HLAS

UK registered businesses and local authorities can apply for a share of up to £2 million to develop detailed local plans for innovative approaches to unlock non-technical systemic barriers to the delivery of net zero targets. The aim of this competition is to support up to 30 places to develop a plan, with local authorities, to accelerate their transition to net zero. You must consider the whole net zero system in your area, including: Power Heat Mobility Product manufacture and usage This competition is open to collaborations only and closes on 30 November 2022. See: Competition overview - Net zero [...]

Royal Mail has released the latest posting dates for Christmas. They say to allow plenty of time for posting and post items and gifts for Christmas early, particularly for international deliveries: Friday 16 December 2022 – Royal Mail Bulk Mail Economy Monday 19 December 2022 – 2nd Class, 2nd Class Signed For, Royal Mail 48® Wednesday 21 December 2022 – 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For, Royal Mail 24®, Royal Mail Tracked 48®** Thursday 22 December 2022 – Special Delivery Guaranteed® Royal Mail Tracked 24®** Friday 23 December 2022 – Special Delivery Guaranteed® with Saturday Guarantee ** Royal Mail Tracked [...]

Trustees’ Week 2022 Trustees are the people in charge of a charity. They play a vital role, volunteering their time and working together to make important decisions about the charity’s work. Trustees’ Week is an annual event to showcase the great work that trustees do and highlight opportunities for people from all walks of life to get involved and make a difference. This year Trustees week takes place from 7 November to 11 November 2022. Events all around the country will celebrate the achievements of trustees, as well as highlight opportunities for you to get involved with a local charity [...]

Calling at 23 different towns and cities across the UK, the special ten-year anniversary tour will mark the official countdown to Small Business Saturday on 3 December 2022. ‘The Tour’ kicked off in Glasgow on Monday 31 October 2022 and will travel across the UK for five weeks, spotlighting Britain’s amazing small businesses. And to be as sustainable as possible, given the vital role small firms play in the race to net zero, the tour will be using a fleet of electric and zero-emissions vehicles. Once again, ‘The Tour’ will offer: Livestreamed interviews with business owners and local leaders on [...]

If you received a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) grant or an Eat Out to Help Out payment, you will need to do both of the following: Include it as income when calculating your taxable profits in line with the relevant accounting standards. Report it separately on your Company Tax Return using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out boxes. You should record all other taxable COVID-19 payments as income when you calculate your taxable profits. Please talk to us if you require our help in disclosing grants and other support to HMRC. See: Corporation Tax [...]

HMRC is reminding their Self-Assessment taxpayers that they must declare COVID-19 payments in their tax return for the 2021 to 2022 tax year. More than 2.9 million people claimed at least one Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) payment up to 5 April 2022. These grants are taxable and should be declared on tax returns for the 2021 to 2022 tax year before the deadline on 31 January 2023. SEISS payments The SEISS application and payment windows during the 2021 to 2022 tax year were: SEISS Four: 22 April 2021 to 1 June 2021 SEISS Five: 29 July 2021 to 30 [...]

In the light of a recent article in The Times last week, the HMRC Press Office issued the following tweet: “By acting quickly to pause payments and implement additional checks on claims we have protected £46 million of public money. We have also arrested 8 people suspected of conspiring to submit over 100 fraudulent R&D claims” The current rules allow small and medium-sized companies undertaking qualifying research and development expenditure to claim a tax refund equivalent to 33.35% of the expenditure. This is because the relief is currently 230% of the amount spent and any resulting loss can be surrendered [...]

Hessle-based Yorkshire accountancy firm Harris Lacey and Swain have appointed 2 new Partners to continue their growth and service development Highly qualified accountant Laura Drew has moved into the role after 9 years, latterly, as Harris Lacey and Swain’s Head of Audit. Laura holds her BFP, ACA, and FCCA accreditations and has worked in the accountancy industry for 12 years. [See Laura’s LinkedIn profile here.] Laura says: “I am delighted to join with Richard Lacey and Richard Tucker to help develop the firm further, to have my long term colleague Lucy alongside is fantastic” Lucy Jessop has also moved into [...]

The ultimate aim of every serious business person is to build a company that has value, so that it can be sold or transferred, allowing the entrepreneur to exit gracefully and profitably. Recently, we have been helping a number of our entrepreneur clients develop exit strategies. There are many issues to consider: When do you want to retire? Can the business be sold to your employees? Is a trade sale more likely? Are there children involved? How much is the business worth? What needs to be done to enhance the value of the business? How long will it take? Do [...]

The valuation of business goodwill for tax purposes is very subjective and is often a contentious area. HMRC have recently updated their guidance in their Shares and Assets Valuation Manual. The guidance makes a distinction between goodwill for Capital Gains purposes and goodwill within the corporate intangibles regime where accountancy principles apply. The accounting rules define goodwill as the difference between the overall worth of a business when it changes hands and the value of its identifiable (including intangible) assets. The HMRC guidance goes on to state that the goodwill of a business is the “attractive force” which brings in [...]