As predicted in my pre budget blog – more than 11,000 businesses have deferred their tax payments following the government’s decision to give companies some breathing space.  According to HMRC just over 40% were agreed on the spot with the remainder dealt with as general enquiries or referrals to debt specialists.

As the Construction sector continues to contract, are you struggling to keep your CIS gross payment status due to cash flow issues?  It seems that subcontractors with a history of late PAYE and CIS deductions gives the Taxman the right to cancel your gross payment status.  This leaves the onus on main contractors to deal with CIS deductions further exacerbating subcontractor cash flow problems.

Help is at hand for businesses struggling with the administrative accounting problems due to the VAT changes.  The normal 14 day time limit for raising VAT invoices for goods and services between 18 and 30 Nov has been temporarily extended to 30 days!  You can now invoice at 15% up to 30 days after the supply was made (providing the invoice is raised on or after 1 Dec 2008).

Don’t forget – financial support for small to medium sized businesses will be made available in the new year with a number of Small Business Finance packages.  Accessed via Business Link, these schemes are designed to help those companies struggling with short term working capital and trade and investment finance.

Stop press – new guidelines for company car fuel rates are now available for company car journeys from 1 Jan 2009.

If you’re struggling with CIS, VAT, cash flow or simply need a sounding board then contact me or Dawn O’Leary on 01344 620495.