News & Events

The UK’s Supreme Court has found in favour of small firms receiving payments from COVID-19 business interruption insurance policies. The test case was brought against insurers by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The ruling means that thousands of small businesses are now set to receive insurance payouts covering losses from the first national lockdown. Commenting on the ruling, Flora Hamilton, Financial Services Director at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: ‘At such an uncertain time, this court case provides…

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) has urged the government to raise the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) threshold to avoid it affecting basic-rate taxpayers for the first time in April 2021. The LITRG stated that this goes against the original policy intent, and is ‘likely to cause the government additional difficulties in raising awareness about the charge among those who do not consider themselves on a high income’. Tom Henderson, Technical Officer at the LITRG, said: ‘When…

The government has announced that employers can now apply for a £1,000 bonus, a cash boost, to help them take on new trainees. The new scheme will support young people to gain the skills and experience they need from the start, helping them to get a job, an apprenticeship, or to pursue further study. The cash boost, which is available until 31 July 2021, will help businesses with the cost of providing a high-quality work placement for a trainee. This…

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes delivered the 2021/22 Scottish Draft Budget on Thursday 28 January 2021, setting out the Scottish Government’s financial and tax plans. The Government has devolved powers to set the rates and bands of income tax (other than those for savings and dividend income) which apply to Scottish resident taxpayers. The Scottish Budget announced the following income tax rates and bands for 2021/22. These will be considered by the Scottish Parliament, and an agreed Scottish Rate Resolution will…

HMRC has published the names of 139 named companies that failed to pay minimum wages amounting to £6.7 million to over 95,000 workers. HMRC has named 139 companies, including major household names, that have underpaid their employees and have been fined. The offending companies failed to pay £6.7 million to their workers, in a breach of employment law. This is the first time the government has named and shamed companies for failing to pay National Minimum Wage since 2018, following…

HMRC has revealed that more than 10.7 million taxpayers submitted their 2019/20 Self Assessment tax returns by the 31 January deadline. The remaining 1.8 million whose tax return is now late will not be charged a late filing penalty provided they submit their return online by 28 February. Taxpayers who did not pay their Self Assessment tax bill by 31 January are now incurring interest on the outstanding balance and should pay their bill as soon as possible. Taxpayers should…

On 25 January HMRC announced that there would be no Self-Assessment late filing penalty for those who file online by 28 February 2021. It was clear that the extended deadline would apply to forms SA100 (the tax return for individuals), and that those returns filed on paper in February will not benefit from the late filing advantage.  Self-Assessment customers will not receive a penalty for their late online tax return if they file by 28 February, HM Revenue and Customs’…

HMRC has stated in a recent consultation that Making Tax Digital (MTD) for corporate tax (CT) (MTD for CT) would not be enforced ‘at the earliest’ until 2026. The consultation takes into account how the standards built for MTD could be defined for businesses within the framework of CT charges. In the consultation it explores how the principles developed for Making Tax Digital (MTD)  for VAT could be extended to corporate taxation (CT). Based on the consultation, entities within the…

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) until the end of April 2021. Businesses negatively affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) can make use of the CJRS until the end of April. So far, it has supported 9.6 million jobs across the UK, with more than one million businesses using it. Employees on furlough will continue to get 80% of their salary for hours not worked, up to £2,500/month. The state will pay 80% of salaries for…

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a new £4.6 billion package of grants to support businesses through the latest national lockdown. UK businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to be given one-off grants worth up to £9,000. The payments are expected to support 600,000 business properties across the UK. A further £594 million will be made available to councils and delegated nations to support businesses not covered by the new grants. The one-off top-ups will be granted to…