Over 440,000 small firms at risk due to late payment crisis

More than 440,000 small firms could be forced out of business by the late payment crisis, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). An FSB study of more than 1,200 business owners found that close to one in three has seen late payment of invoices increase over the last three months, with a further 8% experiencing other forms of poor payment practice. As a result, 8% of small businesses say late payments are now threatening the viability of their…

Small businesses’ efforts to become more sustainable have been hampered by the expenses associated with becoming green, according to research issued by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). According to the FSB survey, the majority of small businesses in the UK are concerned about climate change, but only one in three have policies in place to tackle it. 67 per cent of the businesses asked indicated they’ve begun to address their energy use, and 18 per cent said they’ve invested…

According to HMRC’s annual records, the pandemic caused a decline in tax receipts of about £30 billion in the previous financial year. HMRC said in its 2020/21 annual report that it had received £608.8 billion in tax receipts, down from £636.7 billion in 2019/20. The decline was attributed to ‘exceptional economic circumstances imposed by COVID-19, and pandemic constraints forced HMRC to curtail its compliance effort,’ according to HMRC. The additional tax earned by HMRC’s work combating avoidance, evasion, and other…

The UK government marked the inaugural Tax Administration and Maintenance (TAM) Day with the publication of 30 papers covering a wide range of tax issues. Chancellor Rishi Sunak made the commitment to have a Tam Day in the Autumn Budget. The aim was for a dedicated day for the administration and maintenance of the Uk tax system. The government has set out further detail on the conclusions to its review of business rates, including more frequent relations, improvement relief, exemptions…

Unless the government intervenes, the regular three-day waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for coronavirus (COVID-19)-related claims will be resumed on March 25, 2022. Employers in the United Kingdom are not required to pay SSP to an employee until the fourth qualifying day of the Period of Incapacity for Work, according to normal standards (PIW). The PIW is defined as a period of illness that lasts four or more calendar days, not all of which must be qualifying days.…

HMRC has advised people to ‘be on their watch’ and cautious in the face of tax-related frauds while submitting their 2020/21 tax returns. HMRC claimed that around 800,000 tax schemes were recorded in the previous year. Self-assessment is used by scammers to steal money or personal information from taxpayers, according to the report. HMRC received about 360,000 fake tax refund referrals in the previous year. HMRC will send over four million emails and SMS messages to self-assessment taxpayers this week,…

 New rules to help protect pension savers from scammers have become law. Under the regulations, pension’s trustees and scheme managers will be given the power to stop suspicious transfers before cash gets into the hands of fraudsters. Fraudsters frequently offer `too good to be true` incentives to pension saver, such as free pension reviews, early access to pension cash and other time-limited offers. Lured in by these bogus offers, individuals are then tricked into transferring their savings into a scam…

Optimism improved for firms across the services sector in the three months to November, according to the latest Service Sector Survey. However, cost growth continued to pick up, increasing at the fastest pace since survey records began in 1998. Additionally, business volumes continued to grow at a strong pace across the services sector, although there are signs of slowing growth. The CBI found that cost pressures are building, with both consumer services and business and professional services seeing costs rise…

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published and took effect from 1 December 2021. The guidance states: ‘you can use the previous rates for up to one month from the date the new rates apply. The rates only apply to employees using a company car. The advisory fuel rates for journeys undertaken on or after 1 December 2021 are: Engine size Petrol 1400cc or less 13p 1401cc – 2000cc 15p Over 2000cc 22p   Engine size LPG 1400cc or…

On October 27, Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered a Budget to ensure the UK economy bounces back following the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The Chancellor announced that total departmental spending will grow by £150 billion per year in cash terms by 2024/25, marking the biggest real-term increase in overall departmental spending for any Parliament this century. Public research and development (R&D) investment will increase to a record-breaking level of £20 billion by 2024/25. The Chancellor unveiled a new temporary business rates relief…