The following announcements were posted to the GOV.UK website last month. They provide details of some of the compensation being offered to businesses affected by last month’s flooding across the UK:

 Cash compensation

 Measures include:

• A £5,000 repair and renewal grant for all affected householders and businesses. The aim is to top up money received from insurers to build in flood resilience when property is repaired.
• All affected businesses will qualify for 100% business rate relief for three months.
• Businesses will also get an extra three months to pay business taxes.
• A £10m fund for farmers suffering water-logged fields.
• A £750m commitment from banks to provide financial support to those in need.

A new Business Support Scheme

The scheme is worth up to £10million to provide hardship funding for SME businesses in areas affected by the floods. Both businesses that have been flooded, and businesses that are in affected areas and have suffered significant loss of trade, will be able to apply for support. Eligible businesses will be able to claim for funding for things like immediate clean-up costs, materials, and exceptional costs to help them continue trading.

Extra time for businesses to file accounts without any penalties

If any affected company is unable to file accounts or other documents on time as a direct result of the floods, Companies House will agree an extension and not collect the penalties which apply for late filings. Applications for extensions should be made before the end of the filing period.

A Government Business Support Helpline

The Helpline is providing comprehensive advice and support to businesses affected by floods. It will offer a free 1 hour call with a dedicated Business Support Adviser to help businesses get back on their feet. The helpline number is 0300 456 3565 and can take calls from flood affected businesses now.

Alongside this government action, the government also welcomes the initiative from Enterprise Nation to bring together big business offers of assistance to small firms affected by the floods. These offers of assistance include:

• Regus, the global workspace provider with 220 business centres across the UK, is coming to the aid of businesses by offering free workspace to workers affected by the floods. Those who cannot work in their normal location – whether that’s an office or their home – will be given free access to the business lounge within any Regus centre, providing professional workspace, wifi and complimentary refreshments.
• Citrix has pledged to support small businesses affected by the floods by letting them use GoToMeeting free on a trial basis for up to 3 months (90 days) for quick and easy online meetings with employees and customers. GoToMeeting is quick to install and allows you to connect face-to-face and work with people important to your business via a mobile, tablet or PC wherever you or they happen to be.

The government has already published certain draft clauses for the Finance Bill 2014. We have listed below some of the more topical changes disclosed.

 Changes for the tax year 2014-15:

 Personal Tax:

• Individuals born after 5 April 1948 will be entitled to a personal tax allowance of £10,000.
• Employees will be able to increase the maximum value of shares acquired under Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and Save As You Earn (SAYE) schemes. The increased limits will be: SIPs – £3,600 on the free shares that can be awarded to employees and £1,800 on the partnership shares employees can purchase; SAYE – the monthly amount that employees can save will be increased to £500.
• It is proposed that the annual exemption limit for employer-related loans, to be treated as earnings, will be increased from £5,000 to £10,000.

 Capital Gains Tax:

• The annual exempt amount is to be increased to £11,000.
• The rule that exempts the final 36 months of ownership of a private residence from CGT is to be reduced to 18 months. The 36 months will still apply if the owner is disabled or moved into a care home.

 Business Tax:

• HMRC is introducing new legislation affecting Limited Liability Partnerships. Members of LLPs who satisfy the new criteria as “salaried members” will effectively lose their self employed status and be taxed under the PAYE legislation. There will also be restrictions on the way in which mixed partnerships, those with individual and typically corporate members, allocate profits and losses. 

 Changes for the tax year 2015-16:

It is proposed that spouses (including civil partners) will be able to transfer up to £1,000 of their personal allowance to their spouse (or civil partner). This will be a useful, although somewhat limited, tax planning device that will allow couples to partially equalise their taxable incomes. It will only apply where neither party is a higher rate tax payer.

For employers with between 50 and 249 employees auto-enrolment of employees into a pension scheme starts 1 April 2014. Smaller employers, under 50 employees, will need auto-enrol on a staged basis between 1 June 2015 and 1 April 2017.

Employers who are still unclear what their responsibilities are under this new regulation should take a look at the Pensions Regulator website:

http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/does-automatic-enrolment-apply-to-me.aspx

The key points listed on the site are:

• Automatic enrolment affects all employers with staff in the UK.
• You must enrol certain staff into a pension scheme.
• You must start doing this from your staging date, though there is an option to postpone automatic enrolment for up to three months.
• You must write to all your staff to tell them how they’ve been affected.

The regulator further advises:

“People are living longer yet too many people are under-saving or not saving at all for what could be a long retirement. The law on workplace pensions has changed to make it easier for millions more people to build up a pension, particularly those on lower incomes.

Automatic enrolment means that, rather than having to actively choose to join a pension scheme, staff are put into one by their employer as a matter of course. If they don’t want to be in the pension scheme, they must actively choose to opt out. It’s to encourage people to stay in pension saving.”

This is a further raft of regulation that all employers must comply with. Whenever possible automate the compliance processes by using payroll or HR software that includes the new pensions' auto-enrol steps.