TFMC Blogs

George Osborne has delivered his seventh Budget, the first Conservative budget in 19 years. The Chancellor said; "This is a budget that sets out a plan for Britain for the next five years to keep moving us from a low wage, high tax, high welfare economy; to the higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare country we intend to create."

For many business owners the bookkeeping responsibility is about as exciting as going to the dentist or watching paint dry. This is because the bookkeeping function is often seen as an onerous task but one which has to be done and it normally goes to the bottom of the “To Do” list. The Financial Management Centre encourages business owners to focus on what they do best and more importantly enjoy, which is running and growing their business.

If you are owed money by a customer who’s gone out of business you may wish to learn your rights regarding repayment. The law in this area is governed by section 328 of the Insolvency Act 1986 setting out an ‘order of priority for creditors’. This creates a pecking order in terms of who gets paid first and who gets paid last (if at all).

Small-and-medium sized businesses in Brighton needing help with their financial management now have a new solution as The Financial Management Centre opens a new office.

During 2014 over 800,000 people received a late submission penalty. This was mostly due to a new requirement meaning parents earning between £50,000 and £60,000 a year and claiming child benefit must file a tax return.

If a VAT registered business purchases road fuel for business use, but there is also private use an adjustment is required to account for VAT claimed on the private usage of the fuel. This is done by using VAT fuel scale charges to add back a fixed sum as determined by HM Revenue & Customs. As with car and fuel benefit the CO2 band is used to calculate the scale charge.

Find out how long it would take you to earn the same amount as some of Britain's richest people saw their fortunes grow by last year. We used figures published in the Sunday Times Rich List 2015 to come up with our fun calculator.

Rules concerning company car taxation are complicated and can be difficult to understand. Company Directors and employees earning more than £8,500 per year must pay tax on their personal usage of company vehicles by way of Benefit In Kind (BIK) taxation.

By now HMRC will have sent you a reminder to file your 2014-2015 tax return. Since you have until 31st January 2016 to file your return, it is all too easy to put it off until later in the year. After all you’re busy running your business and filing your tax return is not a priority.

For the next six issues, the TFMC offices in Sussex will be giving advice to local small businesses.