New support measures announced in September 2020
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Our local community campaigns
We are proud supporters of our local community. That’s why we’ve now confirmed a new sponsorship arrangement with our leading local media publication, Altrincham Today. If you live in Altrincham, Hale, Bowdon, Hale Barns and Timperley – you’ll be seeing us frequently during the remainder of 2021 and into 2022.
Here’s a sneak preview of our Winter 2021 campaign:
Starting a new business during lockdown?
Many people have used the opportunity of lockdown or redundancy to start a new business during the past few months.
If you’re thinking of setting up a business, you’ll probably be looking forward to doing things your way without pressure from managers and directors trying to get you to do things which make no sense.
Being in charge of your own destiny – even in these challenging times – can be thrilling and rewarding for people with an entrepreneurial mindset and the right accountant.
Rushing into starting a new business can be tempting – it can’t be that hard, can it? Yes, of course it is possible to start straight away with no planning or thought – however, the most successful businesses are those that have considered the detail of what they need to set-up.
That’s where we come in. After all, we were a start-up once! That means we understand what you’re going through.
Once you’ve decided on the finance you need and the premises you’ll be working from it’s a good idea to think about business structure.
Predominantly, business owners tend to set themselves up as a sole trader or limited company. It’s important you make this decision with our help as it can affect your take home pay after tax.
Our team will assist you with:
- Company registration with Companies House
- Structure of company and shareholders
- Registration with HMRC
- Tax planning
- VAT registration
- Payroll and drawing money out from your new business
- Cloud accounting and invoicing
Contact us on (0161) 980 8788 if you are starting or just about to start a new business venture.
Electric cars continue to boom for directors
Demand for electric cars amongst our business owner client base continues to rise as prices fall. This drop in price on lease deals and RRPs for electric cars coupled with tax breaks means many company directors are going electric.
Company car owners paid a zero benefit-in-kind on certain fully-electric vehicles in 2020-21, compared to as much as 37 percent on vehicles with high CO2 emissions. For the tax year 2021-22 the benefit-in-kind on fully electric vehicles will be just 1% (of the vehicle’s list price, with accessories).
As a result of this premium electric vehicles could save business owners £1000s – compared to traditional vehicles.
You can download our free company car tax guide here to see how much you can save.
The launch of luxury models such as the Mercedes-Benz EQC, Audi E-Tron, together with Porsche and Range Rover hybrid vehicles follow the success of the Tesla Model 3 which is already considered to be a cult company car for British sales executives
Company cars have been deeply unfashionable for more than a decade now. In that time, most business owners have understood that they were better off buying a car personally and then claiming the associated expenses.
One client of ours saw more than £10,000 knocked off his tax bill because he plumped for the Range Rover hybrid model over the diesel version.
With more e-charging points being installed across the country, improvements to the range of electric engines and a steady fall in the price we are predicting a renaissance of the company car.
If you need advice on the most tax efficient way to procure an electric car speak to our tax team on 0161 980 8788.
Dealing with HMRC over deferred VAT payments
Early on in the pandemic, HMRC confirmed that all payments of VAT due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 could be deferred until 31 March 2021, to help businesses manage their cash flow.
Many businesses took them up on this offer, but they do need to eventually be paid!
The next few months will be as big a challenge as anything so far seen in 2020 for many businesses.
Focusing on your cash position during the remainder of 2020 should be the top priority for company directors.
Now is a good time to review your existing business plan and incorporate the repayments schedule of any CBILS, bounce back loans or VAT payments due.
We are always proactive with our clients to ensure they are clear on the dates of the deadlines for payments to HMRC to avoid penalties.
A number of tax deadlines fall between now and March 31st including deferred VAT payments (made between March 20 and June 30), self-assessment income tax payments on account and potentially your corporation tax liability.
Given that these liabilities could become payable within quick succession it means that business owners should ensure they’ve got sufficient levels of cash in their business to enable the servicing of existing debts and tax bills leaving them to focus on maintaining and growing their business during 2021
Speak to our team about structuring your tax repayments/VAT payments and ways to preserve and manage optimal levels of cash in your business.
Furlough scheme tapers off
As it stands, the Government has given no indication the furlough scheme will continue beyond October.
The scheme has already been extended twice, once to June, then again into October.
The scheme itself is tapering off and many employers will have important decisions to make on their future staffing needs beyond October.
It is worth a reminder that the Government is launching a job retention bonus of £1,000 (per employee) for employers willing to bring back furloughed employees back into work, in what they hope is an incentive for firms to retain staff beyond January 2021. We don’t yet know how the monies will be claimed but we will inform clients when the details are published.
All our clients who made furlough claims via our team secured the funding on time and we’ve been pleased to help our clients through what can be a complex process of calculation for the uninitiated.
If you need support to review your business plan or staffing levels when the furlough scheme ends then please speak to our team.
It is important that any decisions regarding staff are made in accordance with employment law regulations and we can guide you in the right direction with our wide network of legal professionals to ensure that you comply with the law when making redundancies of staff or directors.
Deadline looms for CBILS
The clock is ticking for businesses that wish to apply for support via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. Applications need to be submitted by midnight on September 30th . Any business who meets the criteria has until then to complete the application process.
We should add that this deadline also applies to the “little brother scheme” known as the bounce-back loan scheme. Under this scheme the maximum available to borrow is the lower of £50k or 25% of your annual turnover.
The scheme helps small and medium-sized businesses to access loans and other kinds of finance up to £5 million.
A panel of approved lenders (which includes all the mainstream commercial banks) can provide up to £5 million in the form of loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance.
The government guarantees 80% of the finance to the lender and pays interest and any fees for the first 12 months.
Our administration of all the Government support schemes applications on behalf of our clients has been 100% successful.
We have secured funds rapidly for them to inject into their business at the extremely attractive terms offered under the CBILS packages (and the bounce back loan scheme).
If you need support in completing your application for this scheme before the deadline on September 30th – please email Murray Patt as soon as possible.
