Have you recently started up a Limited company?  Are you sure that you invoicing and headed letters comply with the legal requirements?

You may have spent ages going back & forth with a graphic designer choosing a design to suit your business and brand but many business start ups do not get the correct guidance to make sure their stationery is legal.

Please note there is a VAT scam happening at the moment which has hit thousands of businesses. The phishing email claiming to be from Santander Bank advises that a VAT payment of £483.38 has been made.

There is download attached, which if opened will transfer a virus onto the computer.

If anyone mentions receiving this email please tell them it is a scam!

Every year VAT is becoming increasingly more complicated as HMRC continuously amends and introduces new rules and regulations. In conjunction with this, the government is working harder than ever to clamp down on any tax irregularities.

For many years the standard rate of VAT has been applicable to hot takeaway food. Problems have arisen over the interpretation of whether the food which is sold is indeed hot and therefore subject to VAT.

The legislation clarified this point by stating that if the food was sold with the intention of being eaten as ‘hot’ then standard rate VAT was applicable. If however the food was simply being kept warm to make it appear more attractive or to smell better, then sales of such items could be zero rated. Obviously this left scope for retailers to interprete the legislation to their favour.