The report, issued by thinktank, The Resolution Foundation, predicted the freeze would lead to the country’s largest tax rise in 50 years.

This comes after the Government pledged no rise in National Insurance or income tax thresholds until 2028, two years longer than originally planned, in the 2022/23 financial year.

Consumers feeling the impact

With no change in personal tax thresholds, wages continue to rise in line with steep inflation. As many workers secure pay rises to mitigate the growing cost of living, the freeze has seen many people pulled into higher tax brackets.

Peter McMahon, Tax Partner at Grunberg & Co, commented on the impact on individuals and small businesses: “The reality is that many workers are now feeling the pinch due to this freeze, with many middle-earners, who previously on paid the basic rate of tax or perhaps the higher rate now being dragged into higher bands as their wages rise.

“in turn, Small and medium businesses are feeling the pinch from these higher wages and operations costs. In these times, we are looking to minimise the risk of higher taxes borne by businesses and individuals, but the tax freeze has made this more challenging.”

Mitigating loss of income

In practice, the threshold freeze, combined with the increased cost of living, represents a loss of net income for taxpayers. The figure put forward by The Resolution Foundation reveals an urgent need for individuals to seek tax advice.

Peter continued: “There are a number of ways that individuals can make themselves more tax efficient. Of course, we recommend that people and businesses seek professional advice, but we recognise that this isn’t always financially viable.

“The most effective way is to make pension contributions, particularly given the vast amount of people not saving enough for retirement. Gift Aid donations are another option, especially in cases where income fluctuates year on year and careful planning can result in significant savings.

“Business owners should be looking at alternative ways of saving and ensuring that they receive the support they’re entitled to – whether that be grant funding, tax benefits or assistance in finding and retaining staff.

“This will help protect the business’s financial health and ensure it continues to thrive in these times.”

As for hope for change in the future, Peter added: “With the general election and everything else that is going on the tax freeze needs to be readdressed, especially with inflation soaring as it has done.

“This is, of course, a double-edged sword with the need for the tax take to be where it should be and for the Government to continue to pay down borrowing in light of the ongoing payments required as a result of COVID lockdown support and subsequent challenging economic conditions.”

For advice on tax and financial planning, please contact our expert team today.

The post Cost of tax threshold freeze squeezing middle-earners hardest, says Grunberg & Co appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

However, with the right knowledge and resources, obtaining financial support for your cause can be made easier.

Today’s blog will help you understand the various grant and funding opportunities available, along with insights on eligibility, application processes and tips for increasing the likelihood of success.

Understanding your funding needs and objectives

To begin your search for grants and funding, it is essential to have a clear grasp of your non-profit’s needs and objectives.

Outline your project’s goals, target audience, expected outcomes and projected budget. This information will be instrumental in determining which grants and funding sources are most appropriate for your organisation.

Exploring potential funding sources

With your funding needs and objectives in mind, start researching potential funding sources. Some popular types of funding sources for non-profits include:

• Government grants – Local and central government bodies provide grants for various causes, such as community development, green initiatives and education.
• Foundations and trusts – Numerous charitable foundations and trusts offer grants to non-profits for specific projects or operational costs.
• Corporate sponsorship – Some companies provide funding or in-kind support to non-profits in exchange for visibility and brand association.
• Lottery funding – The National Lottery Community Fund distributes millions of pounds each year to non-profits for community projects.

Keep in mind that each funding source will have its own eligibility criteria, funding priorities and application processes. Be sure to explore these factors thoroughly before moving forward with an application.

Meeting eligibility criteria

As you identify potential funding sources, carefully review their eligibility criteria to ensure that your non-profit organisation and project meet the requirements set by each funder.

Typical criteria may include:

• Organisational structure – Some funders require applicants to be registered charities or have specific legal structures.
• Geographic location – Many funders restrict their grants to projects or organisations based in particular regions of the country.
• Thematic focus – Funding sources often have specific areas of interest, such as health, education or the environment.

Crafting a compelling application

Once you’ve identified suitable funding sources, prepare a strong application by following the guidelines provided by each funder, including format, word count and submission deadlines.

Be sure to clearly articulate your project objectives, target audience and expected outcomes.

Provide a detailed budget, including a breakdown of costs and justifications for each expense. Include any supporting materials, such as letters of support, project plans or examples of past successes.

Submitting your application and following up

After submitting your application, follow up with the funding source.

