The £1 million Annual Investment Allowance has now been made permanent.

An overview

You can claim capital allowances when you buy assets that you keep to use in your business, for example:

• equipment
• machinery
• business vehicles, for example vans, lorries or cars

Annual investment allowance

The changes to the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance 

Businesses investing in plant and machinery will welcome the decision to make the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance  permanent. This has been extended several times and was scheduled to revert to just £200,000 from April 2023. Unlike the super-deduction, the Annual Investment Allowance is available to unincorporated businesses as well as limited companies and the equipment does not have to be new.

Do you need further guidance on the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance? We offer a wide range of services which are unique to your business. Our team of chartered accountants have a wealth of experience in a broad range of sectors, from construction and property to the charity sector. Our team work hard to ensure they create smart and effective tax-efficient solutions for start-ups to optimise growth and help them succeed. If you want to learn more about how the team can help or simply want some start-up advice from a trusted accountant do hesitate to contact us. For more information please do hesitate to contact us on 0161 962 1855. Alternatively you can email us using the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Our fantastic team at A&C Chartered Accountants are here to help.

Below is our diary of main tax events October/November 2022. If you need any more guidance or assistance with these our team are on hand to help.

We are always up-to-date with tax events and our diary of tax events October/November 2022, are presented to our clients to ensure we never miss a deadline. We offer a wide range of services which are unique to your business. Our team of chartered accountants have a wealth of experience in a broad range of sectors, from construction and property to the charity sector. Our team work hard to ensure they create smart and effective tax-efficient solutions for start-ups to optimise growth and help them succeed. If you want to learn more about how the team can help or simply want some start-up advice from a trusted accountant do hesitate to contact us. For more information please do hesitate to contact us on 0161 962 1855. Alternatively you can email us using the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Our fantastic team at A&C Chartered Accountants are here to help.

The Government has announced two changes to the tax advantaged Company Share Option Plan scheme. But what are all the Tax and Employee Share Schemes?

An overview

If your employer offers you company shares, you could get tax advantages, like not paying Income Tax or National Insurance on their value.

Tax advantages only apply if the shares are offered through the following schemes:

• Share Incentive Plans
• Save As You Earn (SAYE)
• Company Share Option Plans
• Enterprise Management Incentives (EMIs)

What are the changes to the Company Share Option Plan scheme?

There is currently a maximum employee share option limit based on market value at grant of £30,000. This will be increased to £60,000 for any new options granted from 6 April 2023. Existing options are unaffected by this change.

There will also be increased flexibility for share options granted from 6 April 2023 due to a removal of conditions around the class of shares used.

The Company Share Option Plan scheme is available to most UK trading companies as, unlike the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) share scheme, there is no size limit, and no restrictions over the nature of the business undertaken.

Do you need further guidance on the Company Share Option Plan scheme?

We offer a wide range of services which are unique to your business. Our team of chartered accountants have a wealth of experience in a broad range of sectors, from construction and property to the charity sector. Our team work hard to ensure they create smart and effective tax-efficient solutions for start-ups to optimise growth and help them succeed. If you want to learn more about how the team can help or simply want some start-up advice from a trusted accountant do hesitate to contact us. For more information please do hesitate to contact us on 0161 962 1855. Alternatively you can email us using the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Our fantastic team at A&C Chartered Accountants are here to help.

IR35 U-turn announcement

The much criticised “off-payroll” working rules were introduced for the public sector from 6 April 2017 and then extended to large and medium-sized private-sector organisations from 6 April 2021.

The rules replaced the ‘IR35’ rules where workers supplied their services to these organisations via a personal service company (PSC) or other intermediary. The effect was to transfer the, not insignificant, tax compliance burden from the PSC to the service-acquiring organisation.

What will the new IR35 U-turn look like?

The off-payrolling rules will now be removed from 6 April 2023 and the IR35 compliance burden will revert to resting with the PSC itself. This means the PSC must calculate and pay PAYE and NICs if the worker (often the Director) would be classed as an employee if they were working directly for the service-acquiring organisation. This aligns with the requirements in cases where a PSC supplies services to a small private-sector organisation.

Do you need further guidance on the IR35 U-turn announcement?

We offer a wide range of services which are unique to your business and we work with many contractors. Our team of chartered accountants have a wealth of experience in a broad range of sectors, from construction and property to the charity sector. Our team work hard to ensure they create smart and effective tax-efficient solutions for start-ups to optimise growth and help them succeed. If you want to learn more about how the team can help or simply want some start-up advice from a trusted accountant do hesitate to contact us. For more information please do hesitate to contact us on 0161 962 1855. Alternatively you can email us using the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Our fantastic team at A&C Chartered Accountants are here to help.

What is a dividend?

