Following the introduction of the domestic reverse charge for construction services on 1 March 2021, many construction businesses will be preparing their first VAT returns under the new regime. From our experience of advising construction clients, what appears to be a simple change is throwing up significant challenges for businesses. 

As we prepare for COP26 in Glasgow later this year, an awareness of how the UK can be a role model for positive change and soft global influence is becoming discussed more and more. For companies in the Energy sector especially, and all other sectors, their environmental impact is being increasingly analysed, measured and scrutinised. This will ultimately affect and touch almost every part of corporate development strategy, from recruitment to competitive tender processes, public relations and investment.

A year ago, we were trying to consider the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic when it first fully hit the UK and we were very much still trying to get our heads round new terms, new schemes, new support measures and HMRC extensions.

At AAB we’re always looking to progress both to enhance our awesome client experience and provide a platform for our people which reflects this. The latest changes follow discussions and feedback from the team around working policies in ‘the next normal’. As a result, we are happy to announce that we have introduced hybrid working for all staff (as of 1 April 2021) and enshrined this in our employment contracts for all existing and new staff across our offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and London.

The quantity and quality of scale-up technology businesses continues to increase in Scotland with technology incubators such as ONE in Aberdeen, Codebase in Edinburgh and Stirling and universities such as Heriot Watt, Napier and Strathclyde providing a clear pathway for entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into a business.

Statistics suggest that the UK tax gap, ie the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid, fell to the lowest rate on record for the 2018/19 tax year @ 4.7%. This is a major achievement for HMRC and reflects investments made in automating many administrative systems to make it as easy as possible for taxpayers to pay the right tax, at the right time. It also reflects their success acting against those who have sought to deliberately evade their Offshore tax obligations. More than £3 bn has been secured by the UK Government since 2010, just from initiatives that focused on Offshore non- compliance.

It is so odd to think it has been over a year since the last of the Scotland Food & Drink Leadership Dinners, a chance for industry leaders to catch up and discuss the key issues facing their sector, whilst celebrating all that Scotland’s food and drink produce brings to the world.

The budget on 3rd March created further differences in tax charges when acquiring land and property, widening the very clear gap between rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) applying in England, compared with Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) applying in Scotland.

What is ATED?

The UK Government’s £75bn Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), launched earlier this week, to provide financial support to businesses affected by the pandemic. The scheme, which will be open until 31 December 2021, can be accessed to fund working capital, investment and growth. There is no turnover restriction for businesses accessing the scheme.

Many businesses have had to think on their feet in the past year as a result of COVID-19, but none more so than those in the charitable sector. The pandemic has provided new challenges, not only in providing core services to those in need but also in keeping on top of the day-to-day finances.

A year on from being hit by some of the biggest challenges the upstream E&P sector has faced and so far in 2021, we have seen a greater volume of disclosed North Sea deal value than in the whole of 2020. The oil price is riding above $63 at the time of writing and some, e.g. Goldman Sachs are predicting it could reach $80 by the third quarter.