Key Dates
19 November 2010 - PAYE and NIC due for the month ended 5th November 2010. Submit Construction Industry Scheme return for the month ended 5th November 2010.
19 December 2010 - PAYE and NIC due for the month ended 5th December 2010. Submit Construction Industry Scheme return for the month ended 5th December 2010.
14 January 2011 - Deadline for submission of forms CT61 and payment of any associated income tax for the quarter ended 31st December 2010. |
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Entrepreneurs Relief - Does Your Business Qualify?
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A combination of recent increases in capital gains tax rates and an increase in the limit on gains qualifying for Entrepreneurs Relief ('ER') from £1m to £5m makes ER worth up to £900,000 in reduced capital gains tax on sale of a business!
It is more important than ever that business owners ensure their business will qualify for ER on sale.
The qualification rules for ER are not straight forward and so it could prove to be extremely expensive to just assume that you and your business will qualify for this relief.
Our team at CW Fellowes have extensive experience in advising owner managers about structuring their businesses to qualify for tax reliefs such as ER and minimise exposure to taxation for both the business and owner.
If you would like to know more please call either Richard Green-Wilkinson on 023 8024 7070 or Matthew Harrison on 01329 220554. |
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Spending Review Offers Help To Business
Chancellor George Osborne unveiled his Spending Review on 20 October, setting out £81 billion in cuts over the next four years. Key points included:
- about 490,000 public sector jobs are likely to be lost
- there will be average 19 per cent four-year cut in government departmental budgets
- local authority funding will be down by an average 7.25 per cent for each of the next four years
- the structural deficit is to be eliminated by 2015
- there will be £7 billion in additional welfare budget cuts
- police funding is to be cut by four per cent a year
- the English schools budget is to be protected
- there will be £2 billion extra for social care
- the NHS budget in England is to rise every year until 2015
- the bank levy is to be made permanent.
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The review also included a range of measures designed to support business and enterprise. These included:
Adult apprenticeships
Spending on new adult apprenticeships will be increased by £250 million a year by 2014-15.
Transport infrastructure
There will be significant investment in local and regional transport infrastructure including £14 billion of funding to Network Rail to support maintenance and investment; over £10 billion for maintenance and investment in key road and local transport schemes; Crossrail to go ahead; and £6 billion of capital expenditure for the London Underground network.
Low carbon economy
Measures will be introduced to encourage businesses to move to a low carbon economy, with £1 billion of funding to capitalise a UK-wide Green Investment Bank to fund low-carbon infrastructure and technologies.
Broadband
The government will incentivise the roll-out of broadband into areas where the private sector would not otherwise reach.
Regional growth
The Regional Growth Fund has been increased to £1.4 billion, up from the £1 billion announced in the June Budget. Local Enterprise Partnerships will provide strategic leadership in their areas, with further details to come.
LINK: The Spending Review |
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New Enterprise Allowance Boost For Start-Up Firms
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People who have been unemployed for six months and want to start their own business will be offered access to business mentoring and financial support of up to £2,000.
The New Enterprise Allowance was announced by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith at the Conservative conference in October.
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Mr Duncan Smith told the conference: “If you have been unemployed for six months and want to start your own business, we want to support you.
“We will provide business mentoring and a financial package worth up to £2,000 to get your business up and running. We want to see 10,000 new small businesses by next year.”
Mr Duncan Smith pledged to work with the voluntary sector to set up the mentoring back-up for those taking advantage of the scheme.
According to figures from the Federation of Small Businesses, more than 500,000 people start their own businesses each year and Britain’s five million small enterprises – employing between ten and 50 people – contribute 49 per cent of the national turnover.
LINK: Starting up in business |
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State Pension Age To Rise To 66 By 2020
Chancellor George Osborne has announced a faster than expected rise in the state pension age as part of his October Spending Review.
Mr Osborne told the House of Commons that the state pension age for men and women would reach 66 by the year 2020.
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This will involve a gradual increase in the state pension age from 65 to 66, starting in 2018. It will also accelerate the increase in the female pension age already under way since this April.
Mr Osborne said: “Raising the state pension age is what many countries are now doing and will by the end of the next Parliament save over £5 billion a year – money which will be used to provide a more generous basic state pension as we manage demographic pressures.”
Following the 20 October announcement, it has been widely reported that the government plans a Green Paper to increase the state pension to around £140 per week with means tested top-ups scrapped.
Currently, the full basic state pension is £97.65 per week for a single person and £156.15 per week for a married couple, unless the couple's individual state pensions are higher.
The Green Paper is expected to be published before the end of the year.
The previous Labour government had planned to raise the age at which men could claim their state pension to 66 by 2024 and by 2026 for women.
