BUSINESS NEWS – 4TH OCTOBER 2021 – 2020 Innovation
As part of 2020’s commitment to
its members by providing online training for accountants in practice, we have
provided a Business News Update for our members.
Fuel pump crisis
and the looming “challenging” winter
With panic buying
at the pumps, the shortage of HGV drivers, and a looming winter energy crisis
many of us are running our businesses in an ever increasing level of
uncertainty.
If you are
concerned about the future of your business then take some time to reflect on
where you are and what could happen in the next few months. It is now vitally
important for all businesses to plan ahead for a range of scenarios. Cash flow
and business planning in these uncertain times may appear difficult but there
are some practical steps you can take to minimise potential disruption to your
business.
Please talk to us
about cash flow planning for the next few months, we can help with a template
so you can do this yourself or work together to produce estimates for a variety
of scenarios.
House price review – Office for National
Statistics (ONS) latest survey released
The ONS have released their latest analysis
identifying the types of areas that are seeing the fastest house price growth
during the coronavirus pandemic, and who could be at risk of being priced out.
Rising house prices and private rents mean
that some workers are at risk of being priced out of living in rural and
coastal areas, contributing to skill shortages in the tourism and hospitality
industries that their local economies rely on. Young and low paid workers in
tourist hotspots are increasingly facing the prospect of being unable to afford
to live there.
Despite falling from a record high in June,
the average UK house price (£256,000) increased by 8.0% in July 2021 compared
with the previous year.
House prices were rising at three times the
national rate in some rural and coastal areas in July, such as Conwy in North
Wales (25.0%), North Devon (22.5%) and Richmondshire in the Yorkshire Dales
(21.4%), continuing a trend seen during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Meanwhile, the seven areas that recorded house
price falls in July were all London boroughs.
House prices are increasing partly because
of temporary changes to taxes paid on property purchases (including Stamp Duty
in England and Northern Ireland), but they also reflect a shift in consumer
preferences with growth being driven by rural and coastal areas.
Prospective home buyers are seeking more
space, with prices for detached houses (9.0% growth in July) consistently
rising faster than terraced houses (7.7%) or flats (6.1%).
As a result, people living in rural and
coastal areas – particularly the young and those on lower incomes – are at risk
of being priced out of the housing market.
This could be contributing to hospitality
businesses being unable to fill vacancies, with the industry being predominant
in tourist areas and containing a high proportion of young and low paid
workers.
HMRC Publish Guidance on New Penalty Regime
for Late Returns
Finance Act 2021 introduced a new regime for
late VAT returns that will apply to VAT periods commencing on or after 1 April
2022 and to other returns at a later date.
HMRC have now published detailed guidance on
the new rules. The reforms come into effect:
The new regime will be a points-based system
and will operate in a similar way to motoring penalties in that the points will
elapse after a period of time depending on the regularity of the returns.
Deadline for Covid-19 sick pay
The UK Government has updated its guidance
for claims made under the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme.
Employers can only claim back statutory sick pay paid to employees due to
Covid-19 who were off work on or before 30 September 2021.
The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate
Scheme will repay employers the Statutory Sick Pay paid to current or former
employees. You must submit or amend claims on or before 31 December 2021.
UK Stickers have now replaced GB stickers
The guidance on what UK goods vehicle
operators need to do to carry out international road haulage has changed to
refer to the change from GB stickers to UK stickers as UK stickers have now
replaced GB stickers.
There will be new rules for transporting
goods to or through Europe from 2022. These will affect you if you use vans or
heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
Tips and Gratuities should go to staff not
the employer
The Government is to make it illegal for
companies not to pass on tips to their employees. This comes after some major
restaurant chains were accused of keeping 10% of tips given to staff.
The Department for Business Energy and
Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have announced that new legislation, to be
introduced within a year, would help about two million people in the
hospitality industry. An updated consultation response was published on 24
September:
The current rules for taxing tips,
gratuities and service charges are complex and, whilst all tips are taxable,
national insurance does not currently apply where the payment is given directly
to the staff member.
For current HMRC guidance on the taxation of
tips, gratuities and service charges:
Government seeks views on contingency
proposals for mandatory Covid-19 certification
A policy proposal has been published for
mandatory vaccine certification as a contingency measure under the government’s
Autumn and Winter Plan.
