Given the unprecedented situation that we face at present and the government’s actions taken to stem the spread of coronavirus, there are many lessons that can be learnt about contingency planning for business. However, a few simple adjustments can mean that your accounting function can continue to process the year end remotely, enabling your business to meet its statutory deadlines. Here we focus on avoiding the complications of an inability to perform a stock count.
For individuals who planned to be non-UK resident for tax purposes, getting stuck in the UK due to travel restrictions may have given rise to concerns over whether they would be treated as UK resident for tax purposes and therefore be drawn into possibly having to disclose worldwide income and gains to HMRC.
As more and more work and correspondence is carried out electronically we are just letting you know that we have a secure client portal in operation.
On March 26th the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced further measures to the self-employed affected by Covid-19.
We have outlined the measures currently available to support Britain’s five million self-employed.
In what was another day for unprecedented announcements, yesterday the Chancellor presented how the Government intends to provide support to the self-employed. In simple terms, self-employed workers will receive a taxable grant designed to mimic the previously announced support to businesses and employees through the Job Retention Scheme.
In what was an unprecedented announcement yesterday evening, the Prime Minister has put the entire country into effective lockdown to enforce the social distance measures previously advised to try and stem the spread of coronavirus. These tough new measures follow similar actions taken across other countries around the world.
We know that many of you will require additional help during these challenging times and we want to reassure you that we are here, ready to provide you with that assistance and are committed to ensuring the continuity of our services to you.
The coronavirus is posing unprecedented challenges to people from all walks of life so we are very concerned for our agricultural clients. However, we must remember that farming has survived many crises through the years and has continued to provide food and a wonderful rural environment.
Across our firm the health and wellbeing of our clients and our team are our top priority.
We are closely monitoring the daily changing Government guidelines and following their instructions accordingly and whilst there are no reported cases of the virus amongst our team, we are doing all we can to protect our team, clients and contacts as much as possible.
The Government had previously announced that the business rates relief discount was to continue for one year with effect from 1 April 2020. They have now confirmed that the rate of discount for businesses with properties in England with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be increased from one third to 50% for one year.
Thomas Westcott Chartered Financial Planners is a trading style of Thomas Westcott Financial Management Ltd, registered in England and Wales, Company No. 04342122. Thomas Westcott Financial Management Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
© Thomas Westcott 2021
"The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an agency for arbitrating on unresolved complaints between regulated firms and their clients. Full details of the FOS can be found on its website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk."