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Changes to UK company law, travel support for UK businesses, latest HMRC tax webinar dates for the Self-Employed and much more!

Welcome to our round up of the latest business news for our clients. Please contact us if you want to talk about how these updates affect your business. We are here to support you!

Changes to UK company law

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act received royal assent on 26 October 2023 and will introduce a number of changes over the next few years.

The act gives Companies House the power to play a more significant role in tackling economic crime and supporting economic growth. Over time, the measures will lead to improved transparency and more accurate and trusted information on Companies House registers.

Under the Act, there will be new responsibilities for: 

  • all new and existing company directors;
  • people with significant control of a company (PSCs); and
  • anyone who files on behalf of a company.

The new legislation generally applies to all entities registered with Companies House, including:

  • private limited companies; 
  • public limited companies (PLCs); 
  • limited liability partnerships (LLPs); 
  • limited partnerships (LPs); 
  • community interest companies (CICs); and 
  • overseas companies. 

The legislation applies to companies and other entities registered in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland and applies to anyone who files on behalf of clients, such as accountants and company formation agents.

If you are planning on starting a new company or another entity type, you will need to consider the changes and new responsibilities introduced by the act. For existing directors and companies, it is important to understand how these changes will affect you.

Some of the changes include:

  • Greater powers for Companies House to query information, stronger checks on company names, new rules for registered office addresses, and new lawful purpose statements;
  • Identity verification – Anyone setting up, running, owning, or controlling a company in the UK will need to verify their identity;
  • Transitioning towards filing accounts by software only, and changes to small company accounts filing options;  
  • Increasing Companies House fees to take new future expenditure into account, as well as making sure costs are recovered from existing expenditure;
  • Protecting personal information – Individuals will be able to apply to suppress personal information from historical documents and apply to have personal information protected from public view because of risk of harm;
  • Changes for limited partnerships – these will need to file their information through authorised agents, and they will need to file more information with Companies House; and
  • More effective investigation and enforcement powers for Companies House, and new powers to share data with law enforcement agencies and other government departments.  

See: Changes at a glance – Changes to UK company law Companies House changes

Travel support for UK businesses to attend European events

Innovate UK is offering travel support for businesses to attend consortia-building events in Europe.

The travel awards support businesses who want to expand their networks across Europe and make an impact in collaborative international research and development (R&D) projects.

The awards encourage UK participation, engagement, and visibility at international events and aim to accelerate UK involvement in European research programmes (including Horizon Europe and EUREKA).

To be eligible for support, you need to be a for-profit, UK-based, R&D performing SME according to the EU definition.

If successful in your application for travel and accommodation costs, you will receive proactive support from Innovate UK to help you maximise the benefit of attending.

Up to £700 is available to help cover travel and subsistence costs needed to attend the following events:

See: Travel support for UK businesses to attend European events – Apply now! – Innovate UK KTN (ktn-uk.org)

The Unified R&D Tax Credit Scheme

The UK government has announced reforms to its Research and Development (R&D) tax credit system. This transformation seeks to combine the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) and the SME relief into a singular scheme, effective from accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024.

The new “merged approach” intends to streamline the system by introducing a single set of qualifying rules. The merging of these two schemes may raise concerns about the scheme’s overall effectiveness compared to the older, higher-rate SME scheme. The new unified scheme’s impact on fostering R&D investment and innovation, especially for smaller enterprises, remains to be fully identified.

The key changes in the UK’s new unified R&D tax relief scheme include:

  • The introduction of a single set of qualifying rules, rather than separate rules for SME and RDEC claims.
  • The scheme allows companies making R&D decisions and bearing risks to claim relief for subcontracted R&D.
  • Subsidised expenditure rules from the SME scheme will not be carried forward to the new scheme, meaning external funding won’t reduce the available support.  Grant funded projects remain claimable, which is a welcome announcement.

The rate under the new scheme is set at the current RDEC rate of 20%. This credit will be subject to corporation tax.

See: Research & Development (R&D) tax relief reforms – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

IP and Business Growth survey

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is inviting businesses to share their views on how intellectual property (IP) helps them scale and grow.

In a modern global economy, innovation, creativity, design, and brand recognition are increasingly important to business success. All these elements are underpinned by IP rights, such as copyright, trademarks, patents, and designs.

The IPO wants to support businesses to manage their IP rights effectively. It is conducting a review of UK’s IP-backed finance ecosystem and IP insurance landscape. The new survey forms part of this review.

The survey covers a broad range of topics. Responses will help the IPO:

  • better understand how businesses may raise external finance – including leveraging their IP assets to secure funding;
  • explore awareness, perception and use of IP litigation insurance products among businesses; and
  • better understand how to support businesses most effectively in managing their IP assets.

The IPO wants to hear from businesses of all sizes, and from a wide range of sectors, which hold IP – whether an individual entrepreneur, start-up, established firm, or large corporate.

The survey closes on 2 February 2024.

See: IP and Business Growth Survey – Intellectual Property Office – Citizen Space

Latest HMRC tax webinars for the Self-Employed

Listed below are a number of live HMRC webinars that will give the self-employed an understanding of key taxes that affect them. The webinars are free and last around an hour.

New to Self-Assessment
Thu 7 Dec at 1:45pm
Mon 18 Dec at 11:45am

Capital expenditure and revenue repairs
Tue 9 Jan at 1:45pm

VAT – the basics and the VAT return
Tue 12 Dec at 9:45am

Finance costs and travel expenses
Wed 10 Jan at 11:45am

How to fill in your Self-Assessment tax return if you’re self-employed
Mon 11 Dec at 1:45pm
Wed 20 Dec at 9:45am

Cash basis and property income allowance
Thu 11 Jan at 9:45am

How to fill in your Self-Assessment tax return if you have UK property income
Thu 14 Dec at 1:45pm
Tue 19 Dec at 11:45am

VAT accounting schemes
Mon 18 Dec at 9:45am

Record keeping for the self-employed
Tue 5 Dec at 9:45am

Capital Allowances for the self-employed
Tue 5 Dec at 1:45pm

Residential property income for individuals – an introduction
Wed 6 Dec at 11:45am

Residential property income for individuals – expenses, and deductions
Thu 7 Dec at 11:45am

How to apply the VAT reverse charge for construction services
Tue 12 Dec at 1:45pm

Car expenses for the self-employed
Wed 13 Dec at 9:45am

Capital allowances and vehicles
Wed 13 Dec at 11:45am

Business expenses for the self-employed
Thu 14 Dec at 11:45am

How to finish your Self-Assessment tax return, your tax calculation and payments
Tue 19 Dec at 1:45pm
Wed 20 Dec at 1:45pm

VAT: using the Flat Rate Scheme
Tue 19 Dec at 3:45pm

Company directors – payroll and you
Mon 5 Feb at 11:45am