The new UK Chancellor (yes another one...can you believe the UK had 4 Chancellors in 4 months in 2022) has given his first budget. And as before we have refined the main points and facts for business owners including SME's and entrepreneurs. So you can easily navigate and plan ahead with clarity.

The main points from the budget are:

1. Energy price guarantee for homes will remain at £2,500 extended for only 3 months until end of June. It was set to rise to £3,000 but that has now been cancelled. And no new support announced for business bills.

2. Corporation Tax for a limited company will rise from 19% to 25% from 6th April 2023. Small company's with profit of less than £50k will still pay the lower 19%. But companies with profits between £50k to £250k have to pay between 19% and 25% but are allowed to claim marginal relief. Company profits over £250k will be taxed at 25%. And companies with group ownership of other companies may end paying close to 26.5% (effectively) because the corporation tax for Group Companies was increased also - sadly all important details missed by the main stream media.

3. Tax-free yearly allowance for pension cash out to rise from £40,000 to £60,000 after being the same for the past 9 years.

4. Fuel duty (tax) frozen so the 5p cut to fuel duty/tax on petrol and diesel which was due to end in April, has been extended for another year.

5. Maximum amount a worker can accumulate in pensions over their lifetime before paying extra  tax currently £1.07 Million will be cancelled. Now there is no limit.

6. Tax on tobacco to increase by 2% above inflation for normal and 6% above inflation for hand-rolling tobacco.

7. Those who are already drawing down on their pensions, the total amount they can save tax free under the Money Purchase Annual Allowance is increased from £4,000 to £10,000 from April 2023.

8. 30 hours of free childcare for working parents in England expanded to cover 9 months to three year olds.

9. New £600 "incentive payment" for people becoming childminders, and the rules have been changed in England to let childminders look after more children.

10. Immigration rules to be relaxed for five roles in the construction sector, to ease labour shortages in the Industry. These categories are:

• Bricklayers & masons
• Roofers, roof tilers and slaters
• Carpenters and joiners
• Construction and building trades n.e.c
• Plasterers

11. Super deduction of 130% will end on 31/03/23 and move back to 100% AIA for plant and   machinery purchased and can be used directlty against corporation tax payable. A list of typical purchases is lasting until 31/03/26:

• computer equipment and servers
• tractors, lorries, vans
• ladders, drills, cranes
• office chairs and desks
• electric vehicle charge points
• refrigeration units
• compressors.

If your worried how these will effect you and need more specific guidance to help your business carry on growing during turbulent times then contact one of our Tax Affinity expert business advisors today (click here). With their countless years of knowledge and expertise they can guide your business to success even in the toughest of economic conditions.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

Economic conditons rise and fall but one thing is certain the most successful small to medium sized businesses always keep growing and increasing their profits. So how do they do that? Well here at Tax Affinity we are expert business advisors and we help and support thousands of business owners in the UK and overseas with exactly that.

Giving business owners tailored and specific advice to help keep their business growing and increasing in profits no matter what the economic conditions. In short giving everyone the same level of guidance and support that large corporate CEO's get but for a fraction of the price.

Why? Because we feel everyone should have access expert support especially small and medium sized businesses because they are the engines and driving force of every economy.

So here is a quick list to get you started and when you need more specific and tailored support contact us and we will be happy help.

1. Change the way you do things 
Simply you will need to generate more sales while decreasing expenses. Sounds easy but in reality it can be quite hard. To increase your sales you may have to change the way you do business and start offering new goods and services that complement your current goods and services.

To reduce expenses, keep an eye on expenses and start to identify which ones are excessive and a waste of income. Find out if some parts of your admin work that can be outsourced to reduce wages bills eg accountancy, payroll, vat etc. We at Tax Affinity often help clients by taking over the work load from business owners helping them cut costs and increase profit. Look closely at employees and identify the ones who are less productive and cut down their hours to part time from full time or simply let them go. Switch suppliers of utilities and explore new cheaper or free energy sources such as solar power or a rain collection tanks on the roof for the washrooms.

