Watson Knipe Blog

We love to work with a start-up business; it’s fantastic to help them at the initial stages and then watch them grow. We started working with a new business last year that was setting up a shopfitting company. Our client had previously been employed and had been made redundant; he took this as an opportunity to set up his own business.

We have written this case study to illustrate how we work with businesses that are ambitious to grow. We started to work with this new client, electrical contractors, who have grown quicker than they anticipated and they wanted to gain more support to keep control of their finances.

We were contacted by a Consultant and his wife to help them with personal tax planning. The Consultant worked for the NHS and provided private healthcare services in his own time. This resulted in more financial considerations than they anticipated as he was already in the higher tax bracket income-wise.

We have a lot of experience working with landlords helping them to keep in control of their tax obligations if they own one or more rental properties.

We work with a lot of people that operate their businesses as sole traders. For some, this business structure works well, and they can continue to work like this for as long as they want to.

For all business start-ups, one of the biggest expenses can be buying or leasing premises. Before you jump straight in, have a think whether you need premises or if there is an alternative option that may help keep overheads down until your business starts to grow.

Once you have decided on Company structure, whether to be VAT registered or not and opened a bank account then there are a few more things you may want to consider at these early stages.

If you decide you want to start a new business, it’s usually because you have a skill, product or service that you are passionate about. You want to offer this to other people and more importantly, use this passion to earn a living.

In 2015, the government first announced that it would be making tax digital for businesses. In the Spring Budget 2017, more information about this initiative was shared. We have written this article to explain who will be affected and some of the benefits of this change.

Over the past few years, there have been several changes to tax rules for residential landlords. This means that anyone investing in buy-to-let properties either for the first time or as they build their portfolio should take the time to understand the impact on their potential earnings from a rental property.

In 2016, it was announced that Class 2 NICs (National Insurance Contributions) would be abolished from April 2018. This was again mentioned in the Spring Budget 2017.  Class 2 NICs are paid by individuals that are self-employed.

There are lots of different reasons for HMRC deciding to investigate a business and review the amount of tax that has been paid. If you are subject to a tax investigation it can be a very stressful process and time-consuming.

The law on pensions has changed and even small businesses must now enrol employees in a workplace pension - a process known as 'auto-enrolment.

A new Budget is always eagerly awaited by small businesses, and with news of a revaluation of business rates, this is a worrying time for many SMEs.

The recent Budget made changes to the support available to help pay for childcare in the UK, but also added new levels of confusion, making it harder to work out what individual households are entitled to.

The Spring Budget 2017, delivered by Chancellor Philip Hammond on 8 March, was billed as being notable for the fact that it would be the last ever spring budget. Going forward the budget will be shifted to the autumn, with the equivalent of the Autumn Statement now taking place in spring.

We are at the start of the new tax year, this is the best possible time to take stock of the tax allowances and rates that affect a high proportion of adults in the UK, particularly in the light of recent Budget announcements.

On Wednesday 8 March Chancellor Philip Hammond presented the Spring Budget 2017. We have created a document that you can download here and read our summary by clicking this link: Spring Budget 2017.

Owners and managers of small and medium-sized businesses must be champions in the art of multitasking, but they also need to cope with long hours of work and occupational stress.

Many businesses take on apprentices as they start to grow. An apprentice is a young person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer and has agreed to work for a defined period at a low wage.

When you started your business you probably wanted to remain as lean as possible. But as your business expands, wearing all hats may become impossible and you need a helping hand to grow and remain competitive.