Small firms losing £25 billion per year to tax admin
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has carried out a study which shows that small firms are losing £25 billion per year due to increasing compliance costs and time lost to dealing with tax admin. The government's Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative has...
Chancellor’s redundancy warning
Millions of workers were able to keep their jobs over the pandemic due to the government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The scheme is ending 30 September. At a cost of around £70 billion, the wages of more than 11 million people were subsidised for at...
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax self assessment delay
HMRC has announced that the introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax self assessment (MTD for ITSA) has been delayed for a year. The government says that the change is in response to the difficulty faced by many UK businesses throughout the COVID-19...
1.6 million still on furlough in July
At the end of July, 1.6 million people were still on furlough. This is the lowest level since the start of the pandemic and down by 340,000 compared to the month prior. But older people and the travel sector did less well, with 50% of eligible travel workers still on...
Chancellor to deliver Autumn 2021 Budget on 27 October
HM Treasury has confirmed that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver the Autumn 2021 Budget on Wednesday 27 October. The Chancellor launched Spending Review 2021 on 7 September, which will conclude on 27 October and will be presented alongside the Autumn Budget....
UK business confidence at four-year high
According to the latest Lloyds Bank Business Barometer, British business confidence is at its highest level since April 2017. Confidence is being fuelled by hope that the economy will recover strongly to pre-pandemic levels. Firms in the manufacturing, services and...
Upcoming changes to late payment penalty regime
HMRC has published a paper outlining the changes to the late payment penalty regime for taxpayers. Initially the changes will apply to VAT and income tax self assessment (ITSA). The government intends to reform sanctions for late submission and late payments to make...
83% of businesses unaware of Plastic Packaging Tax
Resource management firm Veolia has revealed that 83% of businesses are not aware of the Plastic Packaging Tax, which is due to take effect from April 2022. The Plastic Packaging Tax is a new tax that will apply to plastic packaging manufactured in or imported into...
2022 to bring bigger tax bills for partners and sole traders
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has predicted that following a government proposal to change the date certain businesses report their profits, sole traders and partners are likely to face bigger tax bills next year. The move would...
2 million workers remain on furlough scheme
With the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) set to end 30 September 2021, HMRC has published data showing that two million workers remain on furlough. The data showed that the number of employees on the CJRS fell by 590,000 during June. The total number of...