Watson Knipe Blog

On 1 June 2020, some new regulations came into force regarding electrical safety standards for the private rental sector. These regulations are being enforced to improve the standard of safety of all properties in the rental market. 

On 26 May 2020, the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme portal will open so employers can make a claim. This blog explains how you can find out if you are eligible and how you make a claim.

There is currently a lot of support being offered to businesses to help them during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Companies with employees can furlough their staff and receive 80% funding towards their salaries. Self-employed businesses are also able to apply for the self-employment income support scheme.

As you know, the Self Employment Income Support Scheme was launched in March to help self-employed businesses and freelancers. The scheme was designed to support self-employed businesses during the Coronavirus pandemic, especially those that have not been able to trade during this period.

On 20 March 2020, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak first announced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This is being set up to help businesses cover wages for employees on temporary leave ('furlough') due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

On 26 March 2020, the government announced that they would be providing financial support for self-employed businesses that have been affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of guidance issued by the government. This is to help individuals, businesses and landlords that have been affected by the Coronavirus Outbreak.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his first Budget on Wednesday 11 March 2020. In his speech, he stated ‘we are at the beginning of a new era in this country. We have the freedom and the resources to decide our own future’.

We have written about this before, but we wanted to remind you about the changes to Capital Gains Tax if you are planning to sell a second property after April 2020. This is particularly important for all landlords and property investors who regularly buy and sell properties. 

If you have company cars for yourself or your staff, then it may be worth considering moving over to electric vehicles in the future. In the draft Finance Bill 2017, the government announced its commitment to reduce carbon emissions by encouraging companies to use electric cars where possible.

The off-payroll (IR35) rules are now confirmed, and the changes will be coming into place in April 2020. These are a few things you need to take into account if you are affected by these changes.

We wanted to share a brief update on the VAT Domestic Reverse Charge process for construction and building services. This change was announced last year but then delayed until October 2020.

Many of you will have spent the last few months sorting out your invoices ready for your self-assessment submission. If you don't use a bookkeeper and prefer to manage all your paperwork yourself.

If you are a landlord or a property investor, then you may want to consider setting up a Property Limited Company. More people are taking this approach because there are several reasons which make this more beneficial in the long run.

If you are an employer, it is essential to keep up to date with the changes in National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates. This helps you to manage your finances more effectively and help with future forecasting.

If you have decided that in 2020 you want to set up a new business, then read this article first. There are lots of benefits being self-employed, and at the same time, it can be very challenging as there is so much to think about when you are setting up.

This year we have had quite a few changes to tax that have impacted individuals, businesses and landlords. We wanted to summarise a few fundamental changes coming up next year, which are worth noting.

We don't want to put a damper on all the seasonal festivities. Still, we thought it would be useful to clarify tax obligations for employers and employees if a work Christmas party is organised and paid for by the business.

A report published by MarketFinance on 9 December 2019 indicates that small businesses are having to deal with late payments regularly.

It is that time of the year again when we are busy helping our clients to get all the paperwork in order ready to submit their tax returns. Most of our clients, especially those that use our bookkeeping service, generally get their tax return filed early.

We wanted to let you know about changes to Capital Gains Tax coming up in April 2020. The amount of Capital Gains Tax is not affected; the changes relate to when the tax needs to be paid.