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Limited company question regarding legal owner of animals as assets.

L
Hello, I am in the process of changing over to a limited company from being self employed. I run an animal breeding business the animals are currently owned & registered to myself they are all registered with a governing body I.E the kennel club in my name. Do I need to create an account under my LTD companies name & legally change them over to being officially owned by the LTD through the Kennel Club? Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Do software upgrades mean that licence purchases count as opex rather than capex?

John Paulson
This is from an article from the website of the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT):

If a lump sum payment is made for a licence it will be necessary to consider whether the licence will have a sufficiently enduring nature to be classed as a capital asset. This requires consideration of both the function of the software and how long it will last. As noted above, HMRC will generally accept that a payment is revenue in nature if the useful life of the software is expected to be less than two years. However, they will not accept that software has a limited life solely because new updated versions are released at intervals of less than two years – the question is whether the business actually trades up to the new version at sufficiently short intervals.
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To me, this means that if I buy a licence for a software application, if I keep on upgrading the software application in line with the release cycle, HMRC interprets that licence as being a revenue expense, or opex, rather than a capital expense, or capex. Have I got that right?
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What government / third sector / private industry resources exist in the UK for those looking to establish a startup / SME / early stage?

John Paulson
I know that Y Combinator in the US offers www.startupschool.org for e.g.

The US Small Business Administration, also in the US, offers www.sba.gov/business-guide, which pretty much covers the FAQs that those seeking to establish a startup or small business or early-stage business might have, including step by step guides such as www.sba.gov/business-guide/10-steps-start-your-business

I believe in the UK, there are Multiply courses that help newly registered small business owners understand how to run the numbers for their respective business.

There is also, within the UK, www.startuploans.co.uk/support-and-guidance/business-guidance/staffing/skills-gap-analysis, www.british-business-bank.co.uk/business-guidance/guidance-articles/finance/business-loans etc

There is also helptogrow.campaign.gov.uk/, but not sure if it's still available under the incumbent government.
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VAT on Old Office Kit

Ozzy
We usually donate our old IT equipment to local schools, which is fine it the kit is suitable and usable for schools.
However we have half dozen MacBook Pro's, three years old, which are not suitable for the schools as they cannot really use them. So we're selling them at write-down value (depreciated) to several small local businesses.

My question is whether we need to add VAT to the sale. The HMRC guidance is confusing as it talks about only having VAT on the profit, there is no profit.

We are a VAT-registered business.
The purchase price of the MacBook's was ~£2,200 three years ago
We're selling them for £300, which is their value on our balance sheet
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Can a CIC repay a director’s loan with company assets?

Mario - TFA
Hello everyone, looking for input from anyone with CIC experience especially around asset lock rules and director’s loans.

I’m advising (but not acting for) a contact who’s planning to close his CIC. It holds around £40k in assets after depreciation and owes the director £50k in director’s loan representing money the director has invested in the CIC over time. Currently, there’s little to no cash in the business.

He now wants to recover some of this value before winding up, and he’s wondering whether the CIC can repay the director’s loan by transferring the equipment to him directly, before dissolution. In other words, the CIC transfers the assets in lieu of cash repayment as part of a documented director’s loan repayment.

This asset transfer will be based on fair market value and fully documented (loan balance, asset valuation, board resolution).

I know CIC Regulation particularly for asset transfers are quite strict, but I haven't seen anything that blocks loan repayments as long as they’re legitimate liabilities.

To be clear, I’m not filing accounts or transacting on this contact's behalf. I’m helping him understand his options and may refer him to another accountant if necessary. Not looking to “experiment” with CIC law, just want to know if this is feasible or if it’s asking for trouble.

Would really appreciate any thoughts or red flags from those who’ve handled CIC closures or similar asset transfer situations. Thanks in advance!
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Looking for feedback: Akliman-Personal.de – legit for short-term staffing?

Akliman15
They looks professional, and they claim to handle everything from recruitment to deployment quickly—but I haven't heard much about them outside their own site.

Has anyone here used Akliman before, either as a company hiring temp staff or as a worker placed through them?
  • How was the response time?
  • Were the contracts clear and compliant?
  • Did they handle payroll and communication professionally?
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Employers NI allowance

RSmith2.
New limited company with two directors drawing a monthly wage. Will be using QuickBooks.

Is the employers NI allowance available immediately upon first payroll? Or is there is a delay following application? Or is there a bill to front, that needs to be claimed back at a later date?

My understanding is it's available upon submission during first payroll, but I'd just like to be sure there isn't a costly bill to front as we will be doing with CIS.
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Insurance after insolvency

B
Hello
We are having real trouble in finding insurance for both property and other business liability having gone through a liquidation process. We have to declare our liquidation to our insurers. We found three brokers we have had policies with but its getting harder and harder.
Does anyone have any insurance broker recommendations
Or any other suggestions if a third party or anyone can insure property you own for you.
Thanks in advance
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New Freight Brokerage Start-Up Seeking Advice on Finding Loads and Connecting with Load Owners

Hensalo
Hi everyone,

We’re a newly launched freight brokerage company based in the UK and currently in the early stages of building our network. We're facing challenges in finding consistent loads, especially from industrial estates and manufacturing hubs.

