From the category archives:

Tax N2K

Budget 2011 wishes for fast growth digital and tech companies

March 22, 2011

With George Osborne promising an “unashamedly pro-growth, pro-enterprise and pro-aspiration” Budget tomorrow at 12.30pm, I am looking forward to hearing these words turn into solid, workable solutions for UK entrepreneurs.
Giving Budget predictions is almost as much fun as delving into the actual Budget announcements afterward so please allow me to indulge myself for just two minutes!
Here are [...]

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EIS and EMI – Whaaaat?!!!

March 10, 2011

I don’t know if there’s something in the water around here right now but I seem to spending a huge proportion of my time advising clients on either:

the benefits (and potential pitfalls!) of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) aimed at tax efficient investments into fledgling fast growth companies and
rewarding employees under an approved HMRC [...]

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10 Year End Tax Planning Tips For SMEs

December 10, 2010

You have the opportunity to structure your business finances in ways that preserve more of the wealth that you create. This takes advance planning. Don’t miss this opportunity.
To help, here are 10 pre-year end tax planning tips that entrepreneurs should be actively considering to reduce corporation tax, income tax and national insurance costs:

Don’t pay corporation [...]

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Avoid a tax hangover from your Christmas office party!

December 8, 2010

So you’re probably all set for this year’s Christmas work bash? Its worth reminding yourself about the tax rules and how they apply for Christmas office parties.
As you might expect, HM Revenue & Customs aren’t quite as festive as most business owners might like to be in rewarding their team for the hard work put [...]

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Tinkering with tax simplification

November 10, 2010

Over 1,000 tax incentives have been identified and collated as part of the first stage of the Office of Tax Simplification work – tax advisers across the UK nod wearily! The next step is to review which tax incentives can be eliminated to ‘simplify’ UK tax. Target date for the first review is the next Budget scheduled for 23 [...]

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Automate your tax alerts

November 10, 2010

This is a basic yet nifty little tool for creating a calendar of your key tax deadlines for the forthcoming 12 months.  Okay so your accountant should – and probably is – letting you know in good time about up and coming tax deadlines but this is a useful addition. You can opt for email [...]

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Pension contribution rules change – again!

October 14, 2010

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Not long after Labour launched its assault on higher rate tax relief on pension contributions made by ‘super earners’ (prefaced by the introduction of the hideously complex interim ‘anti-forestalling measures’) the Coalition government has confirmed today that it will repeal these tax laws and replace them with a more simplified regime:

£50,000 – annual [...]

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12 tax advantages of using a company as a business vehicle

October 13, 2010

If the UK company taxable profits are £300,000 or less, a stand-alone company will normally pay corporation tax at just 21% (‘small companies’ rate’).
This small companies’ rate reduces to 20% with effect from 1 April 2011.
The standard rate of corporation tax is 28%. It will be reduced to 27% with effect from 1 April 2011 [...]

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Future of R&D Tax Credits

September 1, 2010
Thumbnail image for Future of R&D Tax Credits

I was asked by a client yesterday whether I thought the UK R&D tax credit system would be around for the foreseeable future?
I answered “Yes”. Here’s a summary of my current thinking:

James Dyson‘s Ingenious Britain Report, as commissioned pre-election by the Conservative party into re-energising the British economy, gave the UK R&D tax credit system a whole-hearted [...]

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Emergency Budget 2010: What it means for fast growth technology businesses

June 22, 2010

There was mixed news for fast growth technology and digital businesses in today’s Emergency Budget. Headlines were as follows:
Corporation tax rates will be cut from 21% to 20% for small companies ie those with taxable profits up to £300,000, with effect from 1 April 2011. Large companies will benefit from tax rate cuts from [...]

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