HMRC’s draft Finance Bill scraps separate EMI grant notifications from April 2027, folding them into the annual return. What SME employers need to know.
Category: Finance
Financial advice for owners and managers of small and medium sized business SMEs in the UK All your tax, borrowing and administration advice
Families told to hold their nerve as inherited property tax fears swirl
Capital gains tax on inherited property could rise if the ‘uplift on death’ is scrapped. Experts explain why panic selling now could prove costly.
Insolvency Service turns to AI in crackdown on rogue directors behind £800m ‘phoenixism’ problem
The Insolvency Service’s new 50-strong taskforce will use AI analytics to catch directors who liquidate firms to dodge tax, amid an £800m phoenixism problem.
Businesses could be fined for paying their tax on time under new HMRC Direct Debit rules
Businesses could be fined for paying PAYE and VAT on time but not by Direct Debit under HMRC plans. Accountants call it ‘a fine for using the wrong envelope’.
HMRC’s supreme court win drags more LLP members into the employee tax net
HMRC’s Supreme Court win in the BlueCrest case means more LLP members could be taxed as employees, triggering higher income tax and a 15% employer National Insurance bill. What partnerships must do now.
HMRC concedes defeat on referees as decade-long IR35 fight ends
HMRC will not appeal the PGMOL ruling that football referees are self-employed. Dave Chaplin says the decade-long case lays bare flaws in the CEST tool and mutuality of obligation.
Tax crackdown on Shein and Temu could be fast-tracked as retailers turn up the heat
Ministers are weighing whether parts of the crackdown on the £135 de minimis import relief used by Shein and Temu can land before 2029, as UK retailers demand faster action.
ISA shake-up risks unwinding a decade of simplification, warns Charles Stanley
From April 2027 the cash ISA allowance falls to £12,000 for under-65s and a 22% charge will hit interest on cash in stocks & shares ISAs. Charles Stanley’s Rob Morgan warns the reforms risk reversing the 2014 simplification and deterring cautious savers.
HMRC warns 700,000 umbrella workers over ‘bills of exchange’ tax avoidance scam
Promoters in the recruitment and temporary labour sector are pushing a bogus payment ‘trick’ that HMRC says has no legal foundation — and SMEs further down the supply chain risk being dragged in.
Many British exporters chasing US tariff refunds may end up with nothing
Thousands of British exporters chasing US tariff refunds through the CAPE system may walk away empty-handed, warns Blick Rothenberg, as ineligibility and filing errors plague claims.
HMRC loses landmark £584,000 tax battle as referees ruled self-employed
HMRC has been defeated in the landmark £584,000 PGMOL employment status case, with a tribunal ruling football referees were genuinely self-employed — casting fresh doubt over the tax office’s CEST tool.
Employers hit with £28bn National Insurance Shock as rate rise bites harder than treasury forecast
Employers’ National Insurance Contributions have soared by £28bn in a single year, £4bn above the Government’s own forecast, triggering redundancies in hospitality and retail and slowing hiring across the UK private sector.
BADR hike branded a ‘tax-grabbing assault’ as Britain’s founders eye the exit
Founders and advisers warn the latest hike in Business Asset Disposal Relief to 18% is squeezing entrepreneurs and pushing Britain’s homegrown talent abroad.
US tariff refund backlog leaves UK exporters in limbo as Washington scrambles to process billions in claims
Thousands of importers face an open-ended wait for US tariff refunds as CBP’s new CAPE portal covers only 63% of claims. UK SMEs trading transatlantically could be owed a share of up to $166bn.
Thousands of growing firms freed from IR35 burden – but freelancers warned not to underprice
New IR35 rules from April 2026 raise the small company threshold, shifting tax compliance back to freelancers. Here’s what contractors and scaling businesses need to know.