2. Motivate new customers to try your product/service
Another quick fix to increase profits is motivating new customers to try your products and services with specials deals, discounts, or short-term giveaways. Maybe think about a relationship-based sales model that gets customers coming back by offering monthly or annual subscriptions, or a grouped bundle of visits at a discounted price.

3. Stay in front of the customer make sure to be available
See what can sets you apart from your competition. Regularly check and promote your positive reputation. Use your website, emails and social media to connect with clients. Think about sharing advertising with a complementary business and find ways to get referral sales using affiliate marketing to get new customers. Plus get rid of old, unproductive business alliances that may be dragging you down. Check their reputation - if they are going down then your perceved to be the same too by association. Do more marketing and networking by setting up group meetings online, offer online downloads and access to shared info.

3. Maximising your cashflow 
Cashflow is king and making sure you always have enough is very important. Chase customers to pay on time and make sure that you add charges for late or delayed payments. If they do pay late then you will be paid more. Some people say offer a reduced monthly payment plan to lock in clients longer term, we don't agree because its a universal law that the cream always rises to the top and the best don't discount because they are the best. Get better instead of cheaper.

4. Dump useless employees
All businesses have employees who steal, or work purposely slow etc. Identify them and replace them with new more enthusiatic and efficient ones. They are just another asset in the business and your not responsible for them and their families. They should have bore that in mind before being lame at work. Think about automation which may allow your business to use software or robots for work and reduce monthly wages bills .

5. Make Everyone a Salesperson
From telephone to email to face-to-face meetings, every employee has the opportunity to spread your company's message and engage in potential sales-generating behavior. Everyone needs to pitch in to help by cutting costs, selling, networking on the web, marketing, and more.
If you can get your employees invested and motivated to sell your message by encouraging self-development through roundtables, conferences, lunch meetings, and webinars you'll be well on your way to creating an organization that is built around increasing profits.
Remember, it pays dividends to reward your employees that seek continuing education, or who make an extra effort to represent the company inside and outside of work.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

The government's records for the past 12 months to March 2022 showed that consumer prices have risen as much as 13.4% in some sectors. This is much higher than the 9% reported a few weeks ago. It is therefore prudent to assume when bad news is highlighted by the government or a corporate entity it will most likely be understated.

Now that the ONS has issued more accurate figures its important medium to small sized businesses know the exact figures when it comes to costs to make sure they can budget correctly and choose to either absorb or pass on costs. So the business owner can safely steer the business through a recession or downturn.

A quick list of UK inflation figures is below and it is advised that business owners plan and manage these as soon as possible:

• Transport: 13.4% 
• Furniture, household equipment and maintenance: 10.3% 
• Clothing and footwear: 9.8% 
• Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels: 7.7% 
• Restaurants and hotels: 6.9% 
• Food and non-alcoholic beverages: 5.9% 
• Recreation and culture: 4.9% 
• Alcoholic beverages and tobacco: 4.8% 
• Education: 4.5% 
• Health: 2.5% 
• Miscellaneous goods and services: 1.9%
• Communication: 0.7% 

Tax Affinity Accountants are rated as the number one business advisors for medium to small businesses. So if your a business owner who is effected by the inflation rises and need expert guidance and support then get in touch today and we will be happy to help you plan a strategy to steer your busines to growth and success.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts Business, Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom and Ewell they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for both individuals and small & medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting both individuals and limited company owners / self employed people throughout the UK and the world, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

The spread of (Covid-19) Coronavirus from Mainland China throughout the world is having massive effects upon small and medium sized businesses. A lot of small business owners are so busy with running their busy everyday that they have not had time to try to figure out a plan to safeguard their employees, customers and profit lines.

The British economy is reliant upon finance, tourism and to a lesser extent manufacturing. Data presented earlier this month showed British economic growth slowed to a stand still at the end of 2019. Supply chains from China have dropped off and many travel operators are slowing down or closing services. This means limited supply and increases in costs. And because small to medium sized (SME) businesses often do not have the cash flow and financial resources to absorb sudden increases in costs this can mean a serious problem, not to mention the health and well being of their staff.

