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The Labour party has published their plan to close the tax gap – the gap between tax owed and tax paid – which is estimated at £36 billion. The plan broadly proposes to do this by boosting tax compliance. Labour plan to be able to raise up to an additional £5 billion a year as a result of their proposed measures. They anticipate that £1 spent on compliance activity will result in £9 of revenue and so reckon they will need to invest £555 million per year to achieve £5 billion of revenue. Some of the measures they propose introducing [...]

New employment laws came into force on 6 April 2024 that apply to all businesses. Here is a brief summary of the changes. Flexible working: An employee now has a right to request flexible working from their first day of employment. Previously, an employee could only make one request in a 12-month period, however this is now increased to two. Employers must respond to a request within 2 months and provide an explanation and consultation if the request is refused. Carer’s leave: Previously, there were no leave rights for employees who are carers. Now, an unpaid leave entitlement exists from [...]

From 1 May 2024, the VAT road fuel scale charges will be updated. The new rates will need to be used from the start of the next VAT accounting period that begins on or after 1 May. So, if your next VAT quarter starts on 1 June, you will begin using the new rates for the quarter that begins on 1 June. VAT road fuel scale charges provide a simplified method for calculating and accounting for VAT for VAT registered businesses that pay for road fuel that is used both for business and private purposes. Instead of tracking each fuel [...]

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are running a campaign to help people avoid being caught out by tax avoidance schemes. This is particularly relevant to those who are contractors, agency workers, or are working through an umbrella company. Tax avoidance schemes are schemes designed to bend the rules of the tax system in a way that was not intended. They usually involve contrived transactions whose only real purpose is to artificially reduce the amount of tax someone pays. It is different from effective tax planning. Being caught out by a tax avoidance scheme can be expensive. People who use them [...]

New guidance has been published by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to help legal representatives find out what they need to tell HMRC to calculate the lump sum death benefit charge. When someone passes away and their estate includes certain financial products like pensions or life insurance products, any lump sum death benefit received by the beneficiaries might be subject to inheritance tax. If a lump sum death benefit charge applies to the payout, it could affect the overall value of the estate and potentially impact the inheritance tax liability. Therefore, it’s important to accurately report this information to HMRC [...]

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have published guidance on a new online service to help businesses with their import duties and VAT accounts. If you or your business are involved in importing goods into England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, you can use the new service to: Get your import VAT statements and certificates; Manage your payment accounts; and Manage or view authorities. This new service should help to bring everything you need into one place. To use the service, you need to have a Government Gateway user ID and password, and you must be subscribed to the Customs Declaration [...]

According to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.2% in the 12 months to March 2024. This is down from 3.4% in February. The main reason for the change was that prices for food are rising by less than a year ago. The cost of meat, crumpets, and chocolate biscuits all fell, as did furniture and household goods. Offsetting these falls, motor fuels have risen over the past year whereas they were falling a year ago. Of course, while the inflation rate is lower, it is still positive which [...]

The government recently published a press release congratulating its procurement department on its 10thanniversary for saving taxpayers £3.8 billion last year. Larger corporations often have dedicated purchasing departments to handle procuring supplies, services and other business purchases. Specialising in this way allows for finding or negotiating the best deals for purchases and can save businesses considerable amounts of money. Savings are welcome in businesses of all sizes, but smaller businesses may lack the resources to have a specialised purchasing function in the business. Can businesses without a dedicated purchasing department still harness the benefits of procurement? We would say yes, [...]

Losing access to any of your digital accounts can be very stressful, and if it’s an account you need for work this can be doubly the case. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) produces guidance that can help the self-employed and sole traders as well as any individual recover a hacked account. First, how can you tell if you’ve been hacked? Sometimes it’s obvious because you are unable to log into your accounts or an unauthorised purchase or money transfer’s been made. But other telltale signs include: changes being made to your security settings, receiving messages or notifications from your [...]

The Home Office have reported that the Prime Minister has set out tough new actions that will provide better protection for the high street and crack down on retail crime. Assaulting a retail worker is going to be made a standalone criminal offence that could result in being sent to prison for up to six months, a fine of unlimited amount, or a ban. Criminal Behaviour Orders could be used to bar offenders from visiting specific premises. Breaching an order might result in a maximum five-year prison sentence. Causing grievous bodily harm with intent may even result in a life [...]