700 pages of business simplification..., by Richard Aitken-Davies
It's going to be a busy spring for businesses, with a raft of new legislation affecting everything from tax to the way you run your company
For my first column for thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk I am keen to focus on the issues that local businesses have to look forward to as we approach Spring. As well as the much publicised changes they have to deal with resulting from the recent budget, they need to be aware of the staggered introduction of the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 which continues apace. Indeed, April saw the onset of some of the Act’s key provisions.
Perhaps ironically the Act – aimed at revising, simplifying and consolidating the UK’s company law – weighed in as the longest Act ever passed by Parliament with 1,300 clauses, and nearly 700 pages; so much for simplification.
From April 6 2008 private companies will no longer need to have a company secretary and the deadline for private companies to file their annual accounts and reports is being decreased from 10 months to nine months.
Also from April, properties that have been empty for three months will be liable for their entire business rates bill. Industrial and warehouse properties will be exempt for six months instead of three. Previously the owners of empty properties were only liable for half of the rates bill. The goal of this policy change is to provide an incentive for owners of business properties to keep shops units full, and even if it does not meet this goal it will at least raise needed money for the exchequer.
Employers will have a duty to protect the hearing of their employees and any freelancers working within their premises. Interestingly, this leads us to the perverse situation of DJs and musicians having to be protected from their own songs, but no protection for the patrons.
The next big change will be the amendments to Capital Gains Tax. This was one of the most controversial measures announced in the pre-budget report. And rightly so, the original changes would have increased, by 80%, the amount of tax paid by entrepreneurs when they sold their business.
Effective lobbying by industry, supported by ACCA, has led to a slightly better scheme. Entrepreneurs will now be subject to a 10% tax rate on the first million of any capital gains made from the selling of their businesses during their lifetime. An improvement, to be sure, but the policy remains a tax-raising one, generating £700 million per year.
Details of business advice services available from chartered certified accountants on issues such as these are available on www.accaglobal.com
Publication date: 20/05/2008 12:34:24
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