OTS - Oxford Tax Solutions

06/01/2022

Some good and sensible news as today HMRC has announced that they will not charge late filing penalties for those who file online by 28‌‌ ‌February 2022 and late payment penalties for those who pay the tax due in full or set up a payment plan by 1‌‌ ‌April 2022.

https://oxfordtaxsolutions.com/hmrc-covid-support-some-good-news/

07/03/2021

In March's update, as in many of the previous months, the focus is upon government support for businesses affected by the pandemic. There is new support for the UK's space sector (space is probably a good place to be at the moment) and there a useful guidance update for businesses providing apprenticeships during the coronavirus outbreak. The list of essential workers prioritised for PCR testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) has been updated for England (and there are links to find out similar information for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In other news, Companies House will resume their strike off process from 8th March 2021. Following a temporary pause, they will continue to write to companies who are late filing their annual accounts or confirmation statement and help them bring their record up to date.

Welcome to our round up of the latest business and Covid-19 news for our clients. Please contact us if you want to talk about how these updates affect your business. We are here to support you through these tough times. While transmission rates decline, vaccines continue to be rolled out and the roa...

09/02/2021

This week we look at some of the Brexit issues to affect smaller businesses including areas that have yet to be finalised. There have also been some updates to the government support for businesses affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and an update on the £500 million Film & TV Production Restart scheme that was launched in October 2020.

If you're an employer looking to create job placements for young people, you can apply for funding as part of the Kickstart Scheme. The scheme has changed, and you no longer need a minimum of 30 job placements to apply directly for a grant.

And finally, the deadline for applications for the Christmas Support Payment for wet-led pubs in England has been extended to 28 February 2021. Eligible businesses may be entitled to a one-off cash grant of £1,000 from their local council in areas that were under Tier 2 or Tier 3 local restrictions.

Today the Government announced a new contract secured with Derby-based manufacturer for validated lateral flow antigen tests, ensuring supply for UK over coming months. Also this weekend the Government started offering all English businesses with over 50 employees’ workplace Covid testing. To regi...

09/02/2021

Businesses that took out Bounce Back Loans in 2020 will now have an option to tailor repayments according to their own circumstances, with an option to delay the start of repayments for a further six months - extending the date from which to start paying back the loan to 18-months. Interest will accrue after 12-months. In addition, borrowers will be able to extend the term of the loan from six to ten years, which will reduce the monthly repayments by almost half.

Businesses that took out government-backed Bounce Back Loans to get through Covid-19 will now have greater flexibility to repay their loans, the government announced today (8 February).

27/01/2021

HMRC have been sending out reminders that the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) needs to claimed on or before 29th January 2021. The rules for making the claim are slightly different to the earlier two claims as you need to confirm that the impact on your business will cause a significant reduction in your trading profits for the tax year you report them in.

Some people I know have not been sent a letter (or email) asking them to make a claim. If you are eligible to do so, there is only a couple of days left, so I have included a step-by-step guide how to make the claim which will hopefully help you.

As always, if you need any help do please get in touch.

HMRC have been sending out reminders that the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) needs to claimed on or before 29th January 2021. As with the first and second SEISS grants, the third grant will be subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance and must also be reported on your 2...

25/01/2021

In this week's news we report on further delays caused by the extra layers of administration since leaving the EU on 31st January 2020. HMRC have issued information to employers on trading with Europe, business travelling requirements and rules for declaring cash brought into and out of the EU.

There is also some news on the continued government support available for businesses and individuals in the U.K. As always, please talk to us if you need help in applying for Government support.

Last week we witnessed the inauguration of a new US president with the promise of further economic stimulus and over 6 million first dose Covid-19 vaccinations administered in the UK. This continues to create a more positive short-term outlook for families and businesses. The reality is that Governm...

25/01/2021

After much lobbying by various professional institutes, HMRC have, at last, agreed not to penalise people who file their 5th April 2020 tax return late. Until now HMRC have insisted that there would be no general amnesty and that tax payers (or their agents) would need to appeal penalties - mainly under the 'reasonable excuse' provisions.

This is good news for tax-payers and agents alike who are struggling to file tax returns under current lockdown conditions. The filing deadline is this coming Sunday, 31st January.

