Insights

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.

Yet another aspect of the Government's view for the future of the farming industry was unveiled in April with the issue of a consultation paper on proposed changes to the legislation governing agricultural tenancies.

No one likes to be reminded of the need to plan ahead with its specific implications but it’s the key to reducing the impacts of inheritance tax (IHT). The old adage that it’s ‘never too soon but often too late’ comes to mind but with expert advice, planning and guidance you can make sure your assets are protected and the family isn’t left with an excessive inheritance tax bill.

Most shares or options acquired by employees or directors in a company that is, or is connected to, their employer are ‘employment related securities’ (ERS).

Top 10 things to consider when valuing a business. If you’d like to explore the potential sale of your business, please get in touch.

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

Inheritance tax (IHT) is a tax that will affect many, with potentially devastating consequences. Inheritance tax is frequently talked about and still much misunderstood.

The future for UK agriculture has been set out in the Agriculture Bill, which should pass into law later this spring. Michael Gove has referred to it as “The Fourth Agricultural Revolution” and has set out a timescale, at the end of which the UK will be farming without subsidies. 

In part 1 of the blog, we examined three ways a solicitors firm can plan to reduce its tax liability. In this blog, and with the tax year end looming, we examine three tax-mitigating opportunities available for individual solicitors.

The Government has passed legislation to extend the non-resident capital gains tax and non-resident corporate tax on gains net to all UK land and property, from 6 April 2019. 

For many solicitors firms, the end of the business year is fast drawing to a close. If results are looking better than previous years, you may be starting to think about the tax implications of a better year. We would urge solicitors firms to make plans now to mitigate these liabilities, and in this blog we discuss three key points that solicitors firms should consider before the year end.

If there are obvious potential buyers for your business for sale then by all means approach them. However, quite understandably, many selling a business are uncomfortable contacting buyers themselves and revealing their intentions to sell their business.

Since April 2017, employers with a pay bill of £3 million and over have been required to contribute 0.5% into their apprenticeship levy fund. Two years on, the uptake and spending of these apprenticeship levy funds has been far lower than expected, so much so that the Government is reducing the co-investment cost for small employers.

Charities with total turnover above £200,000 can undertake non-primary purpose trading of income up to £50,000 and benefit from tax exemption (trading towards their primary charitable purpose can be at any level).

In my previous blogs I discussed CEO fraud and vishing as two types of scams which your legal practice could fall into the trap of. In this update I look at a further scheme that legal firms should be aware of.

Charity fundraisers need be aware of two changes to tax relief thresholds that apply from 6 April 2019. Charities often encourage donations by giving a small reward to their donors. Where this is more than token value, this needs to be measured and assessed against value thresholds to make sure that gift aid can still be claimed.

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

Indeed, when marketing a business for sale, we will put our name in the NDA rather than our client’s name, and will not reveal the client’s name to the buyer until after the buyer has signed it.

Now tax returns are hopefully out of the way, it’s an ideal opportunity to think about some potential tax saving ideas. 

HMRC are currently investigating 171* professional football players, up 90% from just 90 football players under tax investigation in September 2017, as they look to crack down on the misuse of image rights payments, and increase revenues from the industry. 

Welcome to part one of our five part blog covering the most frequently asked questions around insolvency and liquidation. For further advice about any of the topics covered in our insolvency blogs or regarding a specific scenario, please contact our insolvency & recovery specialists.

Just because they are working for you doesn’t mean they’ve revealed their true financial circumstances. Perhaps they have inherited money, have significant equity in their homes, or have simply saved and invested wisely over the years.

HMRC have increased their investigations into inheritance tax (IHT) as they look to squeeze more from compliance activities in this area. 5,400* families were investigated by HMRC over their inheritance tax returns last year, up 5% from 5,100 in 2016/17.

If your company is involved in research and development (R&D), the Government’s R&D tax credit incentive could provide a valuable source of tax relief. What exactly is R&D, why is the tax relief so beneficial and what costs qualify for this under-utilised tax relief?

If you’re an entrepreneur, you could consider New Year’s resolutions for your business. Here are a few suggestions to think about.

It’s safe to say that most business owners would like more time for themselves and more money from their business. It’s becoming apparent that most businesses can achieve this through the use of digital solutions software and the automation it provides.

Let’s face it, selling a business is often the most important deal a business owner will ever be involved with, so it’s vital to get the right support to achieve a successful outcome.

HMRC’s annual report shows that real cash collected from investigations has fallen from £10.34 billion in 2016/17 to £10.33 billion in 2017/18.