Author: Glenn

The government has unveiled new measures to support small businesses and the self-employed by tackling the scourge of late payments, which according to the Smart Data Foundry is costing SMEs £22,000 a year on average and according to FSB research, leads to 50,000 business closures a year.

The government will consult on tough new laws which will hold larger firms to account and get cash flowing back into businesses – helping deliver our mission to grow the economy.

In addition, new legislation being brought in the coming weeks will require all large businesses to include payment reporting in their annual reports – putting the onus on them to provide clarity in their annual reports about how they treat small firms. This will mean company boards and international investors will be able to see how firms are operating.

Enforcement will also be stepped up on the existing late payment performance reporting regulations which require large companies to report their payment performance twice yearly on GOV.UK.

Under current laws, responsible directors at non-compliant companies who don’t report their payment practices could face criminal prosecutions including potentially unlimited fines and criminal records.

The consultation which will be launched in the coming months, will also consider a range of further policy measures that could help address poor payment practices.

Research shows that every quarter in 2022, 52% of SMEs small firms in the UK suffer from late payments, meaning roughly 2.8 million small firms face this issue, with the Federation of Small Businesses describing it as one of the biggest problems facing SMEs.

Late payments are just one element of the problem, with some SMEs forced to wait months for contracts to be fulfilled and some are even forced to take out loans against their own homes to manage cash flow.

Cracking down on late payments will unlock growth for 5.5 million small firms by enabling them to invest their time hiring more employees, boosting wages, and exporting around the world, rather than chasing down late payments.

The Business Secretary will hold a joint call with the Federation of Small Businesses later today to outline to SME leaders the work the Department will undertake to put in place tough new laws to end bad payment culture. New proposals, subject to consultation, will be bought forward on audit and audit committees, in order to help rebuild small businesses’ trust that they will be paid on time.

A reminder that the government has stated that it will remove preferential tax treatment based on domicile status for all new foreign income and gains (FIG) that arise from 6 April 2025. To replace the present remittance basis of tax, the government will introduce an internationally competitive residence-based regime, providing 100% relief on FIG for new arrivals to the UK in their first four years of tax residence, this is provided that they have not been UK tax resident in any of the 10 consecutive years prior to their arrival.

From 6 April 2025, the protection from tax on income and gains arising within settlor-interested trust structures will no longer be available for non-domiciled and deemed domiciled individuals who do not qualify for the 4-year FIG regime.

The government intends to conduct a review of offshore anti-avoidance legislation, including the Transfer of Assets Abroad and Settlements legislation, to modernise the rules and ensure they are fit for purpose. The intention for this review will be to remove ambiguity and uncertainty in the legislation, make the rules simpler to apply in practice and ensure these anti-avoidance provisions are effective. Further details on the review will be provided in due course. It is not anticipated that this review will result in any changes before the start of the 2026-27 tax year.

A form of Overseas Workday Relief (OWR) will be retained. Government officials will engage with stakeholders on the design principles for this tax relief and further details are expected to be confirmed in the Budget later this month.

1 November 2024 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 January 2024.

19 November 2024 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 November 2024. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 November 20244.)

19 November 2024 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 November 20244. 

19 November 2024 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 November 2024 is payable by today.

1 December 2024 – Due date for Corporation Tax payable for the year ended 28 February 2024.

19 December 2024 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 December 2024. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 December 2024).

19 December 2024 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 December 2024. 

19 December 2024 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 December 2024 is payable by today.

30 December 2024 – Deadline for filing 2023-24 self-assessment tax returns online to include a claim for under payments to be collected via tax code in 2025-26.

The taxable turnover threshold for VAT registration is currently £90,000 and has applied since April 2024.

Businesses must register for VAT if they meet one of the following conditions:

1. At the end of any month, the value of taxable supplies made in the past 12 months exceeds £90,000; or
2. At any point, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the value of taxable supplies in the next 30 days will exceed £90,000.

For condition 1, HMRC provides the following illustrative example. On 15 July your total taxable turnover for the last 12 months is £100,000. That’s the first time it has gone over the VAT threshold. You must register by 30 August. Your effective date of registration is 1 September.

For condition 2, HMRC provides the following illustrative example. On 1 May, you arrange a £100,000 contract to provide services. You’ll be paid at the end of May. You must submit your VAT registration application by 30 May. Your effective date of registration will be 1 May.

The £90,000 registration threshold also applies to relevant acquisitions from EU Member States into Northern Ireland.

Additionally, businesses without a physical presence in the UK may still be required to register for VAT if they supply goods or services to the UK or expect to do so in the next 30 days.

An online service is available on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details to help people find their lost pension funds.

You can use this service to find contact details for:

• your own workplace or personal pension scheme; or
• someone else’s scheme if you have their permission.

Whilst the service won’t confirm if a person has a pension or what its value is it does provide contact details for contacting pension schemes to make further enquiries.

To use this service, the applicant needs to enter their employer’s name or the name of the pension scheme.

Suggestions for finding the name of an historic employer include:

• looking through old paperwork;
• asking former colleagues if they know the employer or scheme name;
• using the search function on the Companies House website as it holds names of all closed and existing companies registered in the UK.

The pension tracing service is a free service. You can also request contact details from the Pension Tracing Service by phone or by post.