Month: June 2022

If your business processes materials or assembles goods for sale it will need to keep a stock of items to ensure that future sales can be met.

Ideally, stock levels should be kept to a minimum such that hard won cash reserves are not tied up unnecessarily. You will need to manage stocks to cover current production needs and consider supply issues – how long will it take to replace stock.

Innovation can throw a spanner in the best laid stock management plans. You may be left with redundant stock.

When prices are falling – in deflationary times – you will not want to hold excess stocks that could be replaced by lower cost items.

Alternatively, when prices are rising – in inflationary times – the opposite applies. You might benefit from investing in increasing stocks if prices for materials are rising, subject to redundancy issues. For example, if lower cost alternatives enter the market, you may be left with redundant stock or suffer reductions in your profit margins.

Maintaining stock levels is a constant play-off between working capital and profitability. Unfortunately, external factors – currently, inflation and supply delays – are playing havoc with stock management.

If your business is required to hold significant levels of stock and you are unsure how best to maximise the effective use of resources, please call. We can help you consider your options.

If you pay for the fuel used in your company car you are entitled to recover the cost of the fuel – for business journeys – based on agreed Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs), from your employer.

If the agreement with your employer is that you pay for all the fuel costs and that none can be recovered from the employer, then you can claim for the recorded business miles at agreed AFR rates as an expense claim on your tax return or by calling HMRC.

The AFRs are updated quarterly to reflect changes in fuel prices. The rates from 1 March 2022 are:

You can use the previous rates for up to 1 month from the date the new rates apply:

Petrol

• 1400cc or less 13p per mile
• 1401cc to 2000cc 15p per mile
• Over 2000cc 22p per mile

LPR

• 1400cc or less 8p per mile
• 1401cc to 2000cc 10p per mile
• Over 2000cc 15p per mile

Diesel

• 1600cc or less 11p per mile
• 1601cc to 2000cc 13p per mile
• Over 2000cc 16p per mile

These AFRs can also be used to calculate the value of private fuel costs if your employer does pay for your private fuel. It may be possible to reimburse your employer and avoid the Car Fuel Benefit charge.

1 June 2022 – Due date for corporation tax due for the year ended 31 August 2021.

19 June 2022 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 June 2022. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 June 2022).

19 June 2022 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 June 2022.

19 June 2022 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 June 2022 is payable by today.

1 July 2022 – Due date for corporation tax due for the year ended 30 September 2021.

6 July 2022 – Complete and submit forms P11D return of benefits and expenses and P11D(b) return of Class 1A NICs.

19 July 2022 – Pay Class 1A NICs (by the 22 July 2022 if paid electronically).

19 July 2022 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 July 2022. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 July 2022).

19 July 2022 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 July 2022.

19 July 2022 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 July 2022 is payable by today.

Long-awaited government support to help consumers meet the unprecedented increases in energy costs was announced by the Chancellor this week.

His measures have been widely appreciated, but will he need to return with more largesse to meet even more prices increases in oil, gas and electricity prices in the autumn?

What has he offered consumers?

A brief summary of the measures announced are:

• A doubling of the previously announced Energy Bills Support Scheme to £400. Energy suppliers will deliver this support over a six-month period starting October 2022. Recognising consumer concerns, this support will no longer be recovered (treated as a loan) but will be provided as a non-repayable grant.
• A £650 one-off cost of living payment for those on means tested benefits. This will be paid by the DWP in two instalments, the first in July 2022 the second in the autumn.
• A one-off £300 additional payment to pensioners paid on top of their Winter Fuel Payment.
• A one-off £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.
• Additional £500m of funding to the Household Support Fund. This funding will be made available to Local Authorities to target support to those in need to meet rising food, energy and water bills.

How will this be paid for?

The overall cost of the above support initiatives is estimated to be £15bn. £5bn of this will be raised by a short-term Energy Profits Levy of 25% on the oil and gas industry. The electricity generation sector will also be asked to contribute but their position will not be disclosed until later this year.

No mention was made by the Chancellor of how the other £10bn will be funded.

Tax-free

The notes released by government make it clear that the grants offered in this package will not be taxed. Additionally, the means-tested cost of living payment of £650 will not count towards the benefit cap and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.

Too little, too late?

For many working families already stretched by rising prices, there is little in the Chancellor’s announcements that will ease their current cash flow problems as the majority of the assistance announced will commence in the autumn.

It remains uncertain if the Chancellor will need to return to Parliament in short measure to extend his assistance to this wider community.