HMRC has issued guidance to self-employed taxpayers about how to apply for the fifth SEISS grant, the portal for which is due to open later this month, however this guidance is both confusing and in some cases simply wrong! Even as an accountant I have struggled to understand what it means, but I’ll do my best to…
Category: Finance
Are you making this mistake in your business?
Most entrepreneurial business owners want to grow their business, make more sales and generate more profit. It’s why they started the business in the first place. But in their eagerness to make more profit and earn more, too many business owners make a fundamental mistake, which I see all too often. They assume the answer…
Is there something sinister going on?
With just 24 hours to go before the Budget statement from the Chancellor the news media and politicians are eager to have their say about what we can expect. The problem – which is becoming quite annoying – is that not only are journalists are asking the wrong questions, but that politicians are answering them! No…
You can now defer your VAT payment until January 2022
All VAT registered businesses had their VAT payments deferred automatically for amounts due to be paid in the period from 20 March to 30 June 2020. No interest or penalties have been charged on that outstanding VAT debt, and businesses have been free to pay the amount due at any time. Now pay up There…
The SEISS claims portal opens again today … but beware of the more onerous conditions
The self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) claims portal reopens today (Monday 30 November), but new rules mean that taxpayers must declare their trade has been impacted by reduced demand before they can claim the third grant. When claiming the first two SEISS grants taxpayers had to confirm that their trade had been adversely affected by the coronavirus…
Lockdown – the sequel: what it means for businesses
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…..the Government announce another national lockdown. At the end of July I wrote that this would happen and what savvy businesses should do to prepare for a second spike! That advice was heeded by many and is just as relevant today because the fallout…
The worst is yet to come – are you ready?
With the easing of the lock-in, long days and sunshine and the promise from government that everything will be ‘back to normal by Christmas’, you could be forgiven for thinking that the worst effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are over. Soon there will be a vaccine, and everything will get back to normal. Unfortunately, nothing…
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is being extended…but half of the self-employed are still excluded
When the chancellor announced a scheme for the self-employed similar to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme most of the 5m self-employed in the UK breathed a sigh of relief even though it had been a long time coming. It wasn’t long, however, before HMRC started to reject applications from self-employed people excluded from the scheme.…
It make you wonder who to believe – 2
If you read my blog on Sunday you could be forgiven for wondering if you can believe anything the government and civil servants tell us about the economy. So when the governor of the Bank of England issued a statement on Monday you probably thought “At last – someone sensible. He’ll tell us what is really going…
It makes you wonder who to believe
While most of us, quite rightly, have been focused on the easing of the lock-in and when we can get back to work we have also just witnessed one of the most extraordinary weeks in the political economy. On Wednesday a young black lad brought up on the largest council estate in Europe persuaded the…
