Newsletter: 10 July 2020

Rishi's 'British Bounce Back' Summer Economic Update

A bit of a strange one really - I won't go into all of the details as you can access them here

One notable announcement was a new Coronavirus Jobs Bonus of £1,000 for employers of furloughed workers that remain employed by 31 January 2021. I can't help but think that this looks a little off-target as presumably many of those workers would have remained employed regardless?

Even the HMRC boss Jim Harra seems unconvinced:

Two schemes unveiled by UK govt to stem coronavirus job losses may not be value for money for taxpayers, says HMRC CEO - £1,000 bonus to retain furloughed staff and £10 eat-out voucher.
Will fill coffers of corporations and executive pay.https://t.co/b7ecSMxzZf

— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) July 10, 2020

Other notable announcements were the increase in the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) nil rate to £500,000 (from £125,000) until 31 March 2021 plus the temporary VAT reduction to 5% for businesses in the hospitality sector.

I'll give Rishi kudos for trying new things to stimulate the economy - plus his PR team for coming up with catchy titles for everything!

Although:

I fear that the next proper Budget Statement will be a whole different affair with attempts to rake back the cash handouts via tax rises... Enjoy it while you can!

Some posts from this week's archive:

Impact of Dividend v Salary on R&D Tax Credits for a Director

A common problem for R&D tax credit claims is where a director shareholder (who is involved in the R&D work) has structured their remuneration as a low salary and the remainder as dividends.

IP Tax SolutionsSteve Livingston

How do you claim R&D tax credits?

The R&D tax credit incentive is claimed via your company tax return but it is important that you also include the supporting documentation that HMRC expect to see...

IP Tax SolutionsSteve Livingston

Video Games Tax Relief or R&D Tax Credits - Which can I claim?

Video Games Development companies can benefit from either the Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) or the R&D tax credit - but the decision which to choose is not quite so straightforward...

IP Tax SolutionsSteve Livingston

Fed up with boring Zoom calls?

This new video streaming platform could add some pazazz to your next Zoom call: