A Government press release published today, confirms that temporary measures brought in to support businesses from insolvency during the pandemic will be phased out from 1 October 2021.
How can a business protect itself from insolvency? Poppleton and Appleby partner, Stephen Wainwright discusses in his latest blog.
A business exit strategy covers the plan for the owner of the company to either sell or reduce their share of ownership, either to investors or another business. Exit strategies can be implemented for a number of reasons, both positive and negative, including retirement or damage limitation if the company is in trouble financially. It may also be used by investors in order to plan for a cashing-out on an investment.
Under a new bill “Ratings ( Coronavirus ) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies ) Bill”, the Insolvency Service will have retrospective powers to investigate Directors who have abused the Government support Schemes.
What are accelerated payment notices and when are they used? If you find yourself on the receiving end of an accelerated payment notice (APN) from HMRC, it can seem daunting. First things first, do not panic. Below, we have put together some answers to frequently asked questions that may help. So, what is an APN (accelerated tax payment notice)? An accelerated payment notice (APN) is a notice that a taxpayer with an ongoing tax or National Insurance contributions (NICs) issue may receive from HMRC (typically following their involvement in a tax scheme). The demand requires the taxpayer to pay the [...]
This week we will be hosting our Connection:20 online webinar, Business resilience in a COVID world. As businesses continue to navigate through the challenges and changing environment imposed by COVID19, Sheards Accountants are hosting a series of Connection:20 events online, to share experiences and offer support. Our Partner, Charles Brook, will be hosting this week's session, which will be taking place on Wednesday 11th November from 12 pm-1 pm. The session will cover: Business confidence pre-COVID Can we rely on anything to help us plan? Directors obligations and financial risk management in a COVID World Preparing for a post-COVID way [...]
Changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) On Saturday 31 October 2020, a second lockdown for England was announced. To support businesses and individuals through this, the government is providing additional financial support as part of the plan for the next phase of response to the pandemic. It has been confirmed that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) - also known as the furlough scheme - which was due to end on 31 October, will remain open until December. The government has protected over nine million jobs across the UK with the furlough scheme as well as supporting those [...]
Government announces extension of insolvency measures The Government has extended the measures put in place by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act in order to protect businesses from insolvency, giving them a much-needed breathing space during the pandemic. Many changes to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act were due to expire at the end of September. However, as of 24th September, the measures have been extended to the end of December 2020 and in some cases to March 2021. Summary of temporary measures: Companies with any obligations to hold AGMs will continue to have the flexibility to hold these meetings [...]
How does the Coronavirus Job Support Scheme work? Yesterday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a new scheme to increase the wages of workers who have had to cut their hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Job Support Scheme will help to protect viable jobs in businesses that are likely to face a lower demand as we head into the winter months as opposed to all job roles which were supported as part of the initial furlough scheme. The new scheme will start in November replacing the existing furlough scheme which ends on October 31 2020. How will the new Job [...]
The spectre of the return of HMRC preferential status We have commented in several blogs and to clients directly and can confirm that the enactment of the Finance Bill on 22nd July 2020 paves the way for the reintroduction of preferential status for the vast majority of HMRC liabilities in insolvencies. Background As a potted history lesson, HMRC held preferential status up to the implementation of the Enterprise Act in 2003. This unexpectedly revoked this status in favour of a policy aimed at business enterprise and with the objective to return enhanced distributions to ordinary trade creditors in insolvencies. In [...]
