Directors

Insolvency is a highly regulated professional service.  If a firm offers “insolvency services” there must be a licensed Insolvency Practitioner (IP) within the business.   Insolvency practitioners have often qualified as accountants before they specialise in insolvency.  It is important that they have a good understanding of business finance. There are many firms which claim to offer insolvency services; however, some will simply charge you a fee to refer you to another company that does have a licensed IP.  If you feel that you may need the help of an IP it is worth making sure that you are speaking to [...]

HMRC introduced IR35 or the ‘off-payroll working rules’ in 2000 to target ‘disguised employment’ and tax avoidance. It is aimed at companies who hire freelancers or contractors to undertake work but who are in effect working as employees. The advantage for the employer is that they don’t have to pay employers’ National lnsurance contributions or give the contractor the benefits they would have to give to an employee. The benefit for the contractor is that by setting up a limited company, they can take avoid National Insurance and pay lower rates of tax. IR35, however, is designed to assess whether [...]

If you’re an accountant or solicitor and one of your clients receives notice of a County Court Judgement or CCJ, what should you be advising them to do? Well, the first point is that they shouldn’t just ignore it. A CCJ is not simply going to go away. So it’s no good your client putting their head in the sand, hoping it will. You need to make them realise they must take urgent action. They have just 14 days to respond. What exactly is it? Explain to your client that a CCJ is a court order, issued by a county [...]