Blog

Please call the office here if you need help with your issues. 0121-289-4433 or 01527 433 111

The Chancellor has set out a package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support public services, people and businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19.

This includes a package of measures to support businesses including:

a statutory sick pay relief package for SMEs
a Business Rate Relief for small businesses and pubs
small business grant funding of £3,000 for all business in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) and Rural Rates Relief
the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to support long-term viable businesses who may need to respond to cash-flow pressures by seeking additional finance
the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme

Support for businesses who are paying sick pay to employees
We will bring forward legislation to allow small- and medium-sized businesses and employers to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19. The eligibility criteria for the scheme will be as follows:

this refund will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19

employers with fewer than 250 employees will be eligible – the size of an employer will be determined by the number of people they employed as of 28 February 2020

employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to the new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19

employers should maintain records of staff absences and payments of SSP, but employees will not need to provide a GP fit note

eligible period for the scheme will commence the day after the regulations on the extension of Statutory Sick Pay to those staying at home comes into force

the government will work with employers over the coming months to set up the repayment mechanism for employers as soon as possible

Support for businesses who pay business rates

We will increase the Business Rates retail discount in England to 100% for the 2020 to 2021 tax year for properties below £51,000 rateable value.

The relief will also be expanded to the leisure and hospitality sectors in response to COVID-19.

Businesses that received the retail discount in the 2019 to 2020 tax year will be rebilled by their local authority as soon as possible.

Those businesses eligible for the newly expanded retail discount and/or the new pubs discount may need to apply to their local authority to receive the discount.

Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, the reliefs should be directed to the relevant local authority. Guidance for local authorities on the application of the expanded retail discount will be published by 20 March

Support for businesses who pay little or no business rates

The government will provide an additional £2.2 billion funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR). This will provide a one-off grant of £3,000 to business currently eligible for SBRR or Rural Rate Relief, to help meet their ongoing business costs.

If your business is eligible for SBRR or Rural Business Rate Relief, you will be contacted by your local authority – you do not need to apply.

Funding for the scheme will be provided to local authorities by government in early April. We will update gov.uk with details as these are decided.

Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

A new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, will launch in a matter of weeks to support businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts. The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £1.2 million in value. This new guarantee will initially support up to £1 billion of lending on top of current support offered through the British Business Bank.

Support for businesses paying tax

All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time To Pay service. These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities.

If you are concerned about being able to pay your tax due to COVID-19, call HMRC’s dedicated helpline on 0800 0159 559.

Insurance

Businesses should check with their insurance provider if they are covered. Many businesses are unlikely to be covered as most business interruption insurance policies are dependent on damage to property, which will exclude pandemics. Some businesses may have purchased a specific add on relating to notifiable diseases, but some of these will still specify damage to the building. Some businesses may have purchased supply chain or denial of access cover which may meet their needs in this case.

Have a look at our careers page and see the opportunities there are currently available at Brotherton Accountants

Here at Brothertons we have opened offices in Solihull to compliment our offices in Redditch. Please call in, it would be great to see you. Our address is 120C Haslucks Green Road, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands. B90 2EH Tel: 0121 289 4433

Vat procedures and rules are changing at HMRC from 01.04.19. From that date HMRC are closing the submission portals, used by most businesses for submitting their VAT returns.

From that date businesses will need to submit their VAT returns via a digital platform in order for the VAT returns to be accepted by HMRC.

Therefore VAT registered businesses need to react now to ensure they are compliant by April 19 and to ensure they can submit their VAT returns on and after that date.

Packages like SAGE, XERO and Quickbooks allow submissions to be completed in the desired format and we are here to help all business to not only get ready for this change in legislation but also explore all the other benefits which the digital and cloud accounting software can bring a business.

We are happy to talk to all businesses on this area and we are happy to provide a free 1 hour consultation and demonstration on how the software works and interacts with your PC, tablet and phone.

Please call the office if you would like to chat over the new rules or if you would like a free demonstration of the software.

Office- 01527 433 111

Here at Brothertons we are working hard to ensure clients can benefit from digital software and the efficiencies it can bring to their business. We are using the leading brands of digital software here at Brothertons and XERO is right at the top of the list for usability and functionality. WE LOVE XERO! and the people we show love it too!

We offer a free demonstration of the software here to anyone, so call the office on 01527 433111 to arrange a free hour so we can show you the Xero Software and how you can streamline your business. This is open to anyone so please call…. we will put the kettle on……. ready for a coffee and XERO hour.

Call 01527 433111

The government has published draft legislation for Finance Bill 2018-19 which is currently open for consultation, and ‘continues the government’s commitment to a competitive and fair tax system’.
The draft legislation could affect a range of taxes, from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to income tax.
The draft legislation also outlines the government’s approach to the Making Tax Digital (MTD) penalty system, with HMRC outlining its intention to utilise a two-tier penalty model for businesses and individuals who fail to pay their tax on time.
The July publication of the Finance Bill 2018-19 draft legislation forms part of the government’s new fiscal timetable.
The consultation on the draft legislation will run until 31 August 2018. The final contents of ‘Finance Bill 2018-19’ will be subject to confirmation at Budget 2018, expected later this year in November.
We will keep you informed of developments.

HMRC has published further information on Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTDfV). The VAT notice sets out some further details of the MTDfV regime, which will ultimately require taxpayers to move to a fully digital tax system.
Under the rules, businesses with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85,000) will be required to keep digital records for VAT purposes using ‘functional compatible software’ and provide their VAT return information to HMRC via an application programming interface.
This notice explains:
• the digital records businesses must keep and the ways to record transactions digitally in certain special circumstances
• what counts as ‘functional compatible software’, and when software programs do and do not need to be digitally linked where a combination of programs is used.
The new rules have effect from 1 April 2019, where a taxpayer has a ‘prescribed accounting period’ which begins on that date, and otherwise from the first day of a taxpayer’s first prescribed accounting period beginning after 1 April 2019.
Please contact us for advice and support on the introduction of MTDfV.

Here at brotherton we use the latest technologies within our cloud accounting platform which is our solution for cloud and digital accounting.

We use all the leading technologies including…..

KASHFLOW

SAGE

and OTHERS.

Here at brothertons we are a certified XERO ADVISOR

If you would like to explore the new technologies available, we can offer you a free presentation of the software with absolutely no obligation. Free 2 week trials of the software are available too, if you would like to have a play with it and look at its benefits for you and your business.

We also offer free training once you come on board including visits and virtual training. Have a look at the videos on the website as these show the usability of the software and we are adding to these all the time.

Please call the office if you would like a free no obligation presentation of the software……evening appointments are available every week. TEL 01527 68235

There is a real buzz here at Brotherton’s with the huge developments in digital software and new technologies.

We have made great strides with our digital platform, here at Brothertons. This is our platform for helping clients move into the digital age with their accounting and business processes.

After our initial open day we are now planning further dates for clients and non clients to come and visit us here so we can show them the great solutions we are offering through our cloud solutions, using technologies from kashflow, Xero, SAGE and others.

Our catalogue of videos is now growing on our website, from short basic tutorials to more in depth webinars.

We hope all this will be of benefit to you and we are striving to help businesses embrace the technologies and provide all the resources to help move businesses forward.

If you are an existing business or newly incorporated we would love to hear from you and our evening meetings are available every week. We will call out to you too, if that makes it easy for you. These evening meetings are obviously totally free and we are happy to come and chat over your business, looking at all areas from tax planning to new technologies and how it can help you and your business.

Our number is 01527 68235 if you would like to arrange an evening meeting.