LINK: State pension and retirement |
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Business Quangos Bite Dust
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Regional Development Agencies are among the business-related quangos that face the axe or other changes in a government shake-up.
A Cabinet Office announcement on 14 October confirmed a previous announcement that the eight agencies will be abolished, with those functions to be retained transferred to central or local government and others.
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A total of 192 quangos (quasi-autonomous non-government organisations) will cease to be public bodies and their functions will be brought back into government, devolved to local government, moved out of government or abolished altogether
Other business-linked organisations affected in the shake-up include:
- Competition Commission: government will consult in the new year on a merger with the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading
- Construction Industry Training Board: consideration to be completed by November 2010 of transferring body and functions to private sector status
- Copyright Tribunal: subject to final agreement, jurisdiction of the tribunal to be transferred into the Ministry of Justice tribunal service
- UK Commission for Employment and Skills: a review is to be completed by the end of the year of the commission’s core functions and the most appropriate structure to deliver a simplified skills landscape.
The government also plans to merge 118 bodies down to 57 and to retain and substantially reform a further 171. A total of 380 organisations will be retained.
LINK: Cabinet Office announcement |
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All Change On National Insurance Cards
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has announced a change on replacement national insurance cards, ahead of a phasing out of the traditional plastic card.
When the government invited members of the public to put forward money-saving ideas earlier this year, a suggestion was made that HMRC cut costs by sending out letters to notify people of the national insurance number instead of a plastic card.
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Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne confirmed in September that the suggestion had been accepted.
HMRC has now stopped issuing replacement cards but will still provide written confirmation of a national insurance number if requested.
Anyone who has recently applied for a national insurance number or is approaching the age of 16 and is eligible to receive a number automatically will still be sent a plastic card and this will continue for some time while the transition to letters is put in place.
LINK: Applying for a National Insurance number |
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Comments Sought On Competition Law Compliance Guidance
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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is consulting on two guidance documents designed to help businesses and company directors comply with competition law.
One document has been developed for businesses and their advisers and the other for executive and non-executive directors.
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The guidance for businesses and their advisers sets out in detail the practical compliance measures that businesses might be able to take and includes a separate quick guide intended to meet the specific needs of small to medium-sized enterprises.
The guidance for company directors is intended to explain the level of understanding of competition law that they are expected to have and steps they should be taking to detect and prevent breaches of the law.
Cavendish Elithorn, the OFT's senior director of policy, said: “Sanctions for involvement in competition law infringements can be severe for both businesses and individuals, especially directors.
“The OFT is well aware that most businesses and directors wish to comply with competition law. We are keen to help them do so. These guidance documents are intended to set out steps that businesses and company directors can take in order to avoid competition law infringements.”
As the two consultation documents are complementary, interested parties should read both when considering and submitting their views.
Responses to the consultations are due by 21 January 2011.
LINK: Consultation on How Your Business Can Achieve Compliance, guidance for businesses and their advisers
LINK: Consultation on Company Directors and Competition Law |
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Track Down Your Missing Pension, Says Minister
People who have lost touch with workplace pension schemes from previous employers, as well as personal schemes, are being urged to track them down to ensure they receive all of their entitlements in retirement.
More than 350,000 people have used the free Pension Tracing Service since it was set up in 2005 by the Department for Work and Pensions.
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A recent survey of customers shows that around one in five found a lost pension after using the service, resulting in average weekly payments of £16 or an average lump sum of £1,900, with some people receiving both a weekly payment and a lump sum.
Five per cent of customers surveyed received weekly payments of more than £100 and seven per cent received a lump sum in excess of £20,000.
Of those surveyed, 68 per cent cited moving on from an employer as the reason for losing track of a pension. Other reasons included moving house, employers changing name or closing down and simply losing the paperwork.
Pensions Minister Steve Webb said: "People need to make sure they’re claiming everything they’re entitled to in retirement. If you think you may have had a pension in a previous job or you once paid into a personal scheme that you had forgotten about, then the Pension Tracing Service may be able to help you to recover the money you invested."
The service uses a database containing information on more than 200,000 pension schemes to provides contact details of the potential scheme administrator to enable customers to make further enquiries.
The Pension Tracing Service can be contacted on 0845 600 2537 (textphone 0845 300 0169). Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
LINK: The Pensions Tracing Service |
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HMRC Shakes Up Contact Centre Opening Hours
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From 29 November 2010, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) contact centres will reorganise their opening times to allow more staff to answer calls during the busy periods.
Following consultation, HMRC has decided to no longer open contact centres on Sundays, allowing staff to be redeployed to peak periods throughout the rest of the week, reducing waiting times and providing a more effective service.
For the vast majority of HMRC lines, the opening hours are Monday-Friday 8am-8pm and Saturday 9am-4pm.
LINK: Contacting HMRC |
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