Digital platforms such as Airbnb can be used to earn income from property in a variety of ways, ranging from the occasional let of a spare room to short-term lets of a holiday home all year round. In this article, Kirsten Hancock explains how income from letting accommodation short term through Airbnb and similar platforms...

According to The Pensions Regulator, there are employers who take on seasonal or other temporary workers who are not following the workplace pension rules correctly. If you hire short-term workers, what steps should you be taking?  Pamela Singh advises. Summer is of course a peak time for taking on seasonal staff. One thing you should...

Tips, service charges or gratuities, whatever they are called, tipping is becoming more and more commonplace in the UK. With that, questions over where those tips actually go have been asked and there is no clear answer, but that won’t be the case for much longer. A new law and statutory Code of Practice on...

January 2022 Funding has been allocated to support businesses in hospitality and leisure who are impacted by the requirement for physical distancing and capacity limits that came into force from 27 December 2021. The January Business Support Top Up – Hospitality and Leisure Fund will provide financial support to businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors...

A temporary lower VAT rate currently applies to some supplies of food and drink but not others. While this is good news it has caused some confusion. What VAT should you be charging your customers?  Our VAT expert John Craig provides the answers. Temporary VAT rate The government introduced the temporary 5% VAT rate for...

In the Chancellor’s Summer Statement of 8 July measures were announced to support businesses affected by the enforced closures and social distancing measures necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to protect jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors the government has: • Extended the services to which the 5% reduced rate of VAT can...

You are registered for VAT as a sole trader and have decided to earn extra money by renting out a bedroom in your home via Airbnb. But is this income subject to VAT and, if so, is there a way around it?  John Craig looks at this futher. It is often forgotten that there is...

Is hiring golf clubs to a non-resident taxable? Q. We hire golf clubs to private individuals. A customer came into our shop last week and insisted that the fee for hiring a set of golf clubs for a week should not be subject to VAT because he is a US resident. He produced evidence of...

Last tax year you started letting a property as a holiday let. The trouble is that to qualify for the special tax breaks it must be let for 105 days in the tax year and you didn’t reach this figure. Is there a way around this rule? Brona MacDougall takes a closer look. You may...