Many director/shareholders of family companies pay themselves a small salary and take the rest of their “pay” in a dividend. With dividends being free of NIC, this would have allowed them to avoid the extra 1.25% NIC charge when it was originally introduced.

What will change?

Consequently, the Government added 1.25% to the dividend income tax rates for 2022/23.

Although the NIC increase is being abolished from 6 November 2022, the additional 1.25% will continue to be applied to dividends paid throughout 2022/23.

From 2023/24 the dividend income tax rate will however revert to 7.5% where dividends fall within an individual’s basic rate band and 32.5% for higher rate taxpayers. Note that the first £2,000 of dividends continue to be taxed at 0%.

Do you need further support with paying a dividend? We offer a wide range of services which are unique to your business. Our team of chartered accountants have a wealth of experience in a broad range of sectors, from construction and property to the charity sector. Our team work hard to ensure they create smart and effective tax-efficient solutions for start-ups to optimise growth and help them succeed. If you want to learn more about how the team can help or simply want some start-up advice from a trusted accountant do hesitate to contact us. For more information please do hesitate to contact us on 0161 962 1855. Alternatively you can email us using the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Our fantastic team at A&C Chartered Accountants are here to help.

What was the Health and Social Care Levy?

It was on 7 September 2021 that we first heard about a new 1.25% Health and Social Care Levy, imposed on employers, employees and the self-employed, coming in from 2023/24. Further, this was to be effectively accelerated into 2022/23 by a 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance contributions (NICs). As expected, and despite changes to thresholds earlier this year, the increased NIC rates have resulted in a reduction in take home pay for many individuals.

What will change about the Health and Social Care Levy?

The Health and Social Care Levy has now been abolished and will not come in next April. Further, the Government is removing the associated 1.25 percentage point increase in NICs from 6 November 2022.

What do employers need to do?

Employers will need to make sure that they update their payroll software in time for this third change in NIC rates and bandings in 2022/23!

In the case of NIC rates which apply annually, transitional rates will apply to deal with the mid tax-year change. In particular

• Class 1 employee NIC rates that apply annually (including for company directors) will be set at a main rate of 12.73% and an additional rate of 2.73% for 2022/23.
• Class 1A NICs on taxable and expenses (if not paid monthly through the payroll) will be set at 14.53% for 2022/23. The same applies to Class 1B NICs for PAYE Settlement Agreements.

Class 4 NICs paid by self-employed individuals will be set at a main rate of 9.73% and an additional rate of 2.73% for 2022/23

We offer a wide range of services which are unique to your businesses who are just getting going! Our team of chartered accountants have a wealth of experience in a broad range of sectors, from construction and property to the charity sector. Our team work hard to ensure they create smart and effective tax-efficient solutions for start-ups to optimise growth and help them succeed. If you want to learn more about how the team can help or simply want some start-up advice from a trusted accountant do hesitate to contact us. For more information please do hesitate to contact us on 0161 962 1855. Alternatively you can email us using the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Our fantastic team at A&C Chartered Accountants are here to help.

The new UK government to cut taxes in an attempt to stimulate economy

On 23 September 2022, Kwasi Kwarteng, the new Chancellor (the fifth in as many years) delivered a Tax Cutting “Fiscal Event” or Mini-Budget to help boost economic growth. This was in line with promises made by the new Prime Minister Liz Truss when she was campaigning to be elected as new leader of the Conservative Party.

However, many commentators are concerned that the cost of the growth measures will add significantly to Government borrowing, which will have to be paid for by tax increases in the future.

What was announced by the new UK government?

The headline announcements were:

• The abolition of the 1.25% Health and Social Care Levy.
• A reversal of the planned increase in corporation tax.
• A reduction in the basic rate of income tax.
• The abolition of the additional rates of incomes tax.

The Government’s bold strategy seeks to stimulate economic recovery and save jobs. Many European countries have introduced windfall taxes on energy companies to help fund support for energy costs. Liz Truss has however categorically rejected such a measure in the UK.

Why was that not a real budget?

The normal budget process is for the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) to report on the state of the UK economy at the time of the Budget and also assess the impact of the Budget proposals. As there was insufficient time for a full OBR report, the Chancellor’s statement was referred to as a “fiscal event”.

We still anticipate a ‘real’ Budget later on this Autumn.

You can find more here about the growth plan 2022.

How do you feel about the new UK government?

We offer a wide range of services which are unique to your business and Our team of chartered accountants have a wealth of experience in a broad range of sectors, from construction and property to the charity sector. Our team work hard to ensure they create smart and effective tax-efficient solutions for start-ups to optimise growth and help them succeed. If you want to learn more about how the team can help or simply want some start-up advice from a trusted accountant do hesitate to contact us. For more information please do hesitate to contact us on 0161 962 1855. Alternatively you can email us using the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Our fantastic team at A&C Chartered Accountants are here to help.