May 12 2017 General Election and Tax Law Categories: Taxation With the announcement of a snap General Election on 8 June the time available for scrutinising proposed legislation was short so the Finance Act was rushed through Parliament. Many clauses have not made it to the final legislation due to time constraints. These include the provisions to enable Making Tax Digital, changes for Non Domiciled more
May 9 2017 NatWest Legal Benchmarking Report Categories: Professions NatWest recently issued their 2017 Legal Benchmarking Report including financial data from 269 small and large firms, including 82 Scottish firms and a combination of partnerships, LLPs and companies. Despite the economic and political uncertainties experienced in 2016, not least the impact of Brexit, legal firms have in general achieved improved performance under most financial more
May 7 2017 Losses are not forever Categories: Agriculture A recent tax case heard before the Upper Tribunal has confirmed that sideways loss relief cannot be claimed by farmers in the sixth year of loss making, even for commercial trades carried out full time. This ruling reinforces legislation often referred to as the “hobby farming” rules. Sideways loss relief is useful to taxpayers who more
May 2 2017 Funding for Construction Businesses Categories: Property & Construction A recent search of funding opportunities available to Construction companies in Scotland produced 100 possible options. The Scottish Government’s website www.mygov.scot/funding-opportunities can search for potential funding options tailored to your business. The site is relatively easy to navigate and provides useful guidance. Each funding option has three useful stages. Stage one called “Before you Start”, more
Apr 26 2017 Major study highlights importance of self-catering business in Scotland Categories: Leisure The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), of which EQ are delighted to be Trade Supplier members, have published a major study which demonstrates the value of the self-catering sector to the Scottish economy. The study’s key findings include that there are approximately 17,000 self-catering let properties in Scotland which cater for 3.4 million visitor nights more
Apr 14 2017 VAT Flat Rate Scheme – Limited cost trader Categories: Taxation Changes are being made to the Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) which take effect from 1 April 2017. These changes may mean that the FRS is less attractive to some businesses and this may result in these businesses deciding to no longer operate under the FRS. In some cases where a trader has voluntarily registered for more
Apr 11 2017 Apprenticeship Levy Update Categories: Property & Construction The new Apprenticeship Levy begins from 6 April 2017. This will have to be paid by businesses that have an annual wages bill of over £3m but it is important to note that all businesses, regardless of size, will be able to benefit from the fund. The process for claiming the levy in Scotland will more
Apr 10 2017 Tax-Free Childcare to be rolled out from 28 April 2017 Categories: Taxation Tax-Free Childcare, the new government scheme to help working parents with the cost of childcare, will be launched from 28 April 2017. For every £8 a parent pays in, the government will pay in an extra £2. Parents can receive up to £2,000 per child, per year, towards their childcare costs making a total amount more