Guidance protects against ‘ransomware’ attacks

The National Cyber Security Council (NCSC) has published guidance for small businesses about how they can prevent, detect and respond to ransomware attacks following the widespread ‘WannaCry’ ransomware attack in early May. Further guidance has been produced by the Charity Commission for England and Wales for charity

Advisory fuel rates for company cars

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published which took effect from 1 June 2017. 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 […]

Tax-Free Childcare and childcare options

Tax-Free Childcare, the new government scheme to help working parents with the cost of childcare launched at the end of April and is being rolled out to parents, starting with those parents with the youngest children first. For every £8 a parent pays in, the government will pay in an extra £2. Parents can receive […]

Minimum wage rises again

Minimum wage rises again so Employers need to ensure they are paying their employees at least the appropriate National Minimum Wage (NMW) or National Living Wage (NLW) rate. The rates increase from 1 April 2017. From 1 October 2016 From 1 April 2017 NLW rate for workers aged 25 and over £7.20* £7.50 the main […]

Making Tax Digital for Business update  

Extensive changes to how taxpayers record and report income to HMRC are being introduced under a project entitled Making Tax Digital for Business (MTDfB) . MTDfB is to be introduced in stages and the government has confirmed in the Budget the deferral of some of the obligations for one year. The result of this announcement is […]

VAT Flat Rate Scheme

Changes are being made to the VAT Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) which take effect from 1 April 2017. These changes may mean that the FRS is less attractive to some businesses and this may result in these businesses deciding to no longer operate under the FRS. In some cases where a trader has voluntarily registered […]

What will the Spring Budget bring for business?

With two Budgets in 2017, and the Spring Budget scheduled for Wednesday 8 March 2017, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) have written to the Chancellor Philip Hammond outlining what they would like to see in the Budget proposals. The CBI’s letter calls for the government to ‘back businesses’ growth ambitions’ to help build prosperity […]

Self-assessment expense claims

HMRC have released a list of the most outlandish self-assessment expense claims. These include: Holiday flights to the Caribbean Luxury watches as Christmas gifts for staff – from a company with no employees International flights for dental treatment ahead of business meetings Pet food for a Shih Tzu ‘guard dog’ Armani jeans as protective clothing […]

Over £9.2 billion released by pension freedoms

Hundreds of thousands of savers have cashed in £9.2 billion from their pension pots since pension freedoms were introduced in April 2015. In April 2015, the government introduced significant pension reforms giving people the ability to access their pensions savings how and when they want. Over 1.5 million payments have been made using pension freedoms, […]