News Update
BUSINESS NEWS BULLETINS
Company director?
The CMA has released new guidance for company directors on how to avoid disqualification. Company directors have a special responsibility to be well-informed about their company practices and ensure they comply with the law. Stay informed with this 60 second summary or watch the CMA’s short video.
The Federation of Small Businesses has said that the figures released by Ofcom today on the state of the UKs’ broadband infrastructure highlight the challenges small businesses face in getting connected to the digital economy.
And the FSB is now calling on the Government to step up and deliver a Universal Service Obligation (USO) so that a basic level of broadband can be accessed by all small businesses by the end of the Parliament.
According to Ofcom, nearly half a million (480,000) small businesses cannot access superfast broadband, with 192,000 not even being able to access 10 Mbps. Coverage of business parks and rural areas continues to lag, affecting the ability of businesses to grow and innovate.
FSB has been campaigning to ensure that the USO covers small businesses as well as domestic households. Ofcom has confirmed today the USO should ensure every home and small business in the country has the right to a decent, affordable broadband connection of 10 Mbps or above by the end of the current parliament.
‘The situation for small firms is urgent’
Mike Cherry, FSB National Chairman, said that too many small businesses are held back by poor broadband coverage and slow speeds. “Although progress continues to be made, Ofcom has shown today why an ambitious USO is essential to get all businesses connected to a basic level of broadband.
“We are pleased that Ofcom have set out clearly the challenges small firms face and the options the Government has in resolving this issue. The situation for many small businesses is urgent – there is no time for delay. Government must step up and deliver the broadband our members need.
“If small businesses are to compete in the new digital economy, they need to be able to get online.”
FSB.org.uk
New RDPE Growth Programme funding available for projects which create jobs and growth in the rural economy Growth Programme
In a major boost to jobs and growth in rural areas, businesses are being invited to submit expressions of interest for support under the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). The RDPE Growth Programme supports projects that invest in building businesses, creating new jobs and growing the economy in rural areas. million is available through three new national calls for projects. The calls have been developed in collaboration with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and will be open to support food processing, business development and tourism infrastructure projects for an initial period of 12 months.
You could be eligible for a Growth Programme grant if your business is carrying out a project to create jobs or bring more money into the rural economy.
There are 3 types of grant:
- Business development
- Food processing
- Rural tourism infrastructure
RPA Rural Development Director Alison Webster said: “This is excellent news for small and micro-businesses, particularly the food and drink and tourism sectors, which play a major role in the economy of rural areas. “We are looking to support high quality, high impact investments and we encourage small rural businesses to grasp this opportunity to think big. “A series of workshops for applicants are being arranged across England that will help familiarise businesses with the calls and provide the opportunity to talk to our Rural Development team and Local Enterprise Partnerships.” After listening to feedback, improvements have been made to make applying for Growth Programme funding easier:
•Calls will be on a single page on GOV.UK which holds all the information applicants need.
•The page includes handbooks for each type of call, which include information on what activity is eligible and how to apply.
•Each handbook also contains a LEP Directory, which lists each LEP area that is participating in the calls. It also gives a brief summary of the local priorities that applicants will need to deliver against.
For further information please contact [email protected] or [email protected] who will be able to provide advice and support in shaping your proposal in line with programme requirements.
The LoCASE (Low Carbon Across South East) programme is looking for SMEs who are seeking to invest in their business over the coming months.
There is support and EU grant funding up to £10k so if you’re in the low carbon sector or simply looking to become more sustainable then please email: [email protected].
Ofcom is inviting internet service providers (ISPs) to sign its Voluntary Business Broadband Speeds Code of Practice, which provides business users with a similar level of protection to that enjoyed by consumers.
The Code will be effective from 30th September 2016. It requires signatories to provide business users with transparent and accurate pre-contractual information about broadband speed and to provide further information within seven days of the sale. Where speed problems cannot be resolved, business users must be allowed to cancel their contract without incurring a penalty.
Read more about the Code by clicking here
HM Revenue & Customs would like to invite you to preview their latest guide which covers allowable Business Expenses for the self-employed, please click here to preview.
