The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has delayed the introduction of a scheme under which it would recover its costs from businesses that break health and safety laws. The HSE said on 15 March that the Fee for Intervention (FFI) cost recovery scheme would not now start in April 2012, as originally planned. It said… Read more…

Employers are being urged to plan ahead for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee holiday in June. To mark the occasion, the last bank holiday in May has been moved to Monday, 4 June 2012 and there will be an extra bank holiday on Tuesday, 5 June. Now Acas has reminded employers to plan ahead to avoid… Read more…

The government has announced that automatic pension enrolment rates are to be aligned with tax and national insurance thresholds, to streamline administration for businesses. In October, the largest employers will be the first to start automatically enrolling employees into qualifying workplace pension schemes and making contributions to the schemes, to which employees who opt to… Read more…

A new government report says that British businesses will benefit from around £4 million in cuts in regulation between January and June 2012. The findings were contained in the Third Statement of New Regulation, published on 28 February, which looked at the success of the government’s One-in, One-out rule. It also found that the number… Read more…

Almost one million taxpayers will receive a penalty for filing their tax return late, but the figure has fallen substantially on last year. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced on 20 February that it would be issuing 850,000 penalties for late returns over the next fortnight, 550,000 fewer than the same time last year. People… Read more…

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is to launch 30 new taskforces to crack down on tax dodgers in 2012-13. The taskforces will target specific business sectors in specific locations where there is evidence of tax evasion, with likely targets including: the clothing industry, including imports and wholesale the motor trade indoor and outdoor markets. The… Read more…

Four new lenders have been accredited to offer loans to small businesses under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme, the government has announced. The EFG provides small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that lack the collateral or credit history to secure a normal bank loan. The four new lenders, announced on 16 February, are: Metro Bank… Read more…

Family business owners have been reassured that the government has no plans to remove a valuable inheritance tax relief. A recent report by the London School of Economics, which had called for the removal of business property relief (BPR) for inheritance tax, prompted the Institute for Family Business (IFB) to meet Exchequer Secretary David Gauke.… Read more…

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has announced a fresh approach to its business records checks (BRC) programme in 2012, following a review of a pilot for the scheme. The review, which involved trade and professional bodies’ representatives, found that it was effective in improving record-keeping practices in smaller businesses but recommended that the checks were… Read more…

An extra £1 billion has been set aside by the government to help businesses to grow and create new jobs. The funding, part of the Regional Growth Fund, takes the total fund to £2.4 billion. It will be available to businesses and public/private partnerships seeking to create new jobs and boost their local economies. Deputy… Read more…