Would you believe that ‘The Bank of Mum and Dad’ lent more than £5.3bn to home buyers last year, making it the UK’s tenth largest lender. Mike Ellis delves a little deeper. With low or no interest rates, personal service and long or infinite repayment periods, it’s little wonder that the ‘Bank of Mum and...

‘Making Tax Digital’ is the next big thing to affect taxpayers and while it’s some way off yet HMRC is slowly making changes in preparation for it, Kevin Crowford takes a closer look. For Companies The latest moves, which HMRC announced in September 2016 include the withdrawal of tax return confirmations for companies. No more paper From...

Reforms to IR35 will be a major blow to public sector contractors, Alister Biggar takes a closer look. Reforms to IR35 in the public sector are set to go ahead with no delay, the Chancellor has confirmed in his Autumn Statement. This means that those who engage with contractors will assume responsibility for confirming contractor...

The tax relief that landlords of residential properties get is going to be restricted to the basic rate of Income Tax from April 2017, Kenny Logan investigates. These changes will undoubtedly affect you if you let residential properties as an individual, or in a partnership or a trust and will affect how you receive relief...

Kevin Ferguson looks at whether it is possible to reclaim VAT on the purchase of a car. The issue of VAT on cars is something that we get asked about on a regular basis, in particular ‘VAT Qualifying Cars’. The phrase ‘VAT Qualifying Car’ is more relevant to the motor trade than to the public...

By Joanne Gibson Firstly, let’s give FRSSE its full name of The UK Financial Reporting Standards for Smaller Entities! As the name would suggest, FRSSE is restricted to small companies or small groups, as defined by the Companies Act 2006 and prescribes the basis for them preparing and presenting their financial statements. Its use is...

John Craig helps you to get ready with some practical advice and tips that will hopefully speed the process up for you. Something that we are asked about on almost a daily basis by clients is to help them to provide the variety of information that mortgage providers are now asking for. It does seem...

Something that we get asked a lot about is whether it is better to lease or buy a vehicle and indeed whether it is better to do this personally or through a business? Kenny Logan is in the driving seat on this one. With new vehicle prices continually rising and the value of used vehicles...

This tax relief has been extended and means that you may be able to pay less Capital Gains Tax when you sell or ‘dispose of’ all or part of your business. Entrepreneurs’ Relief means that you’ll pay tax at 10% on all gains on qualifying assets providing that certain conditions are met. Julie Robertson takes...

It is becoming increasingly common for individuals to claim that their hobby is actually a taxable trade, Kenneth Logan investigates. There are many people who have hobbies which generate money for them, such as buying and selling items on eBay or at car boot sales. But what you might find surprising is that it is...