Thorntons Accountants

17/06/2026

Today HMRC has confirmed that the planned changes to benefits in kind is set to be delayed. The new scheme will now be introduced in phases. More details here:

The government will phase in mandatory real-time reporting of tax and national insurance contributions for certain benefits in kind (BIK).

16/06/2026

Over 750,000 Child Trust Funds, that were set up by the Government remain unclaimed. The funds were set up for children born between 2005-2011 and to help young adults access the funds, HMRC is writing to young adults aged 21 who have yet to claim their account.

12/06/2026

The UK economy contracted in April by 0.1%. The fall was attributed to rising costs, as a result of conflict in the Middle East.

The economy shrank slightly in April as the Iran war began to have an impact on businesses, official data shows.

09/06/2026

The British Chambers of Commerce has called on the Government to do more to fix Britain's broken business rates system. According to the organisation 41% of businesses said they were concerned about business rates in its most recent quarterly economic survey.

More info here:

04/06/2026

Following our post yesterday about the Bank of England offering a chance to vote on the animals set to appear on future bank notes, we thought we'd take a quick look at the history of bank notes in England.

Bearer notes, or promises to pay have been a feature of the banking system since the 17th Century - and the white £5 pound remained in circulation from 1792 until 1957!

Learn about some of our earliest cheques and banknotes.

03/06/2026

The bank notes in your wallet are about to change forever and the Bank of England wants your say!

Today the bank has unveiled its shortlist of animals that will be used on bank notes - vote for your favourite here:

Tell us which animals you would like to see on our next series of banknotes by 3 July 2026

29/05/2026

This week Ofgem has confirmed the Energy Price Cap will increase by 13% in July. The increase has been attributed to the continued uncertainties in the Middle East.

A household using a typical amount of energy will pay £221 a year more, under the regulator's new price cap.

27/05/2026

Late payments can have a huge impact on small businesses. To tackle the problem, the Small Business Commissioner is set to receive new powers to tackle the problem.

Amongst the measure set to be introduced include a 60 day payment cap, as well as giving small businesses the option to charge 8% above the Bank of England base rate on unpaid debts. The commissioner will also receive powers to investigate poor payment practices as well as the powers to fine persistent offenders:

22/05/2026

Yesterday the Chancellor confirmed that the mileage allowance for business travel has been increased to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles travelled each year. The change has been backdated to 6th April 2026.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a 10p per mile increase in tax-free mileage allowance rates

21/05/2026

The rate of inflation in April fell to 2.8%, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, however, rates are expected to continue to rise as uncertainties in the Middle East continue to impact on oil prices:

Energy prices were lower due to the government's energy bill support package and lower wholesale prices before the Iran war.