HLAS

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has published a statement with its latest advice on the 2023 programme. Whilst there is high level of strong population immunity developed over the past two and a half years, the risk of severe COVID-19 continues to be disproportionately greater in those from older age groups, residents in care homes for older adults, and persons with certain underlying health conditions. There also still remains on-going uncertainty regarding virus evolution, the durability and breadth of immunity, and the epidemiology of infection. The JCVI has indicated that for a smaller group of persons (such [...]

The British Tourism & Travel Show takes places from 22 March to 23 March 2023 at the NEC, Birmingham. It brings together hotels, attractions and destinations wanting to meet and do business with key decision makers responsible for planning holidays, trips and tours and breaks. The show will attract 3,000 visitors and attendees include: coach operators, tour operators, group travel organisers, travel agents, travel services, and media and associations. Who should exhibit? Tourism suppliers wishing to work with the travel trade including: hotels, visitor attractions, destinations marketing companies, local specialists, and transport providers. See: British Tourism & Travel Show - [...]

If you regularly sell goods or services through an online marketplace, you could be classed as a ‘trader’. And if you earn more than £1,000 before deducting expenses through your trading, you will need to pay Income Tax on this. For tax, an online marketplace is any website or mobile phone app that handles and enables the sale of goods and services from individuals and/or businesses to customers. If you only sell items occasionally, you can check if you need to tell HMRC about this income. If you’ve never declared income through a Self-Assessment tax return, you can register for HMRC Online Services. Please talk [...]

A new trial system aims to identify taxpayers seeking help with specific queries which HMRC considers can be resolved online. Such callers will be sent a text message containing relevant links. Callers to HMRC’s income tax helplines from a mobile phone will be dealt with in one of the following three ways: Callers with queries about their UTR or registering for online services will be sent an SMS that matches the key words they used to describe their query. The call will be automatically disconnected after a message explaining that an SMS has been sent. Callers with queries about whether [...]

Employers should be aware that all minimum wage rates increase on 1 April of each year. This includes all National Minimum Wage rates and the National Living Wage rate. See the table below that shows the current minimum wage rates and new rates from April 2023: See: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The government is taking action against unscrupulous employers that use the controversial practice of ‘fire and rehire’, it has announced. Last year P&O Ferries sought to evade the law by sacking 786 seafarers without due consultation. Having made no efforts to inform the Business Secretary at the time, they failed to follow best practice or do the right thing for their employees. As a result, the transport Secretary introduced a 9-point plan including primary legislation to tackle these issues. Through a planned statutory code of practice, the government is protecting employees and cracking down on employers that use controversial dismissal [...]

If you would like to legitimately reduce your 2021/22 tax bill that you have just paid, or your bill for 2022/23, you might want to consider investing in shares in qualifying Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) companies. Under this HMRC approved scheme every £1,000 you invest reduces your tax bill by £300 (30%), provided you are not connected with the company. Broadly you are not allowed to be an employee or control more than 30% of the company. The reduction in your tax bill is available in the tax year in which the shares are issued, however you may elect to [...]

The government are committed to a number of important changes to Research & Development (R&D) tax relief from 1 April 2023. It also looks increasing likely that the two existing systems will be merged into a single system in future years and we hope to hear more in the March 2023 Budget. We already know that there will be a significant reduction in the tax relief available to qualifying SME companies from 1 April 2023, with the current 230% tax relief reducing to just 186%. The effect of this change combined with the reduction in the credit rate will reduce [...]

Companies considering the acquisition of new plant and machinery need to be aware that the temporary ‘super-deduction’ of up to 130% for the cost of acquiring new plant ends on 31 March 2023. Consequently, corporate businesses may wish to bring forward planned expenditure to take advantage of this enhanced tax deduction, utilising hire purchase agreements if funds are otherwise unavailable.

A new, and arguably fairer, system for determining penalties for late returns and late payment of VAT applies to return periods commencing on or after 1 January 2023. The same system will also apply to the returns to be submitted under MTD for income tax, when it eventually starts! Under the new regime, taxpayers will accumulate points for late submissions, and only after reaching a certain threshold will an automatic penalty be imposed. The threshold will depend on how regularly the taxpayer is required to submit a return. For a typical business submitting VAT returns quarterly an automatic £200 penalty [...]