Unlike the press, we don’t just present the problem but provide an answer - So here is what SME business owners need do to manage the coronavirus problem:

1. Increase suppliers and look for different origin source countries - often SME's have one supplier and a cannot order in bulk. So shop around and look for similar products and suppliers importing from other countries other than China. Think about pooling together with other buyers into a self made buying group and ordering in bulk. Sharing purchase and storage costs can make it affordable.
2. Ensure your staff well fare - keep them safe from infection, and provide hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial wipes etc for surfaces where customers may touch and pass on infection. Ensure all staff are told to clean their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds several times a day. Ask them to minimise physical contact with customers and minimise usage of public transport if possible, even working from home if possible.
3. Speak to your bank - ensure you have access to cheap loan and overdraft facilities to get a cash injections in case you need it. Think old school, borrow at 0% interest from friends and family or trade in goods and services without money if needed.
4. There is always an opportunity - sell different products or services, think about selling face masks, hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial wipes etc. Think of changing the way you do business and your market even.
5. If imports from China are falling then home produced suppliers and exports are an opportunity for many businesses to fill in the gaps. Look for current gaps in your industry supply chain and see how you could fill them. eg if you find a great supplier that no-one knows about, think about becoming a wholesaler and reseller not just a retailer ot the public.
6. Raise prices - SME businesses often fear raising prices and losing customers. They often absorb increased costs without touching the price. This means they are earning less net profit as time goes by and take home less pay each month. Don't be afraid to lose some customers if you raise prices due to rising costs, your not running a charity.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for small and medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting limited company owners and self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

With the UK now officially leaving the EU, small and medium sized business owners need to put plans and procedures in to place to ensure their business carries on with no problems. Research show that unfortunately the vast majority of SME business owners continue to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the potential ticking time bomb.

Below is a short check list of what you may need to do:

1. Review your contracts and agreements: Both your supplier and customer contracts may need to be amended to include special terms & conditions if the existing contract becomes void on departure from the EU, some contracts may be open to abuse by either party if not checked and can leave you out of pocket.
2. Review your supply chain and make back up suppliers: Physically map out your supply chain in detail to establish exactly where your imported supplies & raw materials come from (not just the supplier name you use in UK) and assess any potential tariff changes and changes in customs procedures that your suppliers may ask from you and thereby increase prices - maybe stock up early.  There is advice on Government websites to help with this, use their resources to your benefit - after all thats where your tax is being spent on. Search UK government international trade paperwork basics.
3. Try to secure your EU and foreign national employees: Many businesses employ staff who originally came from the EU who may now need to apply for ‘settled status’ if they are to continue working. Search for EU settlement scheme employer toolkit and make sure your the right side of the law and key staff are ready.
4. Know your exhisting markets and develop new ones also: The EU will still remain a significant trading partner with the UK but this might make things bottle neck for SME's when compared to large corporations with household names and brands. However, there will be opportunities in other markets such as Australia, USA, Canada, Africa, Asia etc think globally and try to tap into sales and supply from there.
5. Secure funding and finance now not later when everyone is asking for a top up loan for their business. At that time charges will be higher and lending restricted. Consider new different options if needed to release cashflow such as factoring, cash advances, crowd funding etc. Have sufficient funds in place in case suppliers hike prices.
6. Consider having a back office overseas and outsourcing some of your admin work load to free up your time and decrease costs in the UK. We have already done this for some clients and have put out sourced services in place for clients to save on increasing labour costs in the UK. This has helped many clients free up time to concentrate and increase sales and get ahead of their competitors. If you would like to know more about this fill in our contact us form and we will be happy to help.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames and Epsom they are considered in the Industry to be expert business accountants and tax advisors for small and medium sized businesses (SME's). Helping and supporting limited company owners and self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support. Their support has been considered invaluable by many clients and key to their success.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

Every year around this time we get a wave of negative news in the media with large corporations issuing retail sales warnings, making excuses publicly about Brexit, the election, weather, online sales, anything really to distract from their own incompetence in the run up to Christmas and New Year 2019. In fact last year December 2018 it was the exact same excuses with only exception being the recent general election.

