HLAS

A new drive to encourage farmers and landowners across England to plant and manage more trees has been launched. Woodland creation offers a profitable way for farmers and landowners to boost their business as well as deliver environmental benefits, alongside food production. The Forestry Commission and Defra are drawing attention to the attractive grant schemes and free specialist advice available through a new campaign. The grant schemes will help land managers diversify their business, with the potential to receive a grant of over £10,000 for every hectare of new woodland created. Woodland creation is one of the options that farmers [...]

More than £31 million of UK government funding, matched by more than £30 million of industry funding for the development of innovative floating offshore wind technologies has been announced by the UK government. Floating offshore wind projects will receive the public and private investment to develop new technologies that will enable turbines to be located in the windiest parts around the UK’s coastline. Research will focus on areas such as how turbines are moored to the seabed, undersea cabling and developing foundation solutions. The UK government has announced 11 successful projects that will each be awarded up to £10 million [...]

The government is to lay a bill in parliament to extend HS2 from Crewe up to Manchester and beyond. This is a new phase of the £96 billion commitment in the Integrated Rail Plan to deliver faster and better journeys across the North. New High Speed stations will also be built at Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport, making way for new lines to Leeds and Liverpool, as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail. If approved, the High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill will allow HS2 to continue its journey from Crewe to Manchester, creating a new transport spine across the North with [...]

HSE remind employers that they must provide the right facilities for everyone in their workplace, including people with disabilities. You must have: welfare facilities – the right number of toilets and washbasins, drinking water and having somewhere to rest and eat meals a healthy working environment – a clean workplace with a reasonable working temperature, good ventilation, suitable lighting and the right amount of space and seating a safe workplace – well-maintained equipment, with no obstructions in floors and traffic routes, and windows that can be easily opened and cleaned See: Have the right workplace facilities - Overview - HSE [...]

The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs has revealed plans to transform the waste industry in the UK, making it easier to crack down on illegal exports and on waste crime. The government is consulting on a digital waste tracking service. The tracking service would make it mandatory for those handling waste to record information about what happens to it, from the point it is produced to the point it is reused, recycled, or disposed. The consultation closes on 15 April 2022. See:  Introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking - Defra - Citizen Space

HMRC have recently updated their internal VAT manual to clarify the “place of supply” rules for services. This is one of the most complex areas of VAT legislation and of course the rules changed significantly since the UK left the EU. The country where a supply is deemed to be made is called the ‘place of supply’ and is the place where it is liable to VAT, if any. These rules are necessary to ensure that VAT, where payable, is paid only in the correct country and to avoid the possibility of supplies being taxed more than once or not [...]

The costs of keeping the country running through covid were huge and inflation is expected to add to the country’s debt. The Office for Budget Responsibility has indicated that the treasury will need to find £45bn in interest, before even thinking about paying off the debt itself. As taxpayers we will be providing the extra cash! From April, the Chancellor is not directly increasing the rates of income tax we pay, he is freezing the thresholds at which basic and higher rates of income tax are paid from April 2022 to April 2026, effectively increasing the amount we actually pay [...]

Normally self-assessment tax returns need to submitted by 31 January, otherwise there is an automatic £100 late filing penalty. Don’t panic however, as HMRC have recently announced that provided 2020/21 tax returns are received by the end of February, the late filing penalty will not be applied. Filing late will, however, extend the period during which HMRC may open an enquiry into your return. YOU ALSO HAVE LONGER TO PAY YOUR PERSONAL TAX 2020/21 income tax, CGT, class 2 and 4 NIC liabilities normally need to be paid by 31 January 2022. However, HMRC have recently announced that provided the [...]

Now that the economy is starting to recover, this could be a good time to think about selling your business. Remember that under the current capital gains rules, the first £1 million of an individual’s gains potentially qualify for a 10% rate of tax, provided business asset disposal relief applies. We can check whether or not you and other business owners qualify for this generous relief. Note that the £1 million limit applies to all disposals during an individual’s lifetime. If your business is worth more than £1 million, you might want to consider the transfer of shares to other [...]

Whilst most of us were wrapping our Christmas presents on 23 December 2021, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to produce an economic and fiscal forecast for Wednesday 23 March 2022. The main Budget is scheduled for Autumn each year, but it is anticipated that the Chancellor will take the opportunity to make a number of tax announcements. Many are hoping that the Chancellor will zero rate VAT on domestic power to ease the burden of households struggling to pay their energy bills. Now that the UK has left the EU, we [...]