Keep track of submission dates, decision timelines and any additional information that may be requested.

Maintain open lines of communication with funders and be prepared to provide further details or clarifications about your application as needed.

Obtaining grants and funding for your non-profit can be a challenging but rewarding endeavour.

By understanding your organisation’s needs and objectives, researching potential funding sources and preparing compelling applications, you can improve your chances of securing the financial support needed to advance your mission.

Persistence and patience are key – keep refining your approach and don’t be discouraged by initial rejections.

Are you looking for funding advice for your non-profit? Get in touch today for more information.

The post Grants and funding for non-profit organisations: What do you need to know? appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

The London accountancy firm said that many business owners should be reassessing their investment plans and business strategy in response to the latest fiscal speech.

As part of a plan to help businesses offset the forthcoming rise in Corporation Tax, the Government will introduce ‘full expensing’ that will allow companies to offset 100 per cent of their UK investments in plant and machinery against their profits.

Nimesh Patel, Tax Partner at Grunberg & Co, said: “The ability to offset investment costs will provide a boost to businesses that were anticipating a financial hit from forthcoming rises in Corporation Tax.

“It is a welcome boost for those looking to make big ticket purchases to enhance their business infrastructure.”

R&D-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will also be able to claim £27 from HMRC for every £100 spent on research and development if they are loss-making.

This measure is a response to upcoming reforms to R&D tax rules, which will see rates of tax reliefs and credits reduced for many SMEs from April 2023.

To help business owners and workers save for later life, the Chancellor also announced new rules for tax on pensions.

The previous Lifetime Allowance of £1.07 million will be abolished from April 2023 and the amount that an individual can save into their personal pension each year, known as the Pension Annual Allowance, will increase from a maximum of £40,000 to £60,000 at the same time. The Pension Annual Allowance is dependent upon the individual’s income level.

Nimesh said: “The scrapping of the lifetime cap on pension contributions is beneficial for high earners and those who might have considered retiring earlier than they would like due to the previous restrictions.

“The rise of the Pensions Annual Allowance allows individuals to boost their pension pot significantly while reducing the amount of tax they pay on earnings.”

There was also good news for employers and employees with regard to childcare. Free childcare provision will be extended to give working parents 30 hours a week free childcare to all children aged from nine months to three years old by September 2025.

“This new childcare provision is welcome news for both employers and employees to allow parents to extend their working hours or indeed make the choice to return to work should they so wish,” added Nimesh.

There was also news for motorists with the announcement that Fuel Duty had been frozen and that the 5p cut in fuel duty has been extended by another year.

To find out more about Grunberg & Co’s tax, accounting and business advisory services, please contact us.

The post Business owners and high earners need to review tax planning after Spring Budget appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

Depending on the amount and type of work, many will utilise a spare room like a bedroom, or even create a garden office.

It may be that a more permanent structure could be added to the house, but that proportion of the structure could be subject to Capital Gains Tax when the property is sold.

There are various provisions you can apply for when working from home, like claiming for the equipment such as computer and associated equipment like printer, ink, paper etc.

It may also apply to home telephone lines and internet access, but only in circumstances where there is a clear business case for this.

You may be able to claim a proportion of your costs for things like:

• Heating
• Electricity
• Council Tax
• Mortgage interest or rent

You’ll need to find a reasonable method of dividing your costs, for example by the number of rooms you use for business or the amount of time you spend working from home.

Two further conditions need to be met for exemptions to apply:

1. The provision must not be used significantly for private purposes
2. The provision must be provided solely for the person to be able to carry out their duties and must not belong to one of the following excluded categories:

• Vehicles, boats and aircraft
• Any construction, extension or alteration of the employee’s living accommodation, such as the installation of a loft conversion office space or a garden office.

Building may be eligible for tax relief

If your business builds an office in a residential garden space owned by an employee or director it may not be eligible for capital allowances, such as the Structure & Building Allowance.

However, it might be possible to reclaim some of the cost of installation for utilities, such as electrical wiring, plumbing or thermal insulations, via the Plant & Machinery Allowance.

Liability for Capital Gains Tax

If the garden office is fixed down, then it forms part of your property. This may create Capital Gains liability when you come to sell the home.

If you intend to use your garden office for work and personal use, this may constitute a taxable benefit in kind and you would need to declare this on your personal tax return.

There is the possibility that the local council could assess the building for business.