Today HMRC has announced that Self Assessment customers will not receive a penalty for filing their 2019-20 tax return late, as long as they file online by 28‌‌ ‌February. Tax-payers who have not filed yet are still being encouraged to do so by 31‌‌ ‌January, if possible. You still need ...

22/01/2021

With just a week to the Self-Assessment filing deadline scammers are out to fleece the unwary. Emails purporting to be from HMRC saying that the official bank account has been changed, may seem obviously to be a fake, however, as the deadline looms it is easy to get duped.

The general rule is HMRC do not use email or text messages, and on the rare occasions that they do (SEISS claims for instance) they won't be asking you to confirm or input your bank details, so if you get an email or text asking you to either make a payment or to say that you have a refund and you need to enter bank details, it will be a scam.

With just a week to go until the 31 January tax self assessment deadline, scammers posing as HMRC are using various scams to try to defraud people, ICAEW has warned

18/01/2021

In this, the first Business News Update of 2021 it is nice that it is not entirely about the CoronaVirus. The good news story for for hospitality and other businesses who were closed by the Government in the first lockdown, is Supreme Court ruled that insurers should pay business interruption claims.

While worrying whether we could go to see relatives over the holiday period and ensuring that we had enough food to go around, a little thing called Brexit came into force at 11pm on 31st December 2020. While a new UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement is in place there are an awful lot of changes that, if you are a business selling to the EU, you need to be aware of. While this is mainly for the sale of goods, there is are changes to be aware of if you sell services. Government guidance is included in this post.

Hopefully you had a safe, if but quiet transition into 2021. The welcome news is the fact that more than 3.4 million people have now received the first dose of a vaccine and nearly 50 per cent of the over 80’s. Long may it continue and we have a chance to return to some semblance of normality in 2021. Stay safe!

As the UK national lockdowns continue, we are pleased that there is some good news for hospitality and other businesses who were closed by the Government in the first lockdown, after the Supreme Court ruled that insurers should pay business interruption claims. In this newsletter, we summarise the f...

11/12/2020

The good news this week is the first vaccines have started being distributed to people in the UK, and with that, a hope that the end of this awful pandemic is in sight and at sometime in 2021 we can return to normal.

But what hope for the UK economy? A “No Deal” Brexit will have a negative impact on the economy in early 2021 and any recovery will take longer as a result. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) predict the UK won’t get back to its pre-pandemic level until the end of 2022 and if there is “No Deal” this could take up to 2024. This is without doubt going to be a marathon and not a sprint.

There is plenty of government guidance around, and this newsletter links to some of the most recent changes including updates to tiers 1 and 2 restrictions on visiting venues and a link to guidance on which businesses and venues are permitted to be open.

Welcome to our regular roundup of Covid-19 and other news. Please contact us if you need further information about any of the Government Supports detailed below. THE COVID-19 VACCINE PROGRAMME HAS STARTED! This week we can reflect on the good news of the first vaccines arriving, being distributed an...

30/11/2020

This is a really interesting article. The new SEISS grant portal is open today however the rules are slightly different this time as there needs to demonstrable reduction in sales where previously just a statement that the business had been adversely affected was all that was needed. This is going to trip some people up.

When claiming the first two self-employed income support (SEISS) grants taxpayers had to confirm that their trade had been

26/11/2020

It's a bit of a mixed bag this week. Firstly we have the Chancellor's spending review yesterday. The news is bleak, but I think we all knew that already. There is information on the Christmas arrangements, as well as what the 3 tiers mean after the lockdown and the Covid-19 winter plan.

In tax and business news, there is an update on the CJRS and SEISS and more guidance on paying VAT that was deferred between March and June this year. Initially you had to pay the deferred VAT in full on or before 31st March 2021, but now there is an option to pay it over 11 monthly instalments. You need to opt for this, we can't do it for you, but if you need advice please get in touch.

‘ECONOMIC EMERGENCY HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN’ In his spending review yesterday Rishi Sunak said the “economic emergency” caused by Covid-19 has only just begun, as he warned the virus would mean lasting damage to growth and jobs. Official forecasts now predict the biggest economic decline in 300 ...