Apr 14 2020 Charities are encouraged to apply for the Wellbeing Fund Categories: CharitiesCOVID-19 There has been growing concern that some charities are facing unprecedented financial hardship due to the impact of COVID-19. On 8 April, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £750m package to keep struggling charities afloat and also reiterated that they were eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The Scottish Government had previously pledged a £350m more
Apr 13 2020 R&D Tax Credits – a critical cash flow injection Categories: COVID-19Taxation At a time of great concern for all of us, many businesses are still missing a valuable opportunity to increase their cash flow by thinking they cannot claim for R&D tax credits. Here is a quick reminder of the basic eligibility criteria: You must trade as a limited company You must incur qualifying costs, typically more
Apr 13 2020 Innovate UK launch £20m funding competition for games industry Categories: COVID-19Technology On Friday 3 April, Innovate UK launched a funding competition which will invest up to £20 million in innovation projects as a direct response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Open to all UK-registered companies, the competition covers areas that are directly relevant to those in the games industry. The competition has been created to support more
Apr 10 2020 Payroll – it has never been more important Categories: COVID-19EQ AccountingPayroll Our specialist payroll team, part of our EQ Accounting department, is currently putting the final procedures in place in order to ensure that we are able to process our clients’ furloughed staff reimbursement. As detailed in our previous article, we understand that HMRC’s portal will be operational from 20 April with payments expected to be made more
Apr 9 2020 Further update on NHS financial support Categories: COVID-19Healthcare As discussed in our previous article, Chief Dental Officer, Tom Ferris sent a memorandum on Thursday 9 April that provides independent contractors (dentists and corporate dental bodies) with specific guidance for those practices in receipt of NHS financial support measures who may wish to apply for other financial support. A number of contractors have inquired about more
Apr 9 2020 Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) Update Categories: COVID-19EQ AccountingPayroll HMRC have been working urgently to set up an online portal for businesses to access the CJRS which provides an employer a grant of 80% of employees’ wages (up to £2,500 per month) for those that have been furloughed (been put on temporary leave). We highlighted the key facts and steps that had to be more
Apr 8 2020 Possible delay to funded early learning and childcare Categories: COVID-19Healthcare Since the Scottish Government announced plans to provide 30 hours free childcare for every child aged between 3 and 4 from August 2020, as detailed in our previous article, many privately owned childrens nurseries have been preparing for these changes for the past 8 months or so. However, as we understand things today, local authorities across Scotland more
Apr 7 2020 Tax issues facing the Food & Drink sector – delaying tax payments Categories: COVID-19Food & Drink In these unprecedented times, you might think that tax is the last thing to consider, but it’s not all bad and there are ways you can spread or defer tax payments. As proud members of Scotland Food & Drink, a key sector leader promoting the interests of Scotland, we have summarised some of the tax issues more