Monthly Archives: July 2020

Hot Business News Today

Small businesses may have to pay 2% online sales tax

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses face being hit with another sales tax as Rishi Sunak considers launching a digital sales tax for goods sold online.
The Treasury is debating whether to charge 2 per cent on top of goods sold online, as a way of giving High Street shops a slight price advantage over online retail, according to The Times newspaper. The levy would raise around £2bn a year.
Last