When dealing with issues such as the above, it’s imperative to seek advice from professionals.

For help and advice on this complex issue, contact our team today.

The post How to make the most of using your home as an office appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

If you fail to update your Child Benefit records with the correct information, the Child Benefit will automatically stop, so it’s important to check that you have updated anything necessary.

HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive has said that the quickest way to notify HMRC is online via your tax account, or search on gov.uk for more information or options to contact someone.

Child Benefit is currently worth £21.80 per week for a first child, and then a further £14.45 for each additional child. This can provide vital financial support for families.

However, if parents or carers have an income of more £50,000 and receive Child Benefit, they will need to pay the High-Income Child Benefit Charge.

If an individual’s income is more than £60,000, the tax charge will be equivalent to the total amount of the Child Benefit, so it is important to stay informed on this and consider your options.

624,000 taxpayers have opted out of Child Benefits due to this higher rate tax charge.

Parents or carers are eligible for Child Benefit if they are responsible for a child under 16, or under 20 if they are in full-time non-advanced education. This includes A-levels, Scottish Highers and NVQs.

You can see the full list of approved courses and training schemes online at gov.uk.

If you have an income of £50,000 or more and need advice on whether to opt out, contact us today.

The post Have you updated your post-16 Child Benefit claim? Here’s everything you need to know appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

The latest interest rate rise in August saw a full half percentage point increase.

Increased payments will be a worry for those with a mortgage or loan, but for savers, it means an increase in their investment as savings rates raise.

It also presents a challenge and can tip savers into the bracket where they have to start paying tax on their interest.

The Personal Savings Allowance (PSA) allows savers to earn up to £1,000 of interest and not have to pay tax on it, depending on their Income Tax band. This reduces to £500 at the higher rate and disappears for the additional rate.

For those with a joint account, interest will be split equally between the account holders. According to HMRC, interest on savings covers:

• Savings and credit union accounts
• Bank and building society accounts
• Unit trusts, investment trusts and open-ended investment companies
• Peer-to-peer lending
• Trust funds
• Payment protection insurance (PPI)
• Government or company bonds
• Life annuity payments
• Some life insurance contracts

The PSA was introduced in April 2016 and means any savings earned won’t be taxed up to a certain limit, but the downside is that in the six years since its introduction, the figure has remained at £1,000.

However, before reaching the £1,000 PSA limit, you would need tens of thousands of pounds in the savings accounts, at current interest rates. Even with some of the higher paying accounts.

A basic tax rate saver would need to have around £30,000 in an account paying 3.35 per cent before coming close to breaching the PSA limit. It is estimated that around 95 per cent of savers don’t pay any tax on their savings interest due to the PSA.

Need help and advice on taxation matters? Contact our team today.

The post Interest rate rises could push savers into taxation bracket appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

Kamila Sobczak-Mlynska has joined the practice as a new Company Secretarial Assistant Manager with more than 15 years of experience acting as a company secretary.

She will assist the firm’s clients with corporate governance and compliance matters, supporting the firm’s existing experts to meet the demand for this integral work.

Her role is highly technical and focuses on her core skills, which include company incorporations and restructuring, creation of new classes of shares, demergers, reduction of share capital, share buybacks, re-designations and variation of share rights.

Speaking about her appointment, Kamila said: “I am excited to be joining such a forward-thinking and well-respected firm, which has a great vision for the high-quality services that it delivers

“I hope my expertise and passion for company secretarial services will encourage even more businesses to turn to the firm for support and advice.”

Grunberg & Co’s Managing Partner, Robert Bean, said: “Kamila is a great addition to our team and will help to bolster our expertise in this technical area to meet the demand for these important services. We can’t wait to see what she achieves in this new role.”

Need help with company secretarial compliance? Please click here.

The post Grunberg & Co strengthen company secretarial services with new appointment appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

Almost every trust, regardless of its size or type, will need to use HMRC’s Trust Registration Service (TRS), including non-taxable trusts by 1 September 2022.

The scheme was originally launched in 2017 and was limited to only certain taxable trusts who were required to register where they incurred a specific tax liability in the tax year.

Now, the TRS is being extended to all express trusts save for a limited number of exempt categories.

This means non-tax paying trusts will now need to register and provide information such as the details of trustees, beneficiaries and any UK land or property held by the trust.

Which type of trusts now need to register?

