Category: Business

The Annual Investment Allowance has been doubled to encourage further investment in plant and equipment, providing accelerated tax relief on spending up to £500,000. The increased limit will take effect from 1 April 2014 for corporation tax and 6 April 2014 for income tax, providing 100% tax relief for spending on plant and machinery up … Continued

Online retailers have reported their strongest January sales of non-food products since 2009, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Online sales of non-food products increased by 19.2 per cent in January 2014, compared with January 2013. The BRC research found: Online purchases accounted for 17.4 per cent of total non-food sales in January 2014 … Continued

Business groups have called for reform of the Prompt Payment Code (PPC) after data showed that more than half of Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) members were not paid by the agreed date. The PPC is a Government-backed scheme to encourage businesses to pay their suppliers on time and within clearly defined terms. The FSB … Continued

A growing shortage of skills “may constrain economic growth”, research from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) has suggested. The UKCES 2013 Employer Skills Survey (ESS) found that skills-shortage vacancies increased from 91,400 in 2011 to 146,000 in 2013, rising at a faster rate than the increase in job vacancies. The ESS findings … Continued

Click here for our full Economic Update February 2014 with commentary on GDP, employment, inflation, trade and mortgages, plus planning tips and ideas for 2014/15.

The next big challenge for payroll departments within Small and Medium sized enterprises will be the phasing in of Auto-Enrolment which will require all employers to provide a pension scheme for their employees. Between 1 October 2012 and 1 February 2014 this has been a requirement for larger firms. These larger firms are those with … Continued

Real Time Information or RTI was introduced from 6 April 2013 which requires employers to submit payroll data to HMRC on or before wages and salaries are paid to employees. However during the 2013/14 tax year this general rule is relaxed for employers with fewer than 9 employees who may submit their payroll data by … Continued

After a positive end to 2013, research has revealed that UK businesses are optimistic at the start of 2014. However, despite this increased confidence, business leaders remain realistic about the challenges ahead. Almost nine out of 10 members of the Institute of Directors (IoD) expect UK GDP growth to be higher in 2014, according to … Continued

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has launched a consultation into the understanding and use of zero hours contracts. Official figures suggest that there are 250,000 people employed under zero hours contracts, which offer no guaranteed hours or pay and are typically used for low-paid, on-call workers. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has said … Continued

The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK reached a six-year high of 2.16 million in 2013, according to the National Association for Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB). The data reveals that 86,435 SMEs have been created in the past two years, increasing the SME population by 4.2 per cent. This follows the … Continued