-
Are you affected by the VAT Flat Rate Scheme changes?
Are you a “Limited Cost Trader”? Answering the easy question first- if you use the VAT Flat Rate Scheme and you spend less than 2% of your VAT inclusive turnover or less than £1000 per annum you are classed as “Limited Cost Trader” and you need to look at how the changes will affect…
-
What is the Apprenticeship levy and how does it work?
The Apprenticeship levy starts on 6 April 2017. The levy will be set at 0.5% of an employer’s ‘pay bill’ (see below) and is to be paid through the PAYE system. It will only be paid on any ‘pay bill’ in excess of £3 million. This is achieved by employers having an allowance of £15,000…
-
Tribunal overturns HMRC Penalties
In a recent tax case the First Tier Tribunal agreed with HMRC that the capital loss claim in Simon Fry’s tax return was due to his carelessness and should be subject to a penalty, but given that the unused portion of the claimed loss would be used the tribunal agreed that the penalty should be calculated on the…
-
Valuing synergy in M&A deals
Synergy is the rationale that is used to justify many public and private M&A deals and support the transaction price. However, synergy is often little understood and still less valued correctly or actually delivered once the deal celebrations are over. In this paper we consider the best ways to identify synergy, value it, and effectively…
-
Penalties for late tax returns
HMRC Issue record number of fines HMRC issued a record number of fines last year to taxpayers who made mistakes on their personal tax returns. The Revenue imposed 143,000 penalties on people who filed inaccurate information because it deemed them not to have taken “reasonable care” – nearly three times the 55,000 fines levied in…
-
Small Business Finance – Access to Alternate Funding
Banks obliged to show SMEs other potential funding sources Towards the end of last year, and following significant lobbying by the Federation of Small Business (FSB), the government announced a new ‘Matchmaking Service for Small Business‘ Under the initiative UK Banks will pass on the details of small businesses they have rejected for finance to…
-
VAT implications of BREXIT
What does it mean for my business? Mrs. May said this week that we cannot possibly stay in the Single Market, so what does this mean on a practical level to businesses in the Midlands? Although VAT is a European tax, in the short term it is very unlikely there will be any changes in…
-
Auto Enrolment Penalties on the rise
If I’m ill can I avoid auto enrolment penalties? According to the Pension Regulator, “being ill or short-staffed isn’t a good enough excuse for employers failing to comply with their legal duties on time.” The regulator’s latest compliance and enforcement report shows that the number of small and micro employers receiving fines has risen after tribunal…
-
A New Year, a new tax award!
Two more Tax Awards for the team! Firstly the team at Burgis & Bullock would like to wish all of our friends and clients a Happy New Year. As 2016 came to a close we were delighted to hear that Burgis & Bullock had been recognised in the Acquisition International 2016 Global Excellence Awards being given the…
Last week, our trainees took part in an internal audit training session designed to strengthen their technical knowledge and support their professional development. While gaining practical skills was the key objective, we also wanted to make the learning experience engaging and enjoyable, so we incorporated some games. At Burgis & …
October 14, 2026
Read more
free making tax digital briefing 