The Government has been under a lot of pressure to try to help households deal with the “cost of living crisis”. On 21 May 2026, it announced the Great British Summer Savings scheme, whereby VAT on family outings, including attractions and meals, will be chargeable at the reduced rate of 5%, rather than the standard...

As part of a government package of measures intended to address rising fuel prices, the main rate for approved mileage allowance payments (AMAPs) has increased to 55p per business mile from 6 April 2026, an increase of 10p and the first such change for 15 years. These rates may provide relief from income tax where...

We have previously mentioned a tax case where numerous pre-installation studies were carried out (costing £48m) to assess the best positioning for offshore wind turbines. The company had included this expenditure, along with expenditure on the wind turbines themselves, as part of their qualifying expenditure for capital allowances. The Court of Appeal had determined that...

There are very valuable tax breaks available for companies undertaking qualifying research and development (R&D). Unfortunately, what counts as qualifying R&D for tax purposes is often subject to debate, with many cases ending up at the Tax tribunals after HMRC has disallowed claims. R&D takes place when a project seeks to achieve an advance in...

For the majority of people, cryptoassets such as Bitcoin are something they see mentioned regularly in the media but of which they have little or no understanding. There are, though, many individuals (not just the very wealthy) who get involved in buying and selling these assets. Very large profits (or losses!) can result from the...

With many self-employed traders just starting to get to grips with the extra reporting needed under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD IT), they (along with directors of close companies) will have to comply with new requirements to provide additional information in their self-assessment tax return (SATR) for 2025/26. A company is a close...

By Audrey Rankine HMRC has said that it is increasingly seeing VAT returns incorrectly submitted after the statutory due date, where the 7th of the month falls on a weekend or bank holiday. It suspects this is due to taxpayers and/or agents relying on third party websites and AI search summaries providing incorrect information on...

Many of your staff that work from home at least part of the time. They are provided with laptops so they can work remotely. But if they use them for personal purposes, are there any VAT consequences? Elaine Wight from our Hawick office advises. No business use If you incur expenses that have no business...

As we enter a new tax year, HMRC have released the self-assessment tax return pages for the 2025/26 tax year. Additional boxes have been included in the SA102 Employment pages which are completed by employees and directors. As new reporting requirements for directors in close companies take effect, are there more to come? Kirsten Hancock,...

We are delighted to announce the following appointments. Kirsten Hancock – Associate Galashiels Audrey Rankine – Associate Peebles Naomi Swan – Associate Hawick Vivien Hogg said: ‘It is with great pleasure that we announce these three exciting appointments for the firm. These appointments reflect the hard work and contribution made by Kirsten, Audrey and Naomi...