While Brexit continues to dominate the headlines – along with all the associated rumours, counter-rumours and uncertainty that it brings, there are a number of things that will definitely happen within the next week, which will have a big impact on small businesses.
For example, from April 1, all businesses with a turnover above the Value Added Tax threshold of £84,000 per year, will be required to submit quarterly, on-line tax returns. This Government-led initiative – ‘Making Tax Digital’ – is a big change. It will create big cost and administrative burdens for tens of thousands of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).
In fact, recent Federation of Small Business research showed that, on average, smaller SMEs will have to fork out more than £600 to put systems in place to comply with the new regime. Larger SMEs will have to pay even more. The important point here is that this additional cost is being foisted on small businesses just to comply with new Government regulations. The money is not being spent on funding new product development, it’s not being spent on business growth and it’s not being spent on employee training. It is just an additional burden and the latest hike in the cost of doing business in the UK.
On Monday, many small business owners will have to deal with not only Making Tax Digital – but also hikes in their business rates, their wage bills and their pension contributions.
At any time, these would all be unwelcome challenges to deal with. At this time of unwarranted political and economic turbulence, these cost increases are no joke.
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