From 1 September 2021, the TRS is now open for non-taxable trust registrations. Many trusts will now need to be registered and this includes trusts set up years ago, which may have been forgotten about but still exist.

According to HMRC this includes:

• All UK express trusts, unless they are specifically excluded;
• Non-UK express trusts that acquire land or property in the UK; or
• Have at least one trustee resident in the UK and enter into a ‘business relationship’ within the UK.

How to register a trust

Before a trust can be registered by a trustee, they need to have or already hold, an Organisation Government Gateway user ID and password.

Trustees should register their trust online by following HMRC’s guidance.

HMRC recommends that these trustees and their agents get to grips with the TRS system and gather the information required to register well in advance of the deadline.

Failure to register on time could lead to action being taken against a trustee, including potential penalties.

Find out more about Grunberg & Co’s private client and probate services here.

The post Trust Registration Service: Be prepared for the deadline appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

The scheme is not the preserve of scientists working in labs or inventors putting the finishing touches to their latest creation.

Simply, the scheme rewards businesses who invest in innovation. They help firms to afford risk-taking development schemes, allowing them to employ more staff, accelerate their development and ultimately grow and succeed, while boosting the UK economy.

What are R&D tax credits?

Any business that spends money on eligible research and development expenditure can make a R&D tax credit claim.

When claiming, you can receive the tax credit in the form of a cash payment or as a reduction in Corporation Tax, depending on the circumstances of your claim.

For businesses making their first claim, they can claim R&D tax relief for the last two accounting periods.

Credits are calculated based on the R&D spend of a business.

What qualifies as R&D?

The criteria are very broad and covers businesses of all sizes working in all sectors.

Qualifying work can be broadly defined as the creation of a new product, process or service or work to change or modify an existing product, process or service.

All that applicants have to prove is that their project:

• Looked for an advance in science and technology
• Overcame uncertainty or tried to
• Would not be easily worked out by a professional in the field.

Your project must aim to create an advance in the overall field, not just for your business, which means that claims cannot be made for an existing technology that has been used for the first time in your sector.

What costs qualify?

Staff costs, such as salary and National Insurance contributions, along with costs for heating and materials qualify. Software and clinical trial costs may also be eligible.

What are the R&D tax credit rates?

SMEs can claim up to 33p for every £1 spent on R&D activities via the SME scheme. This is because it allows firms to deduct an extra 130 per cent of their qualifying costs from their yearly profit, as well as the normal 100 per cent deduction, to make a total 230 per cent deduction or, where the company is loss making, claim a cash tax credit that is worth up to 14.5 per cent of the surrenderable loss.

This scheme is only available where a company has:

• less than 500 staff
• a turnover of under 100 million euros or a balance sheet total under 86 million euros

Meanwhile, large companies are able to claim up to 13p for every £1 spent on R&D via the Research and Development Expenditure Credit, which allows firms to deduct 13 per cent of their qualifying R&D expenditure from their profits. SMEs can also apply for this scheme, where they have been subcontracted via a large business

Do you want advice to help your business fulfil its full potential? Contact our team of experts to find out how research and development tax planning can help you take your business to the next level.

The post Embrace innovation with Research and Development tax credits appeared first on Grunberg & Co.

After navigating the immediate steps that must be taken after the death of a loved one, it is time to consider how the estate will be administered.

To move forward with this, it is necessary to locate the Will (if there is one) to divide the estate in line with the deceased’s wishes.

The Will usually names an Executor to handle the duty of administrating the estate. This could be a sole Executor, or multiple people may have been named to carry out the duties jointly.

At this stage, it is important to check the validity of the Will which includes ensuring that the Will is the latest version and is in writing. The Will should be signed and dated by the person who made it, as well as being witnessed by at least two adults (these witnesses should not be beneficiaries).

If there is not a Will in place, the estate can be divided by an individual who takes on the role of Administrator, who is often next of kin.

Ahead of obtaining the relevant approval to administer the estate, it is necessary to value the estate, which includes valuing all assets (including property, savings, and possessions), along with any debts that need to be paid.

Gifts given within seven years of the individual’s death should also be accounted for in the valuation process.

If an Administrator has been selected, they will need to apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration to continue with the process of administering the estate.

Executors must apply for a Grant of Probate if the value of the estate exceeds £5,000.

Find out more about Grunberg & Co’s private client and probate services here.

The post Do you need a Will to administer an estate? appeared first on Grunberg & Co.