Firstly, we had good news in the fact that the economy is recovering at a faster rate than was previously expected. Yes, it is still in recovery but there is room for optimism here it seems. The UK is growing at a faster rate than other economies including Germany, Japan and the US. Hooray! Of course if the economies surrounding the UK, particularly the Eurozone, are recovering at a slower pace then high commodity prices will make the UK’s outlook sensibly cautious at best. Then came the expected announcement that the £1 coin will be replaced in three years’ time
Read More
Pre-budget predictions: Any good news?
With the budget around the corner it is time to take stock of what has been and what will arrive in its place. There are three topical areas where we can state with reasonable certainty what is set to change because of published draft clauses for the 2014 Financial Bill. These are personal tax, capital gains tax and business tax. For personal tax the expectations are: Individuals born after 5 April 1948 will be entitled to a personal tax allowance of £10,000. Employees will be able to increase the maximum value of shares acquired under Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and
Read More
HMRC is adamant that RTI is working – is it?
I have to admit that it was far less of a disaster than we thought it might be. Yes, there were many long phone calls, changing of the goal posts and annoying glitches to be handled but they were handled without any catastrophic meltdowns. Just. HMRC’s phones must have needed replacing by the end of last year the amount they were being used. And you would have thought the holding music could have been a little more engaging given the audience numbers it was getting. That aside though we do seem to have a more effective, more informative and modern
Read More