News Items

Claim tax relief for additional costs of working from home

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the advice was ‘work from home if you can’. As a result, millions of employees found themselves...

Take dividends while you can

For personal and family companies, a tax efficient strategy for extracting profits is to take a small...

Tax relief on loans to close companies

Family and personal companies are often ‘close’ companies. Broadly, this is one that is controlled by five or ...

Relief for losses in the early years of a trade

It is not uncommon to realise a loss in the early years of a trade. However, traders who commenced their self-employment ...

Termination payments and Class 1A National Insurance

As the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme comes to an end, employers with employees who are still on furlough will need to...

Auto-enrolment – Re-enrolment and re-declaration of compliance

The Covid-19 pandemic has introduced many challenges for employers. However, despite the pandemic, their responsibilities...

Gift aid – Beware if your income falls

Where a Gift Aid declaration is made, the recipient charity or community amateur sports club can claim back basic rate...

NIC and company directors

Special rules apply to company directors when it comes to calculating their Class 1 National Insurance liabilities...

No retained profits – Can you extract cash to cover your living expenses?

If you operate through a limited company, for example as a personal or family company, you will need...

Reporting expenses and benefits for 2020/21

Employers who provided taxable expenses and benefits to employees during the 2020/21 tax year will need to report these to HMRC, on form...

Reduced rate of VAT

To help the hospitality and leisure industry recover from the impact of the first national lockdown, a reduced rate of VAT of 5% was introduced for...

Restart Grants and Recovery Loans

As lockdown restrictions are eased, businesses may need help to re-open and to recover from the impact of the pandemic. Depending on the nature...

Can you claim the Employment Allowance for 2021/22?

The Employment Allowance is a National Insurance allowance that enables eligible employers to reduce their...

Tax allowances frozen until April 2026

The financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented and borrowing levels in 2020/21 of 16.9% of GDP represent the highest level...

Take advantage of the enhanced carry back of losses

Many businesses have suffered losses as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and where a business has made a loss...

Further grants for the self-employed

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has provided grant support for self-employed individuals whose business has been...

Super-deduction for capital expenditure

To encourage companies to invest, enhanced capital allowances are available for expenditure incurred within a limited two-year window...

Personal and family companies – Optimal salary for 2021/22

A popular profit extraction strategy for shareholders in personal and family companies is to pay a small salary...

Incidental overnight expenses

A tax exemption enables an employer to meet small personal expenses when an employee stays away from home for work, without the employee...

Claim expenses for additional costs of working from home

As the 2020/21 tax year draws to a close, many employees will have spent much if not all of the last year working from home...

Business interruption insurance

Business interruption insurance provides cover for losses as a result of events that close or severely disrupt the business...

IR35 and off-payroll working

Prior to 6 April 2021, workers who provide their services to a private sector organisation through an intermediary...

A simple guide to Budget 2021

This is a basic guide, prepared by ACCA’s Technical Advisory team, for members and their colleagues or clients. It’s an...

Legal v illegal dividends

Changed business conditions in light of the Coronavirus pandemic have caused many companies to review their dividend policies not least...

National Living Wage & National Minimum Wage changes

Under the minimum wage legislation, workers must be paid at least the statutory minimum wage for their age. There are two...

Electric cars from April 2021

For 2020/21, it was possible to enjoy an electric company car as a tax-free benefit. While this will no longer be the case for 2021/22, electric ...

Are you trading?

Lockdown restrictions have forced many businesses to close temporarily. Selling goods or clothes on sites such as eBay and Depop...

Leaving the VAT Flat Rate Scheme

The VAT Flat rate scheme is a simplified scheme for smaller businesses. Under the flat rate scheme, VAT-registered traders pay a fixed...

Should I reduce my payments on account?

The deadline for filing your 2019/20 tax return is fast approaching, as is the due date for the first payment on account for 2020/21...

Reclaiming SSP for periods of self-isolation

The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme allows smaller employers to reclaim some or all of the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)...

What tax do I need to pay by 31 January 2021?

The self-assessment tax return for 2019/20 must be filed by midnight on 31 January 2021. If you miss this deadline, you will...

Utilise the trivial benefits exemption to provide tax-free Xmas gifts

The Covid-19 pandemic has placed the office Christmas party firmly off the menu this...

Have you got your EORI number?

From 1 January 2021, you will need an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number to move....

More time to pay back deferred VAT and tax

At the start of the pandemic, VAT registered businesses were given the option of deferring payment of any VAT that fell....

SEISS Extended Again

The Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) provided help the self-employed whose businesses were adversely affected by Coronavirus...

Job Support Scheme

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that England will enter a national lockdown from 5 November 2020 to 2 December 2020, the Coronavirus Job...

Pension Tax Allowances

Pension savings can be tax efficient as contributions to registered pension schemes, attracting tax relief up to certain limits. Tax relief is available on private pension...

Summer 2020 Budget

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a number of measures in his Summer Statement in a bid to help the UK economy recover from the worst effects of Coronavirus...

Tax 2020 - 21

The new tax year started on 6 April. Here are the self-employed tax changes you'll need to know about for 2020-21, including new self-employed tax rates and thresholds....

Self Employed Tax Changes for 2019/20 (April 2019)

Personal allowance and higher rate increases for the UK - Your Personal Allowance increases from £11850 to £12500. The personal allowance is the amount that you can earn before paying tax...

April 2020 private sector IR35 changes

The IR35 ‘off-payroll’ rules will be extended to the private sector from April 2020 onwards, directly affecting a large number of contractors. What exactly does this mean, and what can contractors...