HLAS

In the weeks before any Budget or Autumn Statement there are always leaks and rumours. Normally, in the run up to a General Election there are also tax give aways in an attempt to re-elect the incumbent political party. One rumour that has been circulating in the press concerns the possible abolition of inheritance tax (IHT). That would certainly be very popular amongst wavering Conservative voters as it would enable them to retain more wealth within the family. This rumour may have the effect of causing families to delay estate planning pending an announcement. Tax planning can only be based [...]

The Treasury has announced that the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) will produce a report on the state of the UK Economy in time for the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to present his Autumn Statement on Wednesday 22 November. Last year the Chancellor announced a number of significant changes, reversing many of the proposals in the Kwarteng/Truss mini Budget the previous September. This time we are not expecting too many surprises. However, the leaks and rumours have already started with suggestions that there will be no significant tax cuts. There is also likely to be a General Election within the next [...]

In order that we can help predict your taxable profits and tax liabilities we need up to date profit figures and projections. One of the advantages of keeping your business accounts in a computerised form, ideally on the Cloud, is that we can review your latest financial position and help you prepare more reliable profit forecasts to estimate your tax bills. Unincorporated Businesses Reliable profit forecasts are particularly important at the moment, with the changes to the taxation of sole traders and partnerships from 2024/25, and the complicated transitional rules that apply in 2023/24. The transitional rules may result in [...]

New measures have been enshrined in law that will transform the student finance system, allowing colleges and universities to charge different fees for different courses for the first time and opening up opportunities for adults to study in a way that works for them. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) (formerly the Lifelong Loan Entitlement) will give all adults from 2025 access to loans, worth up to £37,000 in today’s fees, that they can use flexibly over their working lives to upskill or retrain. The LLE will mean people will be able to take out a student loan to pay for [...]

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £32 million in innovation projects to support the development and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions in the priority sectors of: Transport, Construction, Agriculture, and creative industries. Your project can focus on one or more of the following: data driven decision making, automation of administrative tasks, project management optimization, supply chain optimisation and forecast models, waste management, intellectual property (IP) management, and design. The competition is split into two strands, offering support to: single entities, and collaborative R&D projects. For both strands, Innovate UK [...]

The iconic Small Business Saturday UK Tour is back again this November. The countdown to Small Business Saturday is officially on, as ‘The Tour’ returns to spotlight and supports small businesses all over the country. Once again supported by BT Skills for Tomorrow, ‘The Tour’ will call at twenty three different towns and cities across the UK throughout November, visiting small businesses and shining a light on their contribution to the UK economy and local communities. It will also offer a jam-packed free daily programme of online events - including workshops, webinars, mentoring and inspiring entrepreneurial stories - open to all small businesses. [...]

Start Up Loans are personal loans designed to help new businesses begin trading. They were created to support would-be business owners who have struggled to secure finance from traditional lenders. To date, over 100,000 small firms have received loans, designed to help scale up activities. Delivered through the state-owned British Business Bank, the Start Up Loan scheme was developed and launched by the government in 2012 to help new and early-stage UK businesses without sufficient personal funds or support from friends and family to access affordable finance and mentoring support. Through this combined access to finance, more small businesses can [...]

From 1st October 2023 new fire safety legislation comes into effect. This will mean that many businesses and building owners need to check if and how this affects them to ensure they are complying with the regulations. The main changes are: All businesses will need to record a fire risk assessment and fire safety arrangements in full – regardless of the number of employees, and size or type of business; There are increased requirements for cooperation and coordination between Responsible Persons in multi occupied buildings or those where the occupier and owner are not the same person; and In residential buildings [...]

The UK’s manufacturing sector has climbed one place to eighth in the world rankings, overtaking France in the process, according to analysis of the latest official data published by Make UK. The figures are contained in the latest annual ‘Manufacturing – The Facts’ which contains a wide variety of data about the contribution of manufacturing to the economy, including exports, sectoral breakdown, how the UK compares to other nations and salary levels. The data shows that in 2021 (the latest year for which global comparisons are available), UK manufacturing output was worth some $272bn, compared to $262bn for France, but behind [...]

Innovation has generally been recognised as essential for value creation, both for individual companies and for the UK economy as a whole. The development of new ideas, processes, and technologies and their flow across different sectors is a significant driver of economic growth and productivity. Recently, innovation has also been identified as crucial to the transition of the economy away from fossil fuels and carbon-intensive business activities. There are many factors that affect whether and how businesses innovate, for example the availability of skills and capital and government policy measures such as tax incentives. However, none are more important that [...]