner, James Lay, has been named as High Achiever 2019 for the European Region, at last week’s Mindshop annual conference, for his work advising businesses on maximising their potential.

We are living in changing times in the tax world. Following the reporting of several high profile cases in the press, tax planning that was once considered unexceptional is now seen as morally unacceptable tax avoidance. The spotlight has turned on those with offshore assets so, if this applies to you or you are either non-resident or non-domiciled and have an interest in an offshore trust, read on.

If a business is operated through a limited company, there are two different approaches for a sale. Either the shares of the company are sold by the shareholders (referred to as a “share sale”), or the company sells its trade and assets, and the shareholders are left to liquidate the company and distribute the proceeds between themselves (referred to as an “asset sale”)

Our 2019 Legal Benchmarking Report is now available. Read it now for a national insight into the trends in the legal sector.

The results of MHA Larking Gowen’s fourteenth Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Business Survey have just been published. High on the list of challenges was the weather in 2018! The weather played a big part in the trading results for a lot of tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses in the eastern region. 

In a recent blog I highlighted how the Government is trying to crack down on tax relief for buy-to-let landlords. Now I’ll consider how the proposed new property tax changes regarding residence relief and letting relief will affect some property owners.

Welcome to part four of our five part insolvency blog covering the most frequently asked questions around insolvency and liquidation. Part four will cover the most frequently asked insolvency questions by employees.

With the Agriculture Bill making its way through parliament, the transition towards farmers being paid for ‘public goods’ is well underway. 

Hopefully most of you will know that Making Tax Digital (MTD) came into effect from 1 April 2019, meaning that all VAT registered businesses trading over the VAT registration threshold of £85,000 will now need to submit their VAT returns using a MTD compliant software. 

In the lead-up to the 2018/19 P11D filing deadline of 6 July 2019, I thought it would be helpful to employers if I recap the exemption available for trivial benefits and what the criteria are.

Our 2019 Tourism and Leisure Business Survey was again well supported this year and we would like to thank all of you who have participated in it and all those who have helped to promote it. Download our brochure to read the full results.