Sources of Finance

The financing of your business is the most fundamental aspect of its management. Get the financing right and you will have a healthy business, positive cash flows and ultimately a profitable enterprise. The financing can happen at any stage of a business’s development. On commencement of your enterprise you will need finance to start up and, later on, finance to expand.

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Venture Capital Trusts

Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) are complementary to the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), in that both are designed to encourage private individuals to invest in smaller high-risk unquoted trading companies affected by the equity gap. While the EIS requires an investment to be made directly into the shares of the company, VCTs operate by indirect investment through a mediated fund.

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Capital Allowances

The cost of purchasing capital equipment in a business is not a revenue tax deductible expense. However tax relief is available on certain capital expenditure in the form of capital allowances. The allowances available depend on what you are purchasing. Here is an overview of the types of expenditure which qualify for capital allowances and the amounts available.

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Credit Control

Obtaining new customers is great for business, unless they fail to pay you. If you fail to check that the customer can support the amount of credit you are granting, then commencing legal action when they do not pay can be a long, drawn out and potentially costly process. If payment from the customer is not obtained and the goods or services have been provided, your cash flow is likely to be under pressure.

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Fraud and How to Spot It – Ten Step Guide

Major corporate frauds and collapses hit the headlines from time to time and many of these were high profile and the amounts involved quite spectacular. With the current pressures we are still facing from a slow economy, challenges associated with difficulties in renewing finance, the challenge of achieving targets, even simply paying suppliers bills and it becomes easy to see that the risk of fraud for all sizes of businesses has increased significantly.

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Making Tax Digital for VAT

Over the coming years, the government will phase in its landmark Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative, which will see taxpayers move to a fully digital tax system. This factsheet outlines some of the key issues for businesses.

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Stamp Duty Land Tax

Who pays the tax? SDLT is payable by the purchaser in a land transaction occurring in England and Northern Ireland. For land transactions occurring in Scotland, Land & Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) applies and in Wales land transactions are chargeable to Land Transaction Tax (LTT).

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Capital Gains Tax and the Family Home

The capital gains tax (CGT) exemption for gains made on the sale of your home is one of the most valuable reliefs from which many people benefit during their lifetime. The relief is well known: CGT exemption whatever the level of the capital gain on the sale of any property that has been your main residence. In this factsheet we look at the operation of the relief and consider factors that may cause it to be restricted.

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