Latest News

Spring Statement 2022 Overview - Capital, People, Ideas

As Rishi Sunak opened his Spring Statement his focus was understandably on the war in Ukraine and the devastating humanitarian impact.

Spring Statement 2022 – Out of Covid and into a Cost-of-Living Crisis

It has been reported in the Financial Times that the Chancellor is preparing to face pressure from the PM to offer new help to households while balancing the fears that inflation could rise to 7% in May.

Delay to New HMRC VAT Penalty Charges

This new regime is designed to be proportionate, penalising businesses who persistently miss their submission obligations, rather than those who make occasional mistakes. This is good news for businesses who make occasional late returns or payments, as the penalties in these circumstances will be relatively small.

New environmental schemes – are you still a farmer?

Farmers and landowners are currently being bombarded with ideas of how they can manage their land differently to produce environmental benefit. For farmers who have been brought up to believe that their role was to produce food, this is not an easy transition. Here I look at the possible tax consequences from signing up to these schemes…

Changes to Hospitality VAT Rates

Unless the Chancellor responds to requests from the hospitality industry, starting the 1^st of April the VAT rate for most goods and services within the hospitality industry will increase from 12.5% to 20%, this reverses the temporary rates that were in place since June 2020.

New Plastic Packaging Tax for UK Businesses

New Plastic Packaging Tax introduced by HMRC to encourage businesses to use recycled plastics in their packaging.

Preparing for your year-end financial planning

As 5 April 2022 creeps ever closer, if you haven’t already, it is always good to try and get ahead with your year-end financial planning.

Tax Payers pay out millions more in Inheritance Tax

Tax payers have paid £600m more in Inheritance Tax (IHT) than a year ago. The latest figures from HMRC show that between April and October this year, IHT receipts totalled £3.6bn compared with £3bn in the same period in 2020 – a rise of 20%.

So does this indicate that many families are not aware until it is too late? 

How will political and economic factors impact your farm tax bill?

As we rapidly approach the end of another year, it is customary to assess how a business has performed. This enables action to be taken before the accounting year-end to mitigate the tax bill, so there are no nasty surprises at a later date  - and this year there have been more fluctuations than normal, making predictions particularly difficult.  

Dividend, National Insurance and Corporation Tax increases – time to act?

The introduction of increased rates of National Insurance Contributions, dividends and Corporation Tax over the next couple of years may give cause for owners and directors of businesses to consider their remuneration package and whether this is still appropriate.