Your charity has received a grant to help it to fund specific projects and you are worried that the strict conditions imposed will make it subject to VAT. Is this the case and what checks can you make to ensure there are no problems?  Gail Trojan provides the answers. Status of grant provider The first...

If you need a loan and your company has available cash, is it more tax efficient to borrow from it instead of your bank?  Kenny Logan from our Edinburgh office discusses below. Borrowing interest free cash from your company (that it doesn’t have to borrow to lend to you), instead of via a bank loan...

“Companies House is an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade. We incorporate and dissolve limited companies. We register company information and make it available to the public. We are approaching a pivotal moment in our history. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency (ECCT) Act will fundamentally change our role and our purpose...

If the work that you do through your company is caught by the IR35 off-payroll rules, PAYE tax and NI must be accounted for even where you extract the income as a dividend. This can result in a double tax charge. How can you prevent this?  Partner Joanne Gibson looks at this below. PAYE tax...

The Managing Director of a company, who is also the main shareholder, has given loans of £25,000 to the company to support it through the economic downturn. The company’s losses for the latest year end are £30,000. As the director’s loan is currently showing as a liability, the director is considering writing it off to...

You pay a clothing allowance to your customer-facing staff and your business pays their PAYE tax and NI. You are considering providing the clothing direct as you recently read that it’s more tax efficient than paying an allowance. Is this correct?  Naomi Swan discusses below. Cash allowance versus reimbursed expense Generally, if you pay one...

You received a new laptop for Christmas which you will use for work. Even though it cost you nothing, can you claim a tax deduction in respect of the business use?  Kenny Logan from our Edinburgh office provides the answer below. A gift with extra benefit It’s nice to receive gifts and apart from thanking...

HMRC is getting better at detecting and penalising people who make extra income but don’t declare it. With that in mind if you have a small side venture to make some extra cash, is it always necessary to declare it to HMRC?  Audrey Rankine outlines the details in this article. Naturally, HMRC is interested in...

What do the NI rate cut changes mean for both the employed and the self-employed? And what action do you need to take, if any?  Natasha Crockatt from our Payroll team explains below. Classes 2 & 4 currently The self-employed currently pay two classes of NI contributions – Class 2 and Class 4. Class 2...

Your business is registered as a VAT group and is partially exempt. All cars are leased through one group member that only has taxable income. How much input tax can you claim on the leasing payments and what other issues must you consider?  Associate, Bob Johnstone from our Galashiels office explains in this article. Even...