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Yearly Archives: 2021

Christmas gifts for staff

Readers are reminded that there is a tax-free allowance for the provision of an annual party or other event for the benefit of staff and their partners. The present limit to tax relief is £150 per head. If this amount is exceeded, the full cost of the benefit is taxable not the excess over £150.…
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Increasing footfall

Footfall measures the number of times a customer returns to your business to purchase goods and services. Many business owners believe that the most effective way to increase turnover is to win more customers or to charge them more for purchases. Both of these strategies may work to increase sales, but both contain hidden costs.…
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Christmas shopping warning

If you are buying Christmas gifts online this year, take care that you are not presented with unexpected VAT, excise duty or customs duty charges before you can take possession of your purchases. HMRC is urging shoppers to consider certain custom’s issues before they start browsing to buy gifts online. Otherwise, they may be hit…
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Beware tax scams

HMRC have issued a press release that sets out the scale of criminal activity, convincing taxpayers to part with bank or personal details under threat of arrest or court action. The scale of these self-assessment scams is staggering, apparently over 800,000 tax-related scams were reported to HMRC is the past year. Why is this activity…
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Business exit planning

Unless you are committed to dying with your boots on, there will come a day when you desire to exit from your business and retire or try something different. The way that you organise your business, and in particular, the way you organise your finances, will have an impact on the value (£’s) you can…
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New to import and export red tape?

If you are importing goods into the UK for the first time you may be advised to seek the assistance of a qualified customs agent. The process of creating and filing the correct documentation, such that the goods can pass through border controls with no hold-ups, and any duties or import VAT are paid, is…
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What are ULEVs?

ULEV expands to Ultra Low Emission Vehicles. It is an acronym that we will see on a more frequent basis as climate issues climb in importance. Most families have cars, some use commercial vehicles. The majority are presently fuelled by petrol or diesel. As manufacturers commit investment to the development of carbon-free transport options, primarily…
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Chips are down

Mention the words chips to most people and fried potatoes would come to mind.   Suggesting that there is a growing shortage of chips would no doubt generate a stampede to the local supermarkets. This sudden rise in demand would double up the pressure on farmers to increase supply and within a short time the…
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Tired of slow internet connectivity?

In a recent press release the government confirmed that more than 500,000 rural homes in the UK are to receive access to better broadband plans. They said:   • 570,000 more rural premises in line for best broadband available via £5 billion Project Gigabit • Includes Cheshire, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Essex, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, East…
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Budget planning opportunities

It was difficult to find any changes proposed in the budget last week that gave rise to great optimism or that swept away the nagging feeling that we are not out of the woods just yet. We have summarised below some of the issues that will affect actions that we should perhaps consider between now…
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