Blog

Furnished Holiday Lettings regime to be abolished

Posted 17th March 2024 at 4:38 pm

holiday let

If you run a holiday let, then you are probably well aware of the useful tax advantages that holiday lets have had for many years. Because furnished holiday lets can be treated as a trade rather than as a rental property, there are more generous deductions against income available. Also, there has been a significant advantage in property capital gains tax when selling a furnished holiday let. During the Spring Budget, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that the Furnished Holiday Lettings regime is to be abolished with effect from 6 April 2025. This means that your holiday let profits will... Read more

What the National Insurance cuts mean for businesses

Posted 11th March 2024 at 2:24 pm

national insurance

The Spring Budget further extended the national insurance cuts first announced in last year’s Autumn Statement. In this blog we outline what this means for different types of businesses.   What the NI cuts mean for employers In last year’s autumn statement, employee’s national insurance was cut by 2 percentage points from 12% to 10%. This change went into effect on 6 January 2024. The Spring Budget extended this further by reducing the employee national insurance contribution by a further 2 percentage points, bringing the rate down to 8% from 6 April 2024. If you were planning to pay staff... Read more

The twin-cab pickup makes a U-turn

Posted 6th March 2024 at 11:42 am

vehicle

In an announcement made on 19 February, the government made a surprising U-turn and confirmed that twin-cab pickup vehicles with payloads of 1 tonne or more will continue to be treated as goods vehicles for both capital allowances and benefit-in-kind purposes. On 12 February, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had updated its guidance on the tax treatment of twin-cab pickups following a 2020 Court of Appeal judgment. The guidance had confirmed that, from 1 July 2024, twin-cab pickups with a payload of one tonne or more would be treated as cars rather than goods vehicles for both capital allowances and... Read more

Improving customer satisfaction

Posted 26th February 2024 at 4:21 pm

customer

The Institute of Customer Service published its latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) figures for January 2024. The Index has fallen by 1.7 points since last January to 76.0 (out of 100). Each of the 13 UKCSI sectors showed lower customer satisfaction than a year ago, with Utilities, Transport, Insurance and Service declining by more than 2 points. The highest rated organisations are Ocado (85.7), first direct (85.3) and John Lewis (85.1). Looking at an index update like this can provide a good opportunity to reflect on the customer satisfaction of your own customers. Good customer service is characterised by... Read more

Navigating Recession: key considerations for your business

Posted 21st February 2024 at 9:06 am

compass

The Office of National Statistics released official figures last week showing the UK is now officially in recession. Gross domestic product (GDP) for the October to December 2023 quarter dropped by 0.3%. This followed a fall in the July to September 2023 quarter of 0.1%. A fall in GDP in two or more consecutive quarters constitutes a recession. Experts will generally assess the health of an economy on a number of factors, rather than solely look at the headline GDP rates. However, the “recession” word quickly takes hold in news headlines and brings apprehension and uncertainty with it. While it... Read more

Cookie compliance – don’t get caught out!

Posted 13th February 2024 at 3:34 pm

cookies

Whether you started a diet in January or are giving up sweet treats for Lent, at this time of year many of us are focusing on maintaining healthy habits. At the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) however the focus is on an entirely different type of cookie… The ICO is intensifying its efforts to ensure compliance with data protection laws regarding advertising cookies, targeting some of the UK’s top websites. In November, the ICO sent letters to 53 of the country’s top 100 websites, cautioning them about potential enforcement action if changes were not made to align with data protection regulations.... Read more

Improve your cash flow

Posted 6th February 2024 at 1:58 pm

cash flow

A new report from business rescue and recovery specialists Begbies Traynor  estimates that more than 47,000 businesses in the UK are near collapse because of being in critical financial distress. This is a startling increase of 25.9% from the previous quarter, with particular concern raised for the construction and real estate sectors. Whilst we can hope that falling inflation and interest rates will give a boost to these businesses over the coming months, this news might encourage all businesses to turn their attention to optimising their cash flow, which is an essential component of sustained growth and success. In particular,... Read more

Business Valuation: Why it matters and how you can boost it

Posted 30th January 2024 at 11:55 am

business valuation

Being tuned into the current value of your business can be very useful in shaping the business for growth or for a future sale. In this blog, we explore the significance of business valuation and provide advice to help you propel your business value to new heights. Business valuation serves as a comprehensive assessment of your business’s worth. It goes beyond financial metrics and encompasses various factors that contribute to the overall worth of your business. Being aware of the value of your business and the factors that influence this can then inform and influence your decisions in crucial areas... Read more

Holiday pay and entitlement reforms

Posted 22nd January 2024 at 11:23 am

entitlement

Following Brexit, any European laws that were retained in the UK automatically expired on December 31 unless legislation was brought in to keep them. The Employment Rights Regulations 2023 do just that and are applicable across the UK. As well as reinstating some EU laws, these regulations make several changes to existing laws. These reforms, which came into force on 1st January, include changes that affect rates of holiday pay and annual leave. They also cover handling irregular hours and part-year workers, accrual of COVID-19 carryover of leave, and rolled-up holiday pay. The aim of these changes is to simplify... Read more

What tax do you pay if you sell on eBay?

Posted 9th January 2024 at 10:27 am

ebay

In these economically challenging times, and in an era where we are all more conscious of our impact on the environment, many of us are choosing to sell our unwanted second-hand items on sites like eBay, with some people even making this their main source of income. You might think of this as ‘free money’ but in fact, this is unfortunately not necessarily the case. The tax implications of selling on eBay are more obvious if you are making or buying goods specifically to sell for a profit – HMRC will view this as business income that needs declaring. However,... Read more