We would really appreciate any advice or recommendations on:

How and where to find available loads on a regular basis

The best platforms or websites to connect with load owners, hauliers, or dispatchers

Tips for approaching industrial estates or manufacturers to build relationships

Any directories or resources that might help with load sourcing

We're open to partnerships and would love to speak with other logistics companies, drivers, or warehouse managers who might be looking for reliable freight partners.

Thanks in advance for any help or leads you can offer!
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Help with editing FPS in HMRC Basic PAYE Tools

Mario - TFA
Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone here is familiar with HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tools payroll software.

I recently started using it for a client whose payroll is very simple, just a single payment of £1,047.50 per month to himself. Given how basic the setup is, it didn’t seem necessary to pay for a commercial payroll software.

However, I’ve run into an issue: the software has calculated Employer’s National Insurance (NIC) for Months 1 and 2, even though no Employer NIC should be due. Now it’s showing that amount as payable.

I called HMRC’s Online Services helpdesk, and they advised that I could adjust the Employer NIC in the FPS for Month 3 to remove the incorrect charges. But when I go into the software, I can’t find any option to edit the figures in the FPS, it just gives me the option to file it.

Does anyone know how to edit or correct an FPS in Basic PAYE Tools? I’d really appreciate any guidance!

Thanks so much,
Mario
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How are departmental budgets set, considering the role of finance business partners, board sponsors, departmental heads etc?

John Paulson
I'm contracting at the moment, but at some point, would be nice to know the finer details of how medium to large sized departmental budgets are put together, considering the business partners assigned from finance to the different departments, the board sponsors who have to approve certain line items etc.
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Directors Loan Repayment / Tax implications

RSmith2.
Recently setup a limited company and loaned (interest-free) money to it to cover start up costs like the purchasing of a van. I believe that the company can repay me any amount (up to the loan value) at any time without tax implications for either the company or myself but I would like to understand why this is the case. If it weren't for the existence of the director's loan and repaying it (which is planned on a weekly basis as quickly as possible, using earnings) then that money would be left in the business account and surely considered a company profit and therefore subject to corporation tax. Perhaps it doesn't matter, I'd just like to understand the difference and to be sure neither the company or me will incur costs as a result of loan repayment.
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EU based retailers advertising ex-VAT online prices to UK consumers

A
Hi,
I'm looking for some advice on who to contact / what to do about EU based retailers advertising ex-VAT online prices to UK consumers in our maket vertical (domestic decorative lighting).

Specifically the EU retailers are using paid Google Shopping ads, set to target UK consumers, and the prices are displayed as ex-VAT in both the advert and on their website. Some do not even disclose they are ex-VAT (and ex-customs duties) on the product pages on their websites. You only find out they are ex-VAT if:
- you find the link to their T's & C's, buried in the footer of the website, and read through them thoroughly, but who does this for an online purchase these days!
- the consumer gets a bill for VAT & customs duties from the courier (DPD / UPS / DHL etc)

So the issues here are:
- the EU retailers are actively targetting customers of UK businesses with prices that are at least 20% cheaper
- UK retailers are suffering through the loss of business to these companies
- UK consumers don't realise they are buying from an EU retailer (many have 0800 numbers and a .co.uk or .com website, display prices in £ and are all in English)
- the consumer invariably has to pay a significant additional and unexpectd bill (VAT) from the courier to get the goods
- if consumers refuse the goods then they have the shipping costs deducted from their refund
- if consumers return the goods then they have a huge shipping bill to ship back to the EU

We have contacted Google to report the adverts as misleading but, unsurisingly they havent done anything about it.

Is this practice illegal?

What can be done?

Thanks
Adrian
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Reduced VAT - Paying a third party

S
Hi there, I am new to this site and I am hoping to get some help and advice. I am a builder and I have been asked to carry out a small extension to a residential property. The owner has recently advised prior to us starting, that their business friend will be paying for the work and I will need to invoice him instead of the owner. They have an agreement between themselves due to our customer lending money to the third party payer and now that they have the money to pay back, and have agreed to pay for the work. The third party payer is VAT registered, and I have been told on my invoices, I will need to charge 5% VAT instead of the standard 20% for materials and labour. I have done jobs based on the reduced rate before and the properties have met the reduced rate criteria and i have invoiced the owners direct, so this has not been a problem, so I pretty much know how it works but this has set me a bit of track. They have told me they can provide me with evidence and information required to show that I can charge 5% but does this sound right? Obviously we still need to pay our suppliers and trades the standard 20% prior to claiming anything back in our return, so I don't want to get stung by going ahead with what has been said. The other thing would be is the VAT reverse. Our clients are usually not VAT registered but if this third party is, surely they would become involved in the reverse flow?? Has anyone been asked this before that can shed any light on what I need to do?
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What are the better profitability / long term growth indicators?

