A Christmas present from the BofE
In the lead up to Christmas, the Bank of England sent borrowers and businesses an early Christmas gift by announcing an interest rate cut, reducing interest rates from 4% to 3.75%. This is in fact the sixth cut since August last year, but it was a close-run decision by the Bank’s Monetary Committee and was […]
Is Nâ‚‚O just hot air? Yes it is, according to VAT law
Another day, another foody VAT case comes along to entertain us. In today’s tale of woe, the alleged food in question is a gas. So, can it really qualify as a food? Telamara Ltd certainly thought so but the VAT office disagreed and gave them a £1.48 million VAT bill, so off to the Tax […]
Time to explore the Budget back roads
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve explored the main roads of the Budget and the Chancellor’s infamous Red Book, so today I’m exploring the side roads and byways for any interesting minor points whose knock-on effects could be profound. The first B-road explored We already knew the broad roadmap of HMRC’s plans for further […]
A Budget for Benefits Street, paid for by working people
The above is a quote from Kemi Badenoch’s reply to Rachel Reeves’ Budget measures, and unless you’re a Labour MP or have a house full of kids and are on some form of benefits, the feedback from a recent YouGov poll which targeted ordinary working taxpayers, is that they pretty much agree with the comment. […]
Pension Drawdown
The Budget I will start this week’s Blog with a disclaimer as you might be expecting a Blog today on Rachel Reeves’ second Budget. This will be posted next Friday as at this stage all I could have done is provide you with a list of the main changes, together with my initial observations. Any […]
Back to pen and paper!
This week’s Blog concerns the news that the UK government is actively prompting businesses to begin keeping offline copies of their records as a cyber-attack contingency plan. This of course means keeping back-up storage discs in an offline secure location or even reverting to paper records. National Cyber-Security Centre (NCSC) report The NCSC recently published […]
Will the Chancellor bring in an EV mileage tax?
Just as I was satisfied that I’d narrowed down the main areas that Rachel Reeves is likely to target for tax rises to fill her ever-widening black hole, out of left field, a new contender has stepped forward in the shape of EVs (Electric Vehicles). This newcomer in the field for an area of tax […]
‘It’s not my fault’ says Rachel Reeves
In her speech on Tuesday, the Chancellor strongly hinted that the Budget will be painful, not because of what she’s done but because of the actions of others. She then claimed that the pain to come will be worth it, to tackle the country’s debt mountain, help public services and promote growth. Who did she […]
Is it time to change the VAT threshold?
With the budget less than a month away, there are strong rumours that the Chancellor is considering making changes to VAT to increase the amount of tax collected and boost investment. The run-up to a Budget inevitably sees a swirl of rumours and speculation and this year is no exception. In fact, it’s hard to […]
Isn’t it about time we had an accountant in No. 10
I will start today’s Blog by admitting that on this week’s topic, I am a teeny-weeny bit biased, but for good reasons I believe. It seems inconceivable, that there hasn’t been a Chancellor of the Exchequer in living memory who has held any form of accountancy qualification or even experience. Yes, a few have had […]
