Currently employers can only set up a direct debit to collect a single payment, but not a recurring direct debit. As part of its payment modernisation programme, HMRC is going to offer a recurring direct debit to employers. This is part of a wider project to create a consistent set of payment methods for all taxpayers across the tax authority, rather than the current limited service, which varies depending on the type of tax payable. The service will be available from mid-September this year, HMRC said. Once available, there will be a change to the business tax account (BTA) and the employers’...

It has taken four years for the government to respond to the 2018 consultation on worker status which sought views on the employment status framework, focusing on its complexity, the fact that it was open to interpretation, and the difficulty to resolve disputes and alignment between the frameworks for tax and employment rights. Following a consultation on potential reforms, it is clear there will be no change to the current position, with the government stating: ‘The benefits of creating a new framework for employment status are currently outweighed by the potential disruption associated with...

Abbas Abo Kifayah of northwest London was the sole director of Al-Amir Ltd. The company traded as a grocer and butchers from premises in Wembley, northwest London. The company went into creditors’ voluntary liquidation in July 2021, which triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service. Investigators discovered that Kifayah had secured a £50,000 bounce back loan for Al-Amir Ltd in August 2020 during the pandemic. However, he exaggerated the company’s turnover to secure a higher value loan than Al-Amir Ltd was entitled to. Further enquiries found that once the £50,000 loan was placed into...

In part one we outlined problems and how we may help, either directly or indirectly. But as a wise owl once said “there are problems, and then there are problems”. This leads us to the next level – complex problems. Entrepreneurs are particularly at risk of complex problems. Why? Because of the nature of the very thing that qualifies them to be called an entrepreneur. The main aspect of which is that a typical business owner building or running a venture (or maybe two or three ventures) is liable to be juggling a lot of balls. It’s tough to make businesses work, grow and survive all the risks....

Entrepreneurs are far from an exclusive group to face problems, but in our experience, there is something about the entrepreneur journey that does seem to produce more complex challenges, more often. Perhaps we need to start with some definitions here, what do we mean by entrepreneurs and problems and challenges? An entrepreneur in our way of thinking is anyone who is responsible for a business, including in some cases multiple businesses, for managing property or who is striving to grow and develop a company. Maybe it is just easier to say, if you are not receiving a pay check from an employer...

Organising your business and personal affairs to pay less tax is generally a good idea. And you can do this, because how you organise things makes a potential difference – maybe a big one – to your tax bills. But as accountants we may push tax saving too hard, in this one respect – you are better off longterm making more money and paying more tax, than you are making less money and paying less tax. The attraction of a firm like ours that you may not have thought about, is that we have decades of experience dealing with business owners. Experience, on its own narrow basis, has limited value....

Are you struggling with payroll and furlough (the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme)? At Davis & Co we manage payroll on behalf of clients in a wide range of sectors from straightforward sole director payrolls to weekly and monthly payrolls with CIS. More importantly we have qualified Accountants who understand payroll and the governments Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or Furlough scheme as it is more commonly known. If you’re struggling and want to hand your payroll over to someone else to manage or you just want some advice on what you can do call us on 01582 761121 and we will...