The election’s over, what’s next?
So now we know the outcome of the most unpredictable election in a generation. The question for good businesses is not “How did that happen?”, but “What happens next?” The Tories look like they will be just one seat short of an overall majority. They are likely to form a government without partners, as the opposition is too divided to vote them out, so another 5 years as PM for David Cameron is on the cards. The main opposition is likely to come from within the party. By this, I mean from his euro-sceptic element. It is possible that EU membership becomes the main battle ground for the next five years. This uncertainty will be damaging to business, and my hope is we get to the promised in/out referendum as soon as possible. What does that mean for business? In many ways it is good news for business. The economic…
A Government give-away (with conditions)
Introduction One of the goods things to come out of recent budgets is the new holiday for Employer National Insurance Contributions (“NIC”). The Employment Allowance allows small and medium enterprises (“SME”) to deduct up to £2,000 from their employer NIC payments. The details The holiday is worth up to £2,000 per annum. This starts on April 6th 2014, and must be claimed by qualifying employers. HMRC are expecting employers to take the deduction as early as possible, so many will see the benefit on 19 May 2014 (when the first payment is NOT made. You can only claim it once, even if you run more than one PAYE scheme. If you are part of a group, only one company can claim the allowance. Who cannot claim? The main exclusions are companies and organisations that provide “public sector” services. These include: NHS services General Practitioner services the managing of housing stock…