VAT registered business making taxable supplies above the £85,000 registration threshold have been grappling with Making Tax Digital (MTD) since April 2019. The next roll-out will be the introduction of MTD for income tax, which is scheduled to start in April 2023.
Where a company makes a trading loss of no more than £200,000 in an accounting period, it is now possible to claim relief for that loss even though the corporation tax return CT600 has not been submitted.
This will enable the company to carry back the loss to earlier years and obtain a repayment of tax previously paid.
The fifth (and final) SEISS grant will be available for the self-employed to claim towards the end of July.
For the month of July, the CJRS Furlough grant support from the government via HMRC reduces to 70% of the employee’s usual pay for hours not worked. This is despite the fact that “Freedom Day” in England has been delayed four weeks to 19 July 2021, and now called “Terminus Day”. The government support to employers will then reduce to 60% in August and September. After September, the furlough scheme will no longer be available for businesses to claim.
P11d forms reporting benefits in kind provided to employees and directors need to be submitted to HMRC by 6 July. Where a company car is “unavailable” for private use for 30 or more consecutive days the benefit is proportionately reduced.
During the various lockdown periods many employees and directors have not been using their company cars and it may have been sitting on their driveway. Unfortunately, that does not count as being unavailable.
HMRC are urging businesses to look out for the use of mini-umbrella companies (MUCs) to pay contractors supplying their labour via agencies and other intermediaries. Businesses need to be aware of the financial and reputational risks of such entities in their labour supply chain and carry out due diligence to minimise those risks.
Google Workspace is a low cost, web-based platform for creating documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
For decades, Microsoft Office has been the most popular software for business users around the world. Most businesses need a word processor, spreadsheets, presentations and email, and Microsoft Office was the first to offer all of this, in one package.
The fourth version of the CJRS “furlough” grant scheme starts on 1 May 2021 and will run until 30 September with employees affected continuing to be supported such that they are entitled to be paid at least 80% of their “usual pay” subject to a limit of £2,500 a month for hours not worked.
The government, via HMRC, will continue to provide support up to this 80% figure for the months of May and June. The government support then reduces to 70% for July and the 60% for August and September with the employer being required to make up the difference. The employer is also required to pay national insurance contributions and pension contributions on the full amount paid to the employee.
In the Budget on 3rd March the Chancellor announced a new 130% tax relief for expenditure on new plant and machinery incurred between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. It turns out that this new tax relief is only available to limited companies and the latest Finance Bill reveals a nasty sting in the tail when the equipment is sold, as the clawback on disposal is potentially at the same 130% rate. So, if a new item of plant cost £100,000 the company would be able to deduct £130,000 in arriving at taxable profits thus saving £24,700 in corporation tax at 19%.
The “off-payroll” working rules that apply to certain workers supplying their services to clients via their own personal service companies start from 6th of April 2021.