The government states it remains confident
‘Plan A’ will prevent the NHS from facing unsustainable pressure and
certification will not be required but mandatory vaccine-only certification
could potentially be introduced in certain settings as part of ‘Plan B’.
The proposal for mandatory COVID certification
in a Plan B scenario fulfils the commitment, set out in the Autumn and Winter
Plan, to provide organisations with more detail about the proposed
certification regime that would be introduced as part of Plan B.
The government invites feedback on these
proposals. A call for evidence runs until 11 October.
Gift Aid Awareness Day 2021
Gift Aid is a tax relief for individuals
which enables them to give the income tax or capital gains tax that they pay
directly to a charity on top of their donation. In effect it adds 25p for every
£1 donated to a charity. Gift Aid is an important tax relief worth £1.3 billion
to the charity sector. This year’s Gift Aid Awareness Day is taking place on
Thursday 7 October 2021. Charity Finance Group (CFG) are asking UK-based
charities, small, medium and large, to spread the “#TickTheBox” message far and
wide on 7 October 2021. CFG have produced a 2021 campaign pack for use, which
includes logos, posters, infographics and a banner.
Allergen Labelling Changes For Prepacked For
Direct Sale (PPDS) Food
On 1 October 2021, the law on allergen
labelling for pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) foods changed. This means that
any food business selling PPDS foods must include full ingredients on the
product label with allergenic ingredients emphasised within that list.
To help support food businesses, the Food
Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a PPDS Hub featuring useful
information including new labelling guidance for PPDS foods and guides that
will be helpful to specific sectors including bakery, butchers, fast food and
takeaways, mobile sellers, restaurants, cafes and pubs, and schools. The guides
give practical information on PPDS and how these changes could impact a food
business.
Industrial Energy Transformation Fund Phase
2 Autumn 2021
IETF Phase 2 provides grant funding for
feasibility and engineering studies, industrial energy efficiency and deep
decarbonisation projects.
The Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has opened the new Industrial Energy Transformation
Fund (IETF) Phase 2: Autumn 2021 competition window.
Businesses in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland can bid for a share of up to £60 million in grant funding through the
new competition window, which is open for applications until 6 December 2021.
Pump priming grants for Horizon Europe
proposals
Grants of up to £5,000 are now available to
help UK businesses collaborate with partners in other countries to develop bids
for Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe.
The funding, provided by the UK’s Department
for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, aims to develop collaborative
activity between UK and EU/associated countries’ entities. This activity should
focus on Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe, which is Global Challenges and European
Industrial Competitiveness.
The purpose of this call is not to implement
the proposed projects that will be submitted to Horizon Europe, but to give the
UK-based partners the resources needed to collaborate with EU organisations and
stakeholders to further develop the idea and the market opportunities.
The funding can be used in a variety of
ways, including feasibility studies, application advice and training,
partnership building, and dedicated time to take forward an application.
Proposals are welcome:
The first wave of this call closes for
submissions on 13 October 2021 at 17:00.
Local authority
powers to impose restrictions: Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions)
(England) (No 3) Regulations 2020
The regulations
grant powers to local authorities to make directions which respond to a serious
and imminent threat to public health. Any direction must be necessary and
proportionate in order to manage the transmission of coronavirus in the local
authority’s area. The regulations contain powers for local authorities to give
directions which:
This guidance seeks
to provide clarity to local authorities on how to exercise the powers in the
regulations and to support those impacted by any direction made under them.
Red, amber,
green lists: check the rules for travel to England from abroad change today
From 4 October
2021, the rules for international travel to England will change from the red,
amber, green traffic light system to a single red list of countries and
simplified travel measures for arrivals from the rest of the world. The rules
for travel from countries and territories not on the red list will depend on
your vaccination status.
From 4 October, you
will qualify as fully vaccinated if you are vaccinated either:
Formulations of the
4 listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and
Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines. You must have had a complete
course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England.
Where 2 doses of a vaccine are required for a full course, you will be able to:
Private
providers of coronavirus (COVID-19) testing
The UK government
has updated the lists of and information about private providers who have
self-declared that they meet the government’s minimum standards for the type of
commercial COVID-19 testing service they offer.
Click
here for more details about the C19
resources and updates available to 2020 Members.