This week’s Sunday Supplement is a little different from usual. I’d like you to watch a short video of the 2020 Harcourt Lecture by Professor Stephanie Kelton. Her lecture starts after 10 mins (you can skip the introduction) and last for 40 mins. It is worth the investment of your time. Stephanie explains why austerity did more harm…
Category: Finance
What’s next for Making Tax Digital?
As you are probably already aware, there will be no further new taxes introduced, or changes to the threshold for VAT in 2020, so the next major change in MTD will not be until 2021 at the earliest. However, there are a couple of points in relation to the VAT process of which businesses should…
Have you received a ‘nudge’ letter?
A number of businesses and individuals have received letters from HMRC requesting detailed information about subjects ranging from rental accommodation and offshore income to the employment status of contractors. What’s going on, and how should you respond? HMRC’s Connect computer system collects data from public and private sources, which HMRC uses as the basis for…
New VAT registrations and Making Tax Digital
The process for registering for VAT is unchanged. A business that needs to (or chooses to) register for VAT for the first time should follow the current process to register for VAT and the VAT registration guidance on gov.uk. If the taxable turnover of the business in the previous 12 months is over the VAT registration…
Accountants take the role of bank managers for small businesses
If you were in business in the 80s or 90s and opened an account at a high street bank it almost certainly came with a couple of add-ons – a relationship manager and an overdraft. Back then there were about 30,000 business bank managers and virtually every business that needed working capital had an overdraft…
You may have to start digging deeper
Last week I spent two days, with different clients, analysing and reviewing their management information. In the first case we’d be warned by their monthly management accounts that profitability had slipped in December. As is often the case the reason wasn’t clear from the P/L alone (which is often the case) and we needed to…
Don’t let GDPR ruin your plans to raise finance
When seeking investment for your business there are many considerations for a business owner, but from May 2018 you can add GDPR to that list. Whilst all business owners will have without doubt heard the horror stories of GDPR and its potential for unprecedented fines, what is not really being discussed, is the longer-term impact…
Is your business model fit for purpose?
Christmas is over for another year. For many in retail – and the businesses that supply them – it’ll be over for good. HMV has already gone into administration. It won’t be the last retailer to do so. The new year will inevitably bring more gloom to the high street as retailers, whose hopes were…
Have you paid your fee yet?
All organisations, companies and sole traders that process personal data must pay an annual fee to the ICO unless they are exempt. For ‘small’ businesses this is £40 (or £35 if paid by direct debit). Organisations across the business services, construction and finance sectors are among the first to be fined by the ICO for…
It’s no longer good enough
Last week the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England increased the base interest rate to 0.75%, only the second increase in the past 10 years. One respected commentator said “It takes some considerable stupidity to see a crisis coming and decide to make it worse. But that’s exactly what the Bank of England has…
