Monthly Archives: August 2020

Windfall for thrifty teenagers

Thrifty teenagers, or rather teenagers with thrifty parents, will soon gain access to their Child Trust Fund (CTFs) savings, and some, may not even know it is there…   CTFs were originally set up for children born between 1st September 2002 and 2nd January 2011, with a live Child Benefit claim. Parents and guardians received […]

Contractors urged to go green

The government is keen to sell its Green Home Grant policy to the building trade. In a recent press release Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, said: Tradespeople across England are urged to step forward and sign up to be able to offer services through the government’s new Green Homes Grants scheme – as over 1,000 businesses […]

The authorities are not asleep

It is tempting to assume that government departments are drawing back from exercising their powers to challenge taxpayers due to COVID disruption, but it would be unwise to assume this is the case. For example, in a recent legal action undertaken by the Insolvency Service, a construction boss was banned from running companies for nine […]

Keep an eye on the numbers

Recent economic forecasts for 2020 published by H M Treasury will do little to inspire business confidence. In their comparison of independent forecasts published last month, the unemployment rate is estimated to rise to 8% and in the same period, GDP falls by 9%. The only good news is that inflation remains on the low […]

VAT changes

In an attempt to address the financial difficulties of businesses in the hospitality and tourism industries, Rishi Sunak also announced a range of VAT reductions on selected supplies for these sectors. Summary of the changes are set out below: Hospitality When you supply food and non-alcoholic beverages for consumption on your premises, between 15 July […]