UK Tax Laws Opaque And Complex.
Posted: 13/08/2010 Filed under: UK Taxation | Tags: corporate tax, corporation tax, Tax, uk companies Leave a comment »UK tax law is to be simplified. This is to cut the burden on business and attract foreign investment, George Osborne says.
The new body shall initially host a two year review – first looking at all 400 tax relief, exemptions and allowances within the system to see how they could be streamlined. The second review will be to find ways to simplify the tax system for small businesses, this includes trying to find a simplified alternative to the contentious IR35 code.
A Office for Tax Simplification is being set up to streamline the 11,000-page tax code.
Mr. Osborne says Britain had “one of the most complex and opaque tax codes in the world” and it needed to be simplified.
Announcing the new body at a press conference, Mr. Osborne said his “dream” was “that people might actually understand the tax laws which they were being asked to comply with”.
It is set to advise ministers where the tax system is too complex but it will not look at tax credits, which Mr. Osborne says he considers to be part of the benefits system.
Labour claim to have backed the simplicity movement but then announced ministers were bringing in yet more overly complex new taxes at the same time.
I believe this is very exciting for the future of small businesses, making the market a lot easier to break into.
UK Taxation System Gets An Overhaul
Posted: 28/07/2010 Filed under: UK Taxation | Tags: business concerns, corporation tax, non dom tax, Taxation, uk companies, UK tax Leave a comment »There are more talks for the launch of the Office of Tax Systems in today’s news. It always makes me a little nervous when they start talking about changes to the UK tax system. I know how hard some of clients find it when it happens. Lucky we are here to help them.
Anyway back to the subject at hand. The new version will apparently simplify the existing overly complicated version, making it much easier for all Britons, especially small businesses.
Liam Byrne, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury said he welcomed the significance of the government’s plan to simplify the tax system, but he then went onto say “today’s announcement, I’m afraid, sounds rather more like an attempt to grab headlines than real evidence of a push to improve legislation”.
He called on the government to scrap plans to “complicate the tax system by introducing a marriage tax allowance, all for the sake of sending an ineffective £3 a week signal of what his party thinks a family should look like” and what he said was a “more complicated stamp duty system when it comes to energy conservation for housing”.
The TUC union body said it was concerned the OTS could become a “softening-up exercise for tax cuts for the rich”.
But the launch was welcomed by business chiefs.
Richard Baron, of the Institute of Directors, said it was “a brilliant idea” but that it would be judged by its results.
David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said it was “a necessary and long overdue response to the relentless chop and change of tax law”.
I find all of these statements interesting, it is about time the government updated its archaic taxation system. If people understand what they are paying tax for it makes it much easier for them to part with their money. On the other hand the most profound utterance definitely comes from Mr Baron, we will indeed judge it by its results.
If taxation still baffles you or you are concerned about how these changes may affect you please get in touch with us here at St Mathew’s eAccounting and we will be pleased to help you see it all crystal clearly.
Osborne To Steer Us from Road To Ruin
Posted: 20/06/2010 Filed under: Investment, Non Dom, Offshore Solutions, Small Business, Uncategorized | Tags: business concerns, corporation tax, economy, election promises, Moving to London, moving to UK, Taxation, uk companies Leave a comment »Spending cuts, tax hikes, inflation, unemployment. The way the papers carry on you could sometimes think the the UK was doomed instead of experiencing an economic crisis being endured by most first world countries. Thank goodness Osborne is assuring us that he will be able to avoid complete disaster. Personally I never had any doubt but there you go.
Apparently Osborne is proposing to take us to prosperity via a bit of budget pain. The big questions on his policies are yet to be answered yet of course and we will have the answer to those later in the week. The budget will be released on Tuesday. In the meantime there has been a lot of preparation put into making sure the British people are ready for the worst.
The thing about a change of government is that it is in the new regimes interest to make sure we know just how badly the last lot landed us in it. So it stands to reason that we have been feed a steady diet of doom and gloom, how else could Osborne ride to the rescue on his white charger?
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for a tough budget and I am fully expecting one. It is just that I think the pain we are feeling is globally spread rather than Britain localised. Despite what people have been saying recently I believe that the British standard of living is still far higher than many places.
In the meantime if you have taxation issues or are considering the intelligent move of starting a British company then please get in contact. We are experts on that stuff here.
