In the three months to November, people in that age group had a redundancy rate of 16.2 per 1,000, a fivefold increase on the same period a year earlier. Unemployment rose to 5% from 4.9% as Covid continued to hit the jobs market. Some 1.72 million were jobless, the Office for National Statistics said, the highest level in five years. Which sectors are worst affected by unemployment? The hospitality industry was worst hit by the rise in joblessness, followed by manufacturing.

Tax and profit extraction Dividends are subject to income tax at a number of rates, depending on whether you are a basic rate taxpayer, higher rate taxpayer, or additional rate taxpayer. For the tax year ended April 2020, the first £2,000 in dividends is exempt from income tax. The balance is taxed at 7.5% for basic rate, 32.5% for a higher rate, and 38.1% for additional rate payers. However, if you don’t need the cash income, you should consider reducing dividends in favour

Is there consideration? It’s not unusual for landlords to offer a rent-free period at the start of a rental agreement or lease. Allowing a tenant to occupy the property is a supply for VAT purposes, but as long as there’s no reciprocal arrangement that could be construed as consideration you can forget about VAT. An example of an arrangement that would count as consideration is the tenant agreeing to meet the cost of repairs to a building where that would normally be the liab

Coronavirus test tax exemption The government has decided to exempt employees from tax where their employers pay for them to be tested for coronavirus. However, the exemption is limited. What do you need to know? Change of policy. In July 2020 HMRC published guidance stating that employees would be taxed on a benefit in kind where their employers paid for them to be tested for coronavirus. Naturally, there was a public outcry. This resulted in the government changing its poli

Here is everything you need to know. One-off grants of up to £9,000 per property will be paid to businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors. £594 million discretionary funds also made available to support other impacted businesses Chancellor Rishi Sunak stated that the top-up grants would support businesses through the latest restrictions, expected to last until at least mid-February. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Throughout the pandemic, we’ve taken swift act