Category Archives: Business Taxes

New ‘National Living Wage’ tax credit changes!

The most radical announcement by the Chancellor on 8th July was a significant reduction in the amount the government plans to spend on tax credits and other State benefits. At the same time he announced that there would a new national living wage to be paid by employers, rising to £9 an hour by 2020. […]

The Summer Budget – Director shareholders hit hard!

DIVIDEND TAX For many years dividends have come with a 10% tax credit which means that there’s no additional personal tax to pay on dividends received by basic rate taxpayers – the basic rate of tax on dividends is currently 10%.  However, the Summer Budget has announced that, from 6 April 2016, this tax credit […]

The £2,000 Employment Allowance continues for 2015/16

The £2,000 “employment allowance” introduced in 2014/15 continues to be available for 2015/16. Note that this allowance provides relief from paying employers NIC on the first £2,000 of contributions. The £2,000 allowance is set against employers NIC on a cumulative basis during the tax year. The allowance is available to most employers, although those under […]

State Pension Changes

From 6 April 2016 the new flat rate State Pension will be introduced, which is expected to be around £150 a week. A person’s actual entitlement will depend on their National Insurance contribution record. Those who have built up an entitlement greater than the flat rate amount due to paying SERPs or other additional contributions […]

VAT Rules Changing for Promp Payment Discounts (PPD)

In last year’s Finance Act it was announced that the VAT rules for dealing with prompt payment (or early settlement) discounts would be changing from 1 April 2015. HMRC have now issued brief 49/2014 setting out guidance for businesses affected by the change, many of whom may need to change their invoicing procedures. The change […]

End of Year PAYE Return

Prior to the introduction of RTI, employers were required to complete an end-of-year checklist and declaration on form P35 and submit to HM Revenue and Customs. Under RTI this was replaced by the final full payment RTI submission which included a similar checklist and declaration. HM Revenue and Customs have recently announced that from 6 […]

What is the statutory minimum holiday entitlement?

Paid annual leave is a legal right that an employer must provide. Almost all workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday per year (known as statutory leave entitlement or annual leave). An employer can include bank holidays as part of statutory annual leave. Self-employed workers aren’t entitled to annual leave. Most workers who […]