Always ignore the 'nay sayers' and pro-actively look at what positive steps can be taken to ensure your business sales and profits rise or at the very least stay level with previous years. To help with this we've compiled a short list based on our extensive experience and industry wide knowledge.

1. Go where the money is - try to be fluid and adaptable and look to see what is selling and sell more of that and stock less of what is in less demand. If its a different product or service that you don't offer consider adding this.
2. Give the customer what they want not what you want - try to listen to them and understand them properly and give them what they are looking for. Your customer will tell you how to keep things going in your business. Don't be shy to ask them, actively ask for feedback.
3. Make an offer they cant refuse - when things are difficult for a client make sure you have offers and special deals like supermarkets do. This may mean you have to offer something at a lower price with the plan to sell another product/service that compliments that item which will make more profit.
4. Keep an eye on competition - try to make sure your business is not lagging behind on the four P's of the marketing mix - Product, Price, Promotion, Place. All four need to be excellent to ensure growth in a slowing economy.
5. Give away stuff to entice people to keep visiting - This doesn't mean give everything away at a knock down price, but more specifically could mean a good chance to clear out old stock items and have more space by getting rid of it at cost price. The customers get a good deal and you keep the cash-flow coming in.
6. Don't use bad economic conditions as an excuse - try to stay focused and think positive, don't listen to negative sources of information, look at the positive sources as well. Many large retailers have a positive outlook, its just  that media outlets like to dwell on negativity as bad news sells better than good. Compare your business to the bigger companies and see what they are doing and what you can do as well. The Director /  CEO that thinks and plans positively is the one that drives their business forward.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting contractors and self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

Every year around this time we get a wave of negative news in the media with large corporations issuing retail sales warnings, making excuses publicly about Brexit, the weather, online sales, anything really to distract from their own incompetence) in the run up to Christmas and New Year 2018. Always ignore the 'nay sayers' and pro-actively look at what positive steps can be taken to ensure your business sales and profits rise or at the very least stay level with previous years.

To help with this we've compiled a short list based on our extensive experience and industry wide knowledge.

1. Go where the money is - be fluid and adaptable and look to see what is selling and sell more of that and stock less of what is in less demand. If its a different product or service that you don't offer consider adding this.
2. Give the customer what they want not what you want - listen to them and understand them properly and give them what they are looking for. Your customer will tell you how to keep things going in your business. Don't be shy to ask them, actively ask for feedback.
3. Make an offer they cant refuse - when things are difficult for a client make sure you have offers and special deals like supermarkets do. This may mean you have to offer something at a lower price with the plan to sell another product/service that compliments that item which will make more profit.
4. Keep an eye on competition - make sure your business is not lagging behind on the four P's of the marketing mix - Product, Price, Promotion, Place. All four need to be excellent to ensure growth in a slowing economy.
5. Give away stuff to entice people to keep visiting - This doesn't mean give everything away at a knock down price, but more specifically could mean a good chance to clear out old stock items and have more space by getting rid of it at cost price. The customers get a good deal and you keep the cash-flow coming in.
6. Don't use bad economic conditions as an excuse - stay focused and think positive, don't listen to negative sources of information, look at the positive sources as well. Many large retailers have a positive outlook, its just  that media outlets like to dwell on negativity as bad news sells better than good. Compare your business to the bigger companies and see what they are doing and what you can do as well. The Director /  CEO that thinks and plans positively is the one that drives their business forward.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting contractors and self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

To understand its importance, it is necessary to look at the scale of the matter with regards to small and medium sized businesses (SME’s). 

In the UK, there are some 5.7m SME’s, which account for almost the whole of the private sector firms and 60% of total UK private sector employment. SME’s also account for 73% of all net private sector job creation in the UK. Therefore, SME’s have significant implications for the economy and anything that can effect SME’s is very important.

