Business and Other Briefings

BERR: Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, has claimed that the Government' Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme is processing more than 1,300 eligible loans, worth almost £145m. The EFG is a £1bn loan guarantee scheme delivered through banks & other lenders that will hopefully enable an additional £1.3bn of lending to business up to the end of March 2010.
 
The EFG provides a 75% government guarantee on individual loans of up to £1m to viable businesses with an annual turnover of up to £25m. The guarantee can be used to support new loans, refinance existing loans or to convert part or all of an existing overdraft into a loan to release capacity to meet working capital requirements.
Press release ~ Enterprise Finance Guarantee ~ Keep your business fighting fit
 
WAG: Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones last week started a series of face to face meetings with business leaders in every region of Wales, to listen to their views and to discuss their needs.  More than 20 senior managers from a wide range of business & social enterprise sectors attended the first session in the series at the QED Centre in Treforest last Thursday.  Further meetings will follow in West Wales on April 6, Mid Wales on May 21 and North Wales on June 11.  
 
This week sees the start of a series of free seminars designed to ‘help Welsh businesses get through the recession and emerge in stronger & more competitive shape’. The ‘Weathering the Storm’ series is organised by WAG, but brings together private as well as public sector organisations to present a comprehensive package of business support services - taking in both UK-wide schemes as well as measures available only in Wales.  The series will kick off in Llandudno on 30 March - and later sessions will take place in Aberystwyth, Newtown,
Press release ~ Weathering the Storm Dates ~ WAG – Leading Wales out of the recession
 
HMRC: Small employers are being urged to file their 2008/09 Employer Annual Return online this year and get a £75 tax-free payment in the process. Employers with fewer than 50 employees can file on paper or online, but only those filing a valid online return will qualify for the £75 payment.
 
Those employers with 50 or more employees must file their 2008/09 return online, or face a penalty.  To file online, employers must first register with HMRC's ‘PAYE Online for Employers’ service. It can take up to a week to get the Activation PIN after registering, so employers should not leave it until the last minute.
Press release ~ PAYE for Employers ~ PAYE in-year filing podcast
 
BERR: More than 10m people will have the right to request flexible working from 6 April 2009 and government support is helping businesses get ready for the change. 6m parents & carers already have the right to request flexible working from their employers, with another 4.5m now gaining the right with its extension to parents of children aged 16 & under.
 
Flexible working embraces a wide variety of working practices, including compressed hours, working from home, or any pattern of hours other than the standard one in an organisation. Websites Business Link and Direct.gov give firms & individuals all the information they need to comply with the law, including online forms to deal with requests - helping save time & money.
Press release ~ Parental leave and flexible working ~ Do you have the statutory right to request flexible working? ~ Online Tools ~ Flexible working - the law and best practice ~ BERR's flexible working forms for employees ~ Choosing the right type of flexible working ~ Independent review by Imelda Walsh
 
HMRCRevenue & Customs Brief 17/09
This brief explains the guidance available regarding the way HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) deal with residence, domicile and the remittance basis of taxation to reflect the 2008 Finance Act changes, other changes from other Finance Acts and recent court decisions in this area.
 
HMRCRevenue & Customs Brief 15/09
This brief gives details of HMRC's view of when it can abide by incorrect advice given to customers in VAT and IPT.
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