The focus this month will be on support for VAT, Employers and CIS. To see all e-learning material please follow the link(s) below:
VAT – Getting started
VAT – How VAT works
Becoming an Employer
Tax Advice for the Construction Industry
Our webinars on all our subjects can be found on our webinars page on GOV.UK
All Aboard! Your Tax Is Going Digital
In a massive step forward to reducing errors and making it easier for your business to manage and pay any tax owed, or receive a refund, HMRC today revealed its 5 year road map that will place your business (and individual) tax in its own unique digital wrapper. This will talk directly to your accounting software or for those who currently working off line and maybe still running your business from an excel spreadsheet, an application that will be provided free of charge by HMRC, to cover the bare minimum.
In a nutshell what this means is you won’t have to supply information HMRC already has. Instead it will pull all that together and place it in your digital account. This will make it easier for you to check, update and pay any tax owed.
Further consultations will take place next year to determine the frequency of reporting that will be required under the new system, in particular whether quarterly reports and associated payment of corporation tax will come into play, even though there will no change to the annual basis of taxation. This question is important as the scope for real time payments will become a reality and the associated discussion paper, also released today, to look at “simpler” tax payments, starts to explore this.
Sceptics might suggest this is just a mechanism for HRMC to collect tax in real time, rather than arrears and argue the negative impact this could have on small business and cash flow. However, it is important to see the bigger picture here that we have an outdated tax collection system in massive need of modernisation and we need a simpler mechanism that reduces the scope for error and makes it easy for us all.
To look at the slides released today please follow the link or for any questions call us at Rift Accounting on 01233 653006 to see how we can help. Rift Accounting
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-tax-digital
New Tax Guide for Startups
HMRC are replacing their current “Starting Your Own Business” e-learning tutorial with a new and improved version.
To get a look at the new product Click Here
You’ve chosen to get your new business off to a flying start by getting your tax right first time.
We’re going to tell you how to:
Get to grips with the taxes for your business
Let HMRC know you’re self-employed
Keep records and claim expenses
Plan for your tax returns and payments
We’ll tell you what you need to know and do to get your tax right first time, every time.
Consultation on Business Rates Appeals System
The Department for Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation on proposals to improve the appeals system for business rates. A straightforward three-stage appeals process has been proposed, and the consultation is open until 4th January 2015.
Marcus Jones, Minister for Local Government, said: “The business rates appeals process has been in a decades-long deadlock, hampered by some unscrupulous agents making speculative appeals – sometimes for businesses unaware this is being done on their behalf.”
READ MORE HERE
Two Year Plan to Increase Take Up of R&D Tax Relief
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced a two-year plan to increase take-up of research and development (R&D) tax relief among small firms. Measures will focus primarily on increasing awareness and making it easier for firms to apply for this type of tax relief. For example, HMRC will publish improved guidance to help increase firms’ understanding of R&D tax relief and provide business certainty through the Advance Assurance scheme.
Under the Advance Assurance scheme, which will launch in November 2015, HMRC will assure eligible firms that their first three years of R&D tax relief claims will be allowed “without enquiry”.
READ MORE HERE
The Department for Business (BIS) has published guidance for employers about how zero-hours contracts should be used appropriately.
The guidance provides examples of best practice, such as clearly advertising that a job role will be under a zero-hours contract and that the hours will not be guaranteed.
It also states that late cancellation of work is unacceptable except in “truly unavoidable” circumstances. Suggested alternatives to zero-hours contracts outlined in the guidance include offering existing staff overtime, recruiting a part-time employee or using temporary staff from an agency.
READ MORE HERE
The European Parliament’s special committee on tax rulings has voted to adopt its recommendations for making corporate taxes in the EU fairer and more transparent.
MEPs intend to push ahead with ambitious plans to promote comprehensive EU tax reform and the committee’s measures are intended to prevent multinationals from moving profits to low tax jurisdictions within the EU. This will be achieved through the use of tax rulings, so that loopholes and contradictions within the EU’s 28 national tax laws are closed.
MEPs are basing their recommendations on the principle that multinational companies should pay their taxes where they make their profits. Apart from the loss of public income, it is considered unfair that big companies pay very little tax on their profits, while small and medium-sized firms have to pay their full share.
READ MORE HERE
Small Firms Dissatisfied with Legal Profession
Small firms’ dissatisfaction with legal services providers has remained unchanged over the last two years, research published by the Legal Services Board (LSB) has indicated.
In 2013, LSB research revealed that just 13% of small firms believe lawyers are cost effective, and a survey of 10,528 small firms earlier this year produced the same result.
Many of the firms recently questioned said they went to an accountant rather than a lawyer for legal help, and around one in two described lawyers as “a last resort”.
READ MORE HERE