John Paulson
I know you have indicators like EBITDA which show you how much money the business generates before you deduct fixed costs like taxes, interest on payments, depreciation and amortisation, but with depreciation and amortisation, you pay the costs on those long-term tangible / intangible assets upfront, right? So even though you have accumulated depreciation and amortisation, it doesn't really give you a clear picture of how much the initial outlay was.

And then you have retained earnings, which accounts for more expenses than EBITDA adds back in, like employee benefits such as salaries and NI contributions, and dividend payments to shareholders.

You also have FCF / free cash flow, which shows you how much income you have remaining after deducting both capex and opex costs, so it's perhaps one or two steps behind retained earnings / profits.

I apologise if this sounds scatterbrained, but given the information I've posted above, hopefully it gives you some idea as to where my thinking is. For those examining the accounts, which indicators would they pay most attention towards?
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How are individuals officially nominated as candidates for corporate board seats?

John Paulson
Does this occur prior to the next annual general meeting (AGM)?

I believe some companies have a nominations committee, typically comprising the board chair, vice-chair, board members etc. Do institutional investors with enough voting influence proffer names, does the nominations committee hire an outside company to present their recommendations, does the board tend to just submit their names again etc?

I understand that the nominations committee presents the initial nominees to the membership at the next available AGM, then there is a call for any further nominations from among the members present (sometimes a total of three times).

Do the proposed nominees have to be present?

I am conducting some research into this for a project, so any responses would be greatly appreciated!
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Customer refunds if insolvent

F
I run an online business that is struggling massively at the moment. We import and sell goods from stock and also take pre-orders if not in stock and the customer is willing to wait.

We have have some debts that we are struggling to service and if sales don't pick up we may become insolvent. I am concerned if this happens, customers who are waiting for orders will lose their money. Most of them pay via credit card, debit card or PayPal, however, if they do a chargeback and the funds are not available to refund from our account, what happens here?
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Alibaba is asking me for a tax number without the country ID? (UK)

T
Hi everyone. New here, and new to having a small solde trader business so sorry if this is a silly question.
I get some products made on Alibaba, I just put in a larger order than usual and got an email from them saying [Action Required] Sign up for UK tax exemption.
I am trying to sign up, but it asks for my UK tax ID minus the country ID. After searching I can see the closest code seems to be the UTR , but that's a 10 digital code, and the requirement is a 9 digit code, which I assume is removing the country ID. However I cannot find any information online at all about the country ID number to confirm this so I am a bit stuck with how to find this.
Man this stuff is real stressful!
Any help is really appreciated.
Thanks in advance
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Royal Mail lost or damaged parcel Claims

comundo
Hi everyone,

As many of you know, submitting RM claims for lost parcels or damaged items can be time-consuming.

I’ve submitted several claims in the same way, selecting ‘business’ when answering the ‘Are you a business or personal customer?’ question on the RM claim form. However, only my most recent claim was resolved, and instead of compensation via a cheque as usual, I was given 1st class stamps—which was unexpected! Since stamped mail doesn’t receive a reference number, it cannot be tracked, which makes this an odd resolution.

I called RM today to ask why this claim was processed while my previous ones weren’t, and I was given several conflicting reasons:
1️⃣ The parcel wasn’t scanned or submitted via the post office—which isn’t true, as I did send them correctly.
2️⃣ I should have selected ‘Personal Customer’ instead of ‘Business Customer,’ because RM considers a business only if it has a business account, which I do not.

I was then told that my claim was sent to the wrong department and pushed to the end of the queue due to incorrect details provided. Despite this, I still haven’t received any updates on my previous claims, and the only way to check them is by calling RM directly.

To add to the confusion, I believe the RM representative I spoke to was incorrect—the selection of 'Business' or 'Personal' should only indicate who is making the claim, not whether I have a business account. There is a separate form specifically for claims made via a business account.

Now, I’ve been advised to resubmit my claims, this time stating that I am a private customer, not a business.

Honestly, I am frustrated and unsure whether I should go through the process again, as I don’t want to waste more time.

Has anyone else faced this issue? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Little address labels

Newchodge
Many years ago catalogues used to send a sheet of labels printed with your oiwn name and address, as a marketing gift. Little things, about 2.5 cm by 1.5 cm. Often gold coloured.

I am planning to send Christmas cards to clients this year and would like to get some of those little labels to put on the cards, in case people don't remember who I am.

Anyone got any idea where I might get them? I can find large ones without problem, but not the little ones.
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