Posts By: ilyas Patel

George Osborne said the government would provide additional support to the retail sector through a business rates discount of up to £1,000 in 2014/15 and 2015/16. A new reoccupation relief is to be introduced to help smaller retailers which have been hit “especially hard” by the tough economy. This will be for retail properties (including pubs,… Read more »

George Osborne has revealed the government will expand its Start Up Loan scheme for 2014 to fund a further 50,000 people in setting up businesses. During 2012, the fund is estimated to have supported 10,000 companies. To assist new businesses there will also be a substantial expansion of the New Enterprise Allowance, Enterprise Investment Scheme… Read more »

The fuel duty rise which was planned for next year has been cancelled, resulting in a £680  saving for drivers and twice as much for a small business with a van. Chancellor George Osborne told MPs, in his Autumn Statement that the government had already abolished the hated fuel duty escalator and cut then frozen fuel… Read more »

In an attempt to catch out tax evaders, HMRC is using Google’s Street View application as a monitoring tool to assess those suspected of tax evasion. It is believed by the HMRC, that there is a large discrepancy between what people are earning and declaring and they are determind to recoup some of the loss. … Read more »

A new select committee is to be formed by the House of Lords to look into the use of personal service companies and their impact on tax collection. Area scrutinised by the committee will include; the extent to which staff are engaged through personal service companies in the public sector and whether doing so is… Read more »

In April 2013, the UK cut it’s top rate of Income Tax from 50% to 45%.  The cut was the largest single tax cut anywhere in the world and the UK went from 5th to 11th in the EU table of countries with the highest top rate of tax and to 18th in the world. It… Read more »

In this weeks latest episode of Downton Abbey (tv drama series) viewers are able to use the unfolding events surrounding Lord Grantham’s plans for his estate as a lesson in tax preparation. A partner to a fan of the Downton Abbey series, Catherine Desmond, has recently written a blog which provides a modern-day commentary on the tax,… Read more »

According to new research, HMRC have made a number of tax code errors since they introduced their computer system in 2009. The errors have meant that one in three taxpayers have not been paying the right amount of tax.  One of the most common mistakes made by HMRC is failing to tax employee benefits, such… Read more »

It has been identified, through an HMRC trial that was looking into ways to reduce tax fraud and error, that £20m of potential losses after 5,500 cases from a sample of £16,000 showed irregularities. As part of the taxman’s strategy to tackle the problem of tax credit fraud and error, he plans to use “sophiticated… Read more »

There has been much criticism of banks, by politicians and the media for not lending enough to businesses, especially since the credit crunch, but there are many alternatives to the mainstream bank loan. Sadly, there seems to be a lack of awareness within business finance of the options that are available and an Accountant or… Read more »