You will remember that the Chancellor gave much needed support to businesses in the hospitality industry by cutting the VAT rate to 5% in July 2020.   This lower rate will come to an end on 30th September and from 1st October 2021 until 31st March 2022, the VAT rate for businesses in hospitality will change…

Some of you may remember Making Tax Digital for VAT, which was introduced in April 2019 and it required all VAT registered businesses to report their VAT returns through digital software.   This in itself was quite a bit leap forward for some businesses, however they were already used to filing VAT returns quarterly so the…

We have recently updated our standard terms and conditions of business and would ask that you read the updated version when you get a chance.   You can access them on our home page on the link at the bottom of the screen. The main change relates to credit limits for clients paying by standing order….

Self-employed taxpayers are now apply for the fifth SEISS grant, but they may need to provide two different turnover figures from their business as part of their application. The portal opened on the 29th July but HMRC should have contacted every eligible self-employed taxpayer (by email or letter), giving them a personal start date from which…

As you are no doubt aware, IR35 rules have once again been updated and come into effect today, 6th April 2021.   But it only affects companies that are either medium or large, so for the moment IR35 changes do not apply to small private sector companies.    Small businesses will continue with the existing IR35…

Northumberland County Council have now got a Business Resilience grant which is available to businesses that have stayed open but been severely impacted by COVID-19. Would this help you? Please check out the link below for this support and other business support available. https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/coronavirus/Support-for-Businesses-coronavirus.aspx

On 26th February 2021 HMRC sent an email to a number of established self-employed traders, asking them to prove that they are still trading, before they can claim the next two SEISS grants. Tax agents were not copied in to the email, so we may be unaware that HMRC has contacted some of our clients…

On 3rd March 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his second budget. With the country on its knees economically, and many people suffering severe financial hardship, you may feel that he had his hands tied before he even started. The Chancellor stated that his Budget was aimed at protecting businesses, through the pandemic, fixing the public…

From 1 March 2021, businesses within the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) must record, report and pay VAT under the new VAT domestic reverse charge rules. This change affects both contractors and subcontractors and the supply of certain kinds of construction services in the UK. Under the new rules, VAT registered subcontractors who provide a service…

It is SO tough out there but are you accessing all the available support? Northumberland County Council updated their website on Friday 8th January with lots of different support packages for different scenarios. It is worth logging on to just make sure you are not missing any grants. https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/coronavirus/Support-for-Businesses-coronavirus.aspx#ToP