Insights

The Government has responded to the coronavirus pandemic with a range of measures. One of these is the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which aims to help businesses avoid mass redundancies. We’ve created a quick guide to the scheme in which you can find information on things like:

• What is the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme?
• Which organisations are eligible to use the scheme?
• Which employees are covered by the scheme?
• When can you apply?
• How to apply?
• Where can you get more help for your small business?

The Government has been trying to respond quickly to the economic difficulties small businesses are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, some schemes have already faced criticism from the business community and now the Chancellor has had to amend one of its first measures, the CBILS loan scheme. In this post, we will look at:

• What criticism did the CBILS loan scheme receive?
• What are the announced amendments?
• How have businesses responded to the amendments?
• What you should know about the scheme
• How to get help with your small business finances

The Government has launched a special coronavirus scheme for the self-employed to support them during the COVID-19 crisis. The scheme can provide income support for many but how does it work and how can self-employed people use it? This short guide will look into what has been announced and answer questions like:

• What is the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme?
• Who is eligible to apply?
• How and when to apply?
• What are the big questions around the coronavirus scheme for self-employed?
• What other help is available for the self-employed?
• How to get help with your financial situation

Many small businesses are worried about their finances and how they can bounce back from the loss of business that is inevitable due to the current coronavirus outbreak. One of the measures announced by the Government is the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which provides coronavirus financial assistance to SMEs. This guide will look at the scheme and talk about:

• What is CBILS?
• Who is eligible for CBILS?
• How to apply for the CBILS loan?
• What about bigger businesses?
• Other coronavirus financial assistance available for SMEs
• How to get more help with your finances

The world is currently going through unprecedented times. The coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak has put our daily lives to a standstill and created many questions for small businesses. Here we hope to provide small business advice on COVID-19 by examining the current guidelines on topics such as:

• Your responsibilities as an employer
• Temporary changes to Statutory Sick Pay
• Pay for those working from home
• The legal right for lay-offs
• Insurance coverage and business closure
• Financial support for SMEs
• Getting small business advice on COVID-19

Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) are popular investment vehicles. But what should you know about them and their suitability for your investment portfolio? This guide will cover VCT investments by examining things like:

• What is a VCT?
• The different types of VCTs
• How to make VCT investments
• How much can you invest in VCTs?
• What are the risks of VCT investments?
• What to know about the tax treatment of VCTs?
• How to get help with your wealth management

There has been no official budget for quite a while now in the UK but this finally changed on 11 March. The new Budget 2020 focused largely on dealing with the disruption caused by the current coronavirus outbreak but there were plenty of other announcements as well. In this post, we’ll go over the important issues in the Budget, including:

• Coronavirus measures introduced
• Increasing National Insurance threshold
• Reducing the Entrepreneurs’ Relief
• Increasing R&D Tax Credit
• New funding for business loans
• Announced investments across the board
• Introduction of new environmental measures
• Big taxes remaining the same
• Changes to IR35 to go-ahead
• How to get more information on Budget 2020

Trusts can be a good way to control your assets after you pass away. In this guide, we’ll provide you with the best tax tips for trusts. The post covers things like:

• Inheritance Tax can be reduced but not always avoided
• Assets in trusts are not part of your estate
• Best tax tips for trusts vary according to the trust type
• Discretionary trusts favoured for reducing Inheritance Tax
• Take advantage of the personal allowance
• Bare trusts are exempt of Inheritance Tax
• Trusts are subject to Capital Gains Tax
• Certain trusts need to consider Income Tax
• Trustees are responsible for filing and paying taxes
• Consider other costs aside from tax on trusts
• Seek advice on trusts and taxation

Employees or directors can sometimes receive benefits in kind as part of their employment. These are not included in their salary cheque or wages – so how will they be taxed? This post will examine benefits in kind and go over things like:

• What counts as benefits in kind?
• How are benefits in kind taxed?
• Examples of common tax-free benefits in kind
• How to value benefits in kind for tax purposes?
• How to declare and pay tax on benefits in kind?
• Get professional help with benefits in kind

HMRC announced changes to the scope of payroll rules in the private sector last week. The changes involve the enrolment of IR35 later this year. But what does the welcomed announcement mean for businesses? We’ll examine the change and go over things like:

• HMRC’s announced rule change in action
• Providing clarity to the scope of payroll rules
• The current state of the off-payroll rules
• How to get help with your payroll