HLAS

Over the last few days, we have seen a gradual dismantling of the mini-budget of Friday 23 September 2022, along with the economic policies that Prime Minister Liz Truss based her leadership campaign on. On Friday 14th October, Ms Truss announced a change of Chancellor, from Kwasi Kwarteng to Jeremy Hunt. This was swiftly followed by a series of U-turns culminating in Mr Hunt delivering an ‘emergency statement’ on Monday 17th October.  This emergency statement effectively replaces and re-writes the mini-budget. Designed to ensure the UK’s economic stability and provide confidence in the Government's commitment to fiscal discipline, the emergency [...]

Businesses that use Royal Mail's services are urged to plan ahead as strike action is expected to take place this autumn. If you use Royal Mail to deliver your goods, you should be aware of planned industrial action that is due to take place on: Thursday 13 October 2022 Thursday 20 October 2022 Tuesday 25 October 2022 Monday 28 November 2022 There is also functional strike action planned which impacts parts of Royal Mail's operation on the following: Processing, Distribution, International, Collections, Admin: 3, 9, 15, 24 November and 1 December 2022 Delivery: 4, 10, 16, 25 November and 2 [...]

Employers must make sure employees get immediate help if they are taken ill or are injured at work. The law applies to every workplace and to the self-employed. You must have: A suitably stocked first aid kit. An appointed person or people to take charge of first aid arrangements. Information for all employees telling them about first aid arrangements. What 'adequate and appropriate' first aid arrangements are depend on the work you do and where you do it. You're best placed to understand the nature of your work, so you should assess what your first aid needs are. You must [...]

The UK Government has announced an enhancement to the eligibility criteria of the Start Up Loans initiative. The £884 million scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, is designed to help innovative new businesses launch across the UK. It now includes start-ups that have been trading for up to three years and second loans are now available to eligible businesses that have been trading for up to five years. The programme previously provided finance to start-ups which had been trading for up to two years. The scheme has already delivered more than 97,000 loans worth £900 million to new business [...]

HMRC have launched a new online G-form which will be the default option to notify them of errors in VAT returns. This is for all VAT-registered businesses who wish to submit a VAT Error Correction Notice (ECN). Once submitted, a copy of the digital form will be captured into the Digital Mail Service (DMS) and processed as it is currently. The new G-Form will streamline the current process, making it easier to notify HMRC about errors on VAT returns. It will enable businesses to: Upload supporting documentation. Provide explanatory notes. Save the form allowing them to complete it later. Receive [...]

In last week’s newsletter, we suggested a possible strategy of delaying the end of October payroll run until after 5 November for certain employees to save NICs following the removal of the additional 1.25% for employees and employers from 6 November. While such planning could be useful for delaying discretionary payments, such as bonuses and commissions, we should be alert to anti-avoidance provisions (in the form of Regulation 31 of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No 1004)) that give HMRC the power to effectively reverse the planning and secure the NICs that would have been due had [...]

Self-employed businesses, partnerships and landlords with annual gross business or property income above £10,000 will need to follow the rules for MTD for Income Tax from their next accounting period starting on or after 6 April 2024. Making Tax Digital (MTD) is a government initiative to modernise HMRC’s tax system, with the aim of making the whole process of administrating tax simpler and more efficient. All of your tax information will be in one place (your digital account) and you will be able to pay taxes based on your business activity during the year. You can upload and update your [...]

This year’s Gift Aid Awareness Day will be held on Thursday, 6 October 2022. Every year since 2018, charities across the UK have been taking to social media in October to share the #TickTheBox message with donors, members, supporters and volunteers. This year’s #TickTheBox campaign will focus on the value of Gift Aid. The Charity Finance Group (CFG) are inviting all charities to share on social media, on your website and in your newsletters, the impact that Gift Aid has on the people and communities you serve. Whatever your charity’s purpose, CFG wants Gift Aid Awareness Day to be another [...]

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is hosting a series of market awareness webinars to highlight business and exporting opportunities across a range of Commonwealth markets. These webinars provide businesses with knowledge and insight into the opportunities available in these markets. In the second series of one-hour webinars, DIT will be covering more Commonwealth markets. The markets covered include: The Commonwealth opportunity with the Commonwealth secretariat – 20 October, 9am to 10am India – 20 October, 10am to 11am Malaysia – 26 October, 9am to 10am Nigeria – date to be confirmed See: Commonwealth Market Awareness Series Part 2 (great.gov.uk) [...]

The UK Trade & Export Finance Forum brings together finance and business leaders for a full day of presentations, case studies, panels, workshops and networking, covering the latest developments in export and trade finance. Whether you are a UK supplier looking to export overseas or an international corporate considering long-term financing, this forum will provide you with insight and business connections to support you in your export journey. Now in its fifth year, the event will take place on Thursday 17 November 2022 and will return in hybrid format, bringing together over 600 attendees online and in central London. The [...]