News

An increase in the level of tax relief available for film, TV and video game production companies begins in 2024 to encourage UK-based activity in these sectors and make the country more attractive to both UK and overseas investors.  A 34% credit rate will apply for eligible independent films with budgets up to £15M, high-end TV productions and also video games.  Animation and children’s TV productions will be eligible for a higher credit rate of 39%.  Stewart Gilmour & Co have been involved in numerous applications for such payable tax credits and welcome the additional tax incentives being offered.

The Scottish Government has passed an emergency cost of living bill to freeze rents until at least 31 March 2023. This will have implications for owners of buy to let properties, who are being advised to check their financial plans as the new rent freezes come into force in Scotland. The freeze is being backdated to 6 September 2022, meaning that any rent increases imposed since that time have no legal effect.

Whether you currently own a buy-to-let property and would like to understand how the rent freeze affects you, or if you’re interested in investing and want to know more about your options, our team are here to help

Autumn Budget 2021

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has just unveiled his Autumn Budget in the House of Commons.  Alongside measures relating to business rates, levelling up and transport infrastructure he also announced 40 new hospitals, 70 upgrades for existing hospitals, 20,000 new police officers, 50,000 more nurses, £4.7bn for schools and a new £300m start for life fund.

Talking about the economy, the Chancellor said that they are forecasting growth to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021, followed by a  growth of 6% in 2022.

Below are a number of highlights from the Autumn Budget:

£22bn R&D investment targeted

The Chancellor said that R&D investment would grow to £22bn by 2026/27, reaching £20bn by the next general election in 2024.

He also announced that the system is set to be modernised from April 2023, planning to widen the scope to include cloud computing and data costs plus a focus on domestic investments.

50% business rates discount for leisure and hospitality businesses

Businesses in the leisure, hospitality and retail industries will benefit from a 50% discount on business rates, up to a maximum of £110,000.  This includes pubs, music venues, cinemas, restaurants, hotels, theatres and gyms.

The planned increase in the multiplier has been cancelled.

Pubs, breweries and cider makers benefit from tax reforms

Reforms to the UK Alcohol Duty reduces the number of rates from 15 to just 6.

To benefit community pubs who do 75% of their trade on draft, a new Draft Relief lowers the rate of duty on draft beer and cider.  The surcharge on sparkling wines will also be abolished.

The planned increase in duty on spirits such as Scotch whisky, wine, cider and beer have all being cancelled with effect from midnight tonight.

National Living Wage increasing to £9.50 an hour

From April 2022 the National Living wage will increase from £8.91 per hour to £9.50.  This rise represents an increase of just over £1,000 a year for a full time worker (based on a 35 hour working week).

The chancellor also confirmed that the government is targeting a rise in the National Living Wage to more than £10 by the next election.

Bank of England asked to maintain low and stable inflation

A result of increased demand, reduced supply, an increase in energy costs, and supply chain issues, the chancellor said the current rate of inflation would take months to ease.

Currently forecast to hit 4% in 2022, the Chancellor said that he had sent a letter to the Bank of England asking them to maintain a low and stable inflation.

Recovery Loan Scheme extended

Not mentioned in the Chancellors speech but the Recovery Loan Scheme has been extended until 30th June 2022 to ensure that lenders continue to have the confidence to lend to small and medium-sized businesses.

The Recovery Loan Scheme provides finance up to the sum of £2m per business and is currently backed 80% by the government, this is soon to reduce to 70% to encourage a move to normality as the economy recovers.

Details have been announced by HMRC on how the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is to be administered.  Payments of taxable grants will be for 80% of average monthly taxable profits for the 3 years to 5th April 2019, subject to a maximum grant of £2,500 per month. Taxpayers whose main source of earnings isn't from self-employment or who earn an average of over £50K per annum are ineligible.  Although you can currently check your eligibility at https://www.gov.uk/ in order to make the claim for the Grant each taxpayer will require to have a government gateway, which can be set up at weblink https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account. From there contact details can be input and from mid-May claims can be submitted on-line.  HMRC anticipate making the first payments 6 days after the claim is submitted, othwise from early June, though it should be noted that the claims are for March – May 2020. Further details about making claims are available at  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme#claim

Screen Scotland has unveiled details of a £1M development support package for Scotland's independent film and TV companies which can be accessed from 14 April 2020.  Applications of between £3K and £50K to develop projects over the following 3 to 6 months are invited to assist with forward-planning of productions for when Coronavirus filming restrictions are lifted.  This can run in parallel with Screen Scotland's Bridging Bursary scheme which went live earlier in April.  Further details can be found at screen.scot.

An emergency relief fund has been launched to assist active workers in the film, TV and cinema industries facing significant financial hardship as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, with donations having been received from the BFI, Netflix and the National Lottery.   The fund is being administered by the Film & TV Charity with time-limited applications being considered based on need and can result on one-off grants of between £500 and £2,500.  Further details are available online at :
https:/filmtvcharity.org.uk/covid-19-help-1dvice/covid-19-relief-fund/ 
Repayable grants of up to £2,500 can also be offered to those eligible for the government's Self-employment Income Support Scheme, but who are struggling with the wait before payments in June.

Following criticism of the initial restrictions on eligibility to the government's emergency loan scheme some relaxations have been announced by the Chancellor.  Loans of up to £250K are no longer to require personal guarantees or for potential borrowers to have first exhausted applications through other channels.  The scheme is also being expanded to apply to larger companies of up to £500M annual turnover with the borrowing ceiling raised to £25M.  Interest rates will not be capped, however, despite funds being made available to banks at near zero percent. 

Download more on our Coronavirus Support Schemes here.

As a designated provider of essential services under the Coronavirus emergency legislation Stewart Gilmour & Co., Chartered Accountants, will continue to operate as normal a service as is possible to its clients throughout this period. The firm's Glasgow office, however, will be closed and calls diverted to the Ayr office where certain staff will continue to provide urgent services including payroll processing and client enquiries about the business impact of Coronavirus. Regrettably face-to-face meetings are unlikely to be feasible so clients are recommended to communicate by email or phone call in the first instance. Since staff numbers are being reduced by social distancing measures, homeworking and furloughing as well as potentially self-isolation there may be some delays in responding to queries.

As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic the government has announced the postponement of the rollout to the private sector of its controversial IR 35 legislation on off-payroll workers . Implementation of IR35 will now begin a year later than intended from 6th April 2021 instead of 2020.