Category: Business

From 30 June 2016 the annual return is being replaced with what has been named a ‘Confirmation Statement’. The Confirmation Statement will need to be filed annually, in a similar fashion to the old Annual Return. The standard information will be required: The registered office The Directors and Company Secretary (if any) Where the company … Continued

Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Budget 2016 on 16 March 2016 and outlined several changes national insurance, corporation tax and stamp duty. Some of the headline measures relating to businesses announced in the Budget include: Corporation tax – the rate of corporation tax will reduce to 17% by 2020 Business rate relief – the doubling … Continued

A lack of leadership and management skills may be inhibiting the growth of businesses. Just under half of new start-ups in the UK last less than 3 years. The UK also has a growing productivity gap, currently 18% below the G7 average. A report by the Federation of Small Businesses looked at the level of … Continued

There has been a recent change of policy at Companies House as part of their aim to ensure that Companies keep their filing requirements up to date. They are instigating ‘Proposal to Strike Off’ procedures against Companies and LLP’s in all cases where any document is more than 2 months late. This applies to Accounts … Continued

From April 2016, all UK private companies and LLPs will have to disclose their beneficial owners under the new Persons of Significant Control (PSC) register. The register, introduced under The Small Business, Enterprise & Employment Act 2015, brings new rules on identifying and recording who owns and controls these type of firms. The firms in … Continued

The number of people choosing to become self-employed has continued to grow, making up 15% of the total workforce. Now numbering a record 4.6 million, the self-employed population has increased by 80,000 since 2008. The analysis by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills also shows that becoming self-employed is proving increasingly attractive to older … Continued

From 6 April 2016 it is being proposed that a shareholder will not be able to engage in a similar trade or activity for two years after receipt of a capital distribution. The new legislation will consider any capital distributions, following the winding up of a company as income as opposed to capital, if, within … Continued

As we have previously reported The Act contains a number of measures which together represent significant change for companies and Companies House customers. The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act received Royal Assent in March 2015. It’s expected to be implemented to the timescales set out in details at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-small-business-enterprise-and-employment-bill-is-coming We have been notified that the date … Continued

In the Summer Budget it was announced that mortgage interest relief for buy to let landlords would start being phased out from 2017/18 onwards and restricted to basic rate only from 2020/21. Now that the Finance Bill has been published the full impact of this change is starting to emerge and for some landlords this … Continued

Care needs be taken when invoicing if your business makes supplies, some of which are standard rates and others which are potentially zero rated or exempt for VAT. A recent VAT Tribunal case has reinforced the rule established in the Card Protection Plan case that if the supply comprises a single service from an economic … Continued