UK Business Stabilises: Small Business Will Save Unemployed
Posted: 27/05/2010 Filed under: Small Business, Uncategorized | Tags: business, business concerns, Small Business, uk companies Leave a comment »It is a bit of a revelation to me how determined UK journalists seem to be at the moment to paint a negative picture of everything. I was reading an article this week in a publication that shall remain nameless on the state of unemployment and UK business. The headline was something like ‘Economic Recovery May Miss Unemployed’. I was struck by it because it seemed to be managing to put a negative spin on even economic recovery. As I read further I was more astounded.
The article had quotes like this in it “Our survey shows businesses want tomorrow’s workforce to be at the top of the new Government’s policy agenda. As we move further into recovery and businesses plan for growth, the demand for people with high-quality skills and qualifications will intensify.” This from Richard Lambert, DirectorGeneral of the CBI.
Mmm that seems a fairly positive statement, doesn’t it? Or am I missing something?
I really don’t think I am. Other places in the article talked of the UK business sector stabilising and actually if you take away the headline then one could be mistaken for thinking this was fairly positive story on UK business growth. We couldn’t have that now could we?
So I have taken the liberty of re writing the headline as you see it on top of this blog. I think mine has a better feel to it and is no less representation of what was reported in the article.
VAT is The Gorilla in the Room in Election
Posted: 04/05/2010 Filed under: UK election, UK Investment, UK Taxation, Uncategorized, VAT, VAT Registration | Tags: business concerns, corporate tax, Taxation, uk companies, UK tax, VAT Leave a comment »Sorry to be like everybody else and keep banging on about the election but if you are interested in the financial structure of the UK it is pretty hard to ignore at the moment. On the bright side it is nearly over and we can start talking about something else very shortly, but for now… There was an interesting article in the guardian this week regarding VAT and its place in the election.
The article was quoting the holy grail of think tanks the Institute for Fiscal Studies. In very diplomatic and polite terms the IFS made a statement this week that basically said that the parties were telling us fibs or at the very least putting a gloss on the truth. According to them we are facing four years of austerity and tax cuts under either party. Each will raise taxes and make cuts to pull Britain out of the deficit mire just the ration will change.
The Tories will have a ratio of 4 to in favour of cuts over taxes, Labour will do it at a ratio of 2 to 1 and the Lib Dems will fall somewhere in between. And no matter which party you elect Vat will rise.
Personally, and it may sound odd, I am not terribly concerned about any of this. Let’s do what is necessary to get our economy back on track.
The Big Debate Gamble; What Are the Odds?
Posted: 13/04/2010 Filed under: Remote Gambling License, Small Business, UK Company Set Up | Tags: business concerns, gambling, gambling laws, gambling sites, uk companies, uk investments 1 Comment »As i have mentioned before I am involved in helping people obtain remote gambling licenses and to run UK companies that specialise in gambling. It is a growing trade in the UK and it is no wonder as it seems we have a fascination with it. Earlier in the month I published a blog that outlined the types of bets available for the various aspects of the budget. I thought I would do the same for the big party debate, but get in a little earlier so you have time to mull over your bets.
As with the budget the bookmakers are hard at it trying to find interesting and lively ways to part us from our money. Gone are the days where you were likely to be only able to bet on the result of an event. In this day and age that would never satisfy the average punter. On the serious side we have bets such as who will be the first to break the rules of the debate and which of the three with achieve the highest TV audience. The last one though does appear to depend on whoever goes first, apparently after that a lot of us lose motivation. The odds are probably not worth publishing this far out from the debate but they should be interesting.
On the more frivolous side you can also bet on who will be the first to perspire, the most fascinating thing about this will be how they plan to measure it.
If you are looking to cash in on the growth in the UK gambling market feel free to get in touch and discuss it. We have been setting people up in this business for years.
Buy To Let Crowded Out First Time Buyers
Posted: 12/04/2010 Filed under: Investment, Small Business, Uncategorized | Tags: business, business concerns, corporate tax, moving to the UK, moving to UK, Small Business, uk companies, uk investments Leave a comment »It is amazing how differently, different sectors of the economy see things. I have a lot of small business people on my books who essentially run a buy to let portfolio. In other words they are professional landlords. I have always felt that these people provide a vital service to the community as well as being professional business operators and I feel they do it with little government help. An article in The Times this month has a very different take on things.
It blames the huge buy to let market for crowding out first time buyers in the run up to the big recession. They source a paper written for Tony Blair back in 2004 which states that the proportion of loans to FBT’s (first time buyers) had fallen dramatically but had not had the expected effect on the housing market as the buy to let sector took up the slack. So far I totally understand their logic but the paper then goes on to say that the effect of the growth in BTL was to crowd out FBT’s as essentially they were often competing for the same properties.
