Latest News
Employee Share Schemes
For businesses that trade through a company, circumstances might arise in which the shareholders consider selling a minority stake in the company to a key employee or group of employees. This could be to ensure that key talent is ‘locked in’ for the long term, as a means of succession if the existing shareholders are
Non-BAU transactions
BAU is a phrase that is used to describe “business as usual”. It is a good barometer of whether anything strange or unusual has occurred or whether things have been BAU. Invariably, non BAU transactions will occur: an insurance payout, a large asset purchase, a fine or a penalty. This then leads to the question
Inland Revenue activity
After a relatively quiet few years through the Covid pandemic, Inland Revenue’s (IR) audit activity has slowly started to increase over the past few years. In 2021, IR’s campaign had a focus on the real estate sector, where the concern was around real estate agents claiming a disproportionately large amount of expenses relative to their
From my desk…
Greetings, Finally – a drop in the O.C.R. has signaled that we have had enough pain. This cut was predicted by most of the market however some banks economists thought it was too soon. I for one am very happy to see the start of the O.C.R. cuts with some banks estimating at least 1%
Snippets – Questionable spending?
Rates are rising across the country, with a recent economist’s report showing an average expected rise of 15%. This is the largest rise the country has seen since 2003, which begs the question, where is all the money going? Inflated construction costs and widening responsibilities take the majority of the blame, but one can’t help
Snippets – Changes to bright-line rules
Along with changes to the interest deductibility rules, legislation has been passed which repeals the current bright-line tests, replacing them with a new (or old) 2-year test. There were previously three separate bright-line tests which applied to the sale of residential land: Land acquired on or after 27 March 2021 that is not a ‘new
Government reverses interest deductibility limitations
With the new Government now firmly settled in, legislation has been passed which reverses the interest deductibility limitation rules that were introduced by the previous government in 2021. As previously introduced, the rules phased out the ability to deduct interest on loans drawn down before 27 March 2021 to purchase residential property over a period
Final word from Pottsy
Having been at Hughson’s for the last 14 years its time to retire on 31st March. Starting here in February 2010 and seeing the staff reduce by over 50% due to modern technology and systems. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, and the friendly and helpful staff. I have found Mark to be a
From my desk…
Greetings, I hope you all had a joyous Christmas/New Year and spent time with family and friends. As we wind down to 31 March (end of the tax year), we start chasing up client jobs that have yet to come in and finishing off jobs that have been ‘parked’ awaiting some event or further information.
Snippets: UK’s HMRC hit workers with big tax bills
The UK’s tax collection department (HMRC) has been sending letters to tens of thousands of taxpayers, demanding they pay large outstanding tax obligations. The letters have come as a surprise to many and have allegedly been linked to 10 suicides. The issue has arisen out of the use of umbrella companies. Workers would have their
Snippets: End of year write-offs
As increasing interest rates have bitten and with industry sectors such as retail and construction not performing as strongly, some businesses are struggling. As the end of the financial year approaches, now is a good time to assess whether any of your accounts receivable need to be written off as ‘bad’. This is because, in
Trust Disclosure regime – Insights from the first year
After the introduction of the Trust Disclosure rules in March 2022, in November 2023 Inland Revenue released a high-level summary (in the form of a 40-page report) of insights from the first year of reporting. While tax advisors and clients alike may have begrudgingly completed the disclosures initially, the statistics may prove to be interesting.