SME’s need to be proactive and prudent as they prepare for BREXIT – deal or no deal. While some business know how they will be affected, and what will be the consequences. Many do not have the time to spare to look at this and seriously lack any plan of action of how to deal with and overcome weaknesses that may affect their business.

This short article will focus on the most important aspects of leaving the EU without a deal for small businesses.

• With a no deal Brexit, it will affect how businesses buy and sell in EU.  There will be increased port clearance time for goods both in bound and out bound of the UK. This can serious effect supply chains and delivery times, large corporations such have expressed extreme alarm at the possibility of delays and stoppages to their supply chains and as such SME’s need to make serious contingency plans also.
• Businesses will not be able to hire workers that easily or not at all. In the short term it is plausible that all new EU nationals will no longer be allowed to work here in UK. And therefore finding skilled reasonable cost employee may be more difficult. Which means businesses will have to employ locally, that may consequently increase their costs and in wages and or expect more work from fewer staff to cover the costs of higher wages so leading to less job satisfaction in the workplace.
• There may also be non-tariff barriers and we may no longer be allowed to buy or sell goods from EU the same as we have done in the past. Especially when it comes to food business. Old licenses and certificates will not be accepted on both sides. Current VAT regime will no longer be applicable. And these in the interim may cause a lot of financial problems with VAT bills and accounting
• Even if small businesses buy products from local wholesalers, their supply chain and procurement will be severely affected. This will indirectly affect your businesses as well.
• Over all, delays mean increased costs and inefficiency’s which could result in bad customer satisfaction and higher time expended in providing customer satisfaction.
• There may be new tariffs and increase admin costs and it is important for businesses to realise, either they are ready to pass these on customers or will they be sustainable to keep doing business with shrunken profit margin.

 
There are more questions than answers regarding impact of Brexit available yet. Ever lingering uncertainty and heightened anxiety in the business world in awash in the news at the moment. In any case, costs and delays relating to customs and trade are expected to increase in general. And these will affect all businesses and consumers.

Some businesses may see their business grow and will look for new opportunities, but many are likely to lose out, if they do not plan ahead and manage their competitive position.

By Awais at Tax Affinity Accountants in Epsom, Surrey

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. With branches in Surbiton , Worcester Park , Kingston upon Thames , Cheam and Epsom they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting business throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice and support.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

With all the negative news currently in the media and retail sales warnings issued by a few large retailers (who may be using this as an excuse) in the run up to Christmas and New Year 2017. Its a good time to ignore the 'nay sayers' and pro-actively look at what positive steps can be taken to ensure your business sales and profits rise or at the very least stay level with previous years.

So we've compiled a short list based on our extensive experience and industry wide knowledge.

1. Go where the money is - be adaptable and look to see what is selling and sell more of that and stock less that which is in less demand. If its a different product or service that you don't offer consider adding this.
2. Give the customer what they want not what you want - listen to them and understand them properly and give them what they are looking for. Your customer will tell you how to keep things going in your business. Ask them, remember you have two ears and one mouth, use them in that proportion.
3. Make an offer they cant refuse - when things are difficult for a client make sure you have offers and special deals like the supermarket and larger traders do to entice them. This may mean offer something at a low price with the plan to sell another product/service that compliments that item and will make more profit.
4. Keep an eye on competition - make sure your business is not lagging behind on the four P's of the marketing mix - Product, Price, Promotion, Place. All four need to be excellent to ensure growth in a downturn.
5. Give away stuff to entice people to keep visiting - This doesn't mean give everything away at a knock down price, but more specifically could mean a good chance to clear out old stock items and have more space by getting rid of it at cost price. The customers get a good deal and you keep the cash-flow coming in.
6. Don't use bad economic conditions as an excuse - stay focused and think positive, don't listen to negative sources of information, look at the positive sources as well. Many large retailers have a positive outlook, its just  that media outlets like to dwell on negativity as bad news sells better than good. Compare your business to the bigger companies and see what they are doing and what you can do as well. The Director /  CEO that thinks and plans positively is the one that drive their business forward.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting contractors and self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.