Grant McKnight Blog

Kickstart scheme a ‘saving grace’ for struggling businesses Businesses looking to boost youth employment via the Government’s Kickstart scheme are encouraged to continue registering their interest through Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce,  writes Claudia Congrave . The Kickstart scheme was announced in July 2020 by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in a bid to help unemployed young people between the ages of 16-24 source six-month work placements. The placements are fully funded by the Government, with employers receiving a grant of £1,500 to help set up and train the employee and a further £6,500 in instalments to cover the employment costs. Companies interested in having less than 30 placements can submit their expressions of interest to the Chamber. The placements need to meet the following criteria: Six months in length At least 25 hours per week (can offer additional hours at company expense) Paying at least the national minimum wage through PAYE Paying the statutory employer duties f

  Mandatory digital links for MTD for VAT. What to do now. As of 1 April 2021, it is mandatory to have digital links in place when filing business VAT Returns to HMRC under the MTD for VAT regime (see  VAT Notice 700/22     ). Since the introduction of MTD for VAT a ‘soft landing period’ has been in place, allowing businesses time to get their systems digitally-linked to comply with the full MTD for VAT requirements. This period enabled businesses to use ‘cut/copy and paste’ methods to move data from one system to another before filing to HMRC. From 1 April 2021, this will no longer be permitted. However, there is no need to panic. It is likely you already have everything you need to continue being compliant, or some simple adjustments could be all that’s required. Find out more below. So, what is a digital link? Once transactional data is entered into a software package or spreadsheet, any further transfer or modification of that data must be made without manual intervention. This mea

A host of tax changes come into force from the start of April 2021, including the long-anticipated introduction of off payroll working (IR35) and the next phase of requirements under Making Tax Digital for VAT. ICAEW’s Tax Faculty outlines what you need to know. Employment taxes Off-payroll working (IR35) The off-payroll working (OPW) rules finally come into force for the private sector on 6 April 2021. The rules aim to ensure that PAYE is accounted for where a contractor would have been an employee of the client, but for the fact that the client has a contract with the contractor’s personal service company rather than the contractor personally. With OPW being introduced, many more contractors may be encouraged to operate via an umbrella company. LITRG have produced a  comprehensive and freely available guide  on how umbrella companies and other intermediaries operate in the labour market. Further support from the Tax Faculty can be found on  icaew.com/ir35 . Optional remuneration arr