Hot topics
As the credit crunch bites and businesses tighten their corporate belts,
companies are likely to find that cash becomes increasingly difficult to
manage.
For many businesses, the pressure of the current climate has challenged IT
functions to demonstrate savings and make cash readily available.
Predicting suitable stock levels is the key concern for local retailers
ahead of the crucial Christmas shopping period.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced the Pre-Budget Report will
take place on 24 November at 3.30pm. Barry Marshall, UK head of tax at
PwC comments on how this opportunity must be used to provide guidance and
reassurance.
A number of recent events such as flooding in Yorkshire, Humberside and
Morpeth, July 7 bombings and tropical storms in the USA have highlighted the
varied risks to which organisations are exposed.
Research & development tax reliefs offer an attractive cash benefit to
companies and the rate of relief has just gone up.
Given the most volatile and uncertain conditions in living memory,
leadership and management face challenges that lie at the very heart of
competitiveness and the future of their business.
For businesses in our region, the disruption caused by last summer’s floods
was for some merely an inconvenience, while for others; they were nothing short
of a catastrophe.
Are you responsible for the management of international assignees in the UK?
If you are, you need to act now to plan for the remittance basis of taxation
which was enacted on 21 July 2008, or risk paying more tax later.
Following new tax legislation that received Royal Assent in July (but
effective 6 April 2008), long term UK residents with a non domiciled status
must decide whether to be taxed on worldwide income and gains or pay a £30,000
charge and use the remittance basis.
If you have paid CGT at a rate higher than 18% on chargeable gains arising
over the past three years, it may be possible to claim a repayment from
HMRC.
The current economic climate of restricted credit and gloomy prospects for
growth makes assessing the value and debt capacity of targets ever more
critical in M&A transactions.
The Government’s support of enterprise research and development has been
bolstered recently with a widening of who is eligible for maximum relief and an
increase in what can be claimed across small and large organisations. Now that
the 31 March 2008 deadline for filing R&D claims for expenses up to 31
March 2006 has expired, efforts should be directed towards maximizing future
claims in light of the new changes.
Announcements in this year’s Budget represent a major change in the way that
HMRC will do business with its ‘customers’.
How can a business manage its costs effectively if it lacks an understanding
of what it should be paying for resources?
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