This is where things get a little hazy for me. If banks were reluctant to lend to FBT’s then surely it was a good thing that BTL landlords were there to fill the void. Would the predicted housing crisis not be far worse now if they had not been? I see what the paper is saying to some extent, the banks would rather lend to stable BTL professionals than FBT’s but surely that is something to be taken up with the banking sector?
Anyway if you are thinking of getting into property investment in the UK or any other type of company for that matter please get in touch. We are professionals at helping people to get a great start in UK business.
Political Parties In Dispute Over National Insurance Rise
Posted: 05/04/2010 Filed under: Small Business, UK Taxation, VAT | Tags: business concerns, corporation tax, national insurance, NI, Taxation, uk companies, UK tax Leave a comment »As with the proposed rise in VAT I am not going to claim to be an expert on the arguments being put forward regarding Labour’s plans to raise national insurance by one percent, or the Tories claims that it will cost us jobs. Instead I want to express the hope that this is not political parties disagreeing for the sake of not agreeing. This is something that happens frequently but frankly, in tough times especially, I think we can do without it.
Alistair Darling has in essence announced that National Insurance will rise for both employers and employees by one percent from April 2011. The Tory party immediately countered by saying they would do no such thing and reassured us regarding VAT as well, just for good measure. According to the Shadow Chancellor a rise in NI would lead to job losses but Mr darling seems quite confident that this is wrong. He puts forward this reasoning.
“The last time NI went up was in 2002… employment after that went up Why? Because the economy was growing after that. Now if you look at the Budget overall and you look at what we are doing in terms of supporting the economy and the other measures to help businesses and so on, we believe that employment is going to start to grow.”
It sounds reasonable. I just hope that these parties can show a bit of intelligence and put aside differences on important economic issues long enough to see us smoothly back on track. But don’t worry I am not holding my breath.
If you need any advice regarding your UK business or taxation position, or even if you are looking to set up your own company then please contact me here at St Matthew’s eAccounting for a chat. I can set you right on all the issues.
Anaemic Recovery But No Chance Of Double Dip Recession
Posted: 02/04/2010 Filed under: Bankruptcy, Small Business | Tags: Bankruptcy, business concerns, double dip recession, recession, recovery, Tax, uk companies 1 Comment »After the week’s earlier blog on the number of businesses that were in dire fear of a double dip recession I decided to have a look around to see what other expert opinion I could find on the subject. I soon found an article in the Daily Mail that seems to set things out quite clearly.
According to them the well respected lobby group has quite strong opinions on the chances of this double dip recession thing that everyone seems to be talking about, and they consist of pretty much ruling it out while still not making great predictions about a speedy recovery.
Director general Richard Lambert said:
‘The economic outlook is improving, but the clear lack of a driver for growth will make for a bumpy ride in the months ahead.’
There are many other experts who agree with this type of view.The Item Club’s Peter Spencer has this to say
‘If the Chancellor is realistically going to get the public finances back on track a credible, detailed and more aggressive plan must be put in place…He must spell out how cuts are going to be made
All of this a little gloomy if not downright pessimistic but at least to spares us anymore talk of a double dip recession. Something that I, for one am very grateful for.
If you are running a small business or UK company then we, here at St Matthew’s eAccounting, can help you to make decisions that will maximise your profit.
Firms worried About ‘Double Dip’ Bankruptcy
Posted: 31/03/2010 Filed under: Bankruptcy, Small Business | Tags: Bankruptcy, business concerns, insolvency, recession, recovery, Small Business, uk companies, uk investments Leave a comment »The news I have come across lately in my travels around the internet have allowed me to be very optimistic and upbeat about Britain and its economic future and on the whole I do stand by that but I am always pulled up short by articles like the one I read this morning. It outlined the genuine worries of small business that a double dip recession would result in their bankruptcy as they are barely scraping themselves off the floor after the last one.
There is no clear evidence that a double dip recession is going ti happen or even, really, that it is likely, but the fact that it is a mere possibility has some small business owners gripped with fear of insolvency looming. A new survey by a leading insolvency body shows that nearly a third of small business consider this to a legitimate worry. many say such things as the struggle to stay afloat during the last dip has nearly exhausted them and a second dose would finish the job.
It is awful to see legitimate , hard working business people put in the position of bankruptcy by an economy failure. We are all desperately hoping that their fears are for nothing and we never see this ‘double dip’ recession.
If you are facing bankruptcy or even personal insolvency and could do with a plan and a sympathetic ear then get in touch with us here at St Matthew’s eAccounting. We are the experts in this area and can make sure everything runs smoothly for you.
