We have prepared the following lists from information published on the GOV.UK website. It sets out which businesses are required to close, and which can remain open during the current COVID lock-down. Those required to close face compounded financial difficulties as their ability to create revenue is at best restricted and in many cases stopped completely. We can help. Please call so...
Muras Matters: The Crown – Return of Preferential Status
From 1 December 2020, HM Revenue & Customs will become a secondary preferential creditor in corporate insolvencies. The government announced at the 2018 Budget that it would be seeking to protect “taxes that are temporarily held by insolvent business”, with legislation enacted in the 2020 finance bill, to give preferential status to certain debts due to HMRC in the event of...
Is your 2019-20 tax return filed?
Readers who have not yet filed their 2019-20 self-assessment tax return for 2019-20 have less than one month to do so. The online filing deadline is 31 January 2021. Could clients reading this article, who have not supplied all the information we have requested to complete their outstanding 2019-20 returns, please contact us with any missing information without delay. We are...
Best wishes for 2021
The turning of the old year into the potential for the new year has usually generated the Happy New Year salutation. And indeed, we do wish our readers all the very best for 2021. But what challenges we face. Will schools reopen, are we facing a further national lock-down, will our already extended business owners be able to ride out the...
Muras Matters: Coronavirus (COVID-19): Furlough Scheme Extension and Claim Deadline Reminder
Background Since this is the first Muras Matters of 2021 we would like to wish everyone a safe, healthy and happy New Year. Shortly before Christmas the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced a further extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CRJS) until the end of April 2021 to coincide with the tighter Covid-19 measures in England. As previously, the government will pay...
Scammers posing as HMRC
We already have more than our fair share of adversity to deal with at present, don’t let criminals add to your woes by defrauding you of hard-earned cash resources. HMRC has recently published a warning to taxpayers about scammers posing as HMRC employees. They said: Self-Assessment customers should be alert to criminals claiming to be from HMRC. The department knows that fraudsters use...
Strategies for the self-employed
The end of the calendar year is a popular accounting date for many businesses, but for those of us with a year-end accounting date of 31 March 2020, reviewing your management accounts for the nine months to the end of December 2020 can have real benefits. For example: If you are self-employed and for the nine months you are predicting lower...
The transition period has ended
From the beginning of this month the Brexit transition period has ended. Negotiations to secure a trade agreement between the UK and the EU from 1 January 2021, have completed and we have a deal. Readers who import or export goods from or to the EU will now need to face the following challenges in addition to those posed by COVID-19: Exchange...
The end is nigh
In just three short months the present tax year – 2020-21 – will end midnight, 5th April 2021. The UK’s tax code is predominantly time limited. Any reliefs and exemptions from UK taxes for 2020-21 will mostly expire at the end of the tax year. Accordingly, there is an imperative to review your tax affairs before this date to ensure that...
Tax Diary January/February 2021
1 January 2021 - Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 March 2020. 19 January 2021 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 January 2021. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 January 2021) 19 January 2021 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 January...