Of course all businesses want to keep costs down and having a robust system in place for checking employee expense claims should be part of that regime. But what are the requirements to meet HMRC’s standards? Our Head of Payroll, Joanne Gibson advises. Self-policing expenses policy Generally, HMRC isn’t concerned about the amount that you...

January 2022 Funding has been allocated to support businesses in hospitality and leisure who are impacted by the requirement for physical distancing and capacity limits that came into force from 27 December 2021. The January Business Support Top Up – Hospitality and Leisure Fund will provide financial support to businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors...

In April 2020 the contactless payment limit was raised from £30 to £45. To help businesses recover following the pandemic, the limit has now been raised again, this time to £100. Although the change is already effective, banks and firms will need to make the necessary changes to their systems and contactless payment terminal software....

An employee who is being made redundant has asked his employer to write off their outstanding training costs loan as part of their redundancy termination package. But what are the tax implications here?  Tax Expert Brona MacDougall explains. Where a loan to an employee is written off by the employer for any reason, HMRC treats...

The First-tier Tribunal recently ruled on whether profit made from the sale of land bought as part of a residential property was taxable as trading income or capital gains. What was the outcome and why?  Brona MacDougall looks at this in more detail. The dispute The case of Heather Whyte v HMRC followed a long...

The government has introduced an NI exemption to encourage employers to take on former military personnel. If this is something you’d like to support, what are the key considerations? Head of Payroll Joanne Gibson advises. Overview The government made a commitment at the last election to better support veterans in their transition to civilian employment....

A few of your employees have expressed an interest in the cycle-to-work tax break and you’re also tempted to join them. However, there seems to be a mountain of information to plough through. Is there a simple option?  Sam Scott discusses. Cycle-to-work basics The legislation for the cycle-to-work tax break is unusually straightforward. It allows...

A regular customer owes you a lot of money and has offered to pay half now if you agree to accept it as full payment for all outstanding invoices. But how do you deal with the bad debt? Our VAT expert John Craig explains in greater detail. The VAT rules are different according to whether...

In between tenants you are doing some work on your rental property. How these are categorised, as repairs or improvements, determines whether or not you’re entitled to an income tax deduction. What factors should you consider? Improvement or just repair? As a rule, a “revenue” tax deduction can’t be claimed for the cost of improving...

HMRC wants individuals who are self-employed or have a property rental business to trial its Making Tax Digital for Income Tax service before it becomes mandatory. HMRC has changed the login process for its digital services for all business users; it now requires two-step verification. Lauren Herbert discusses in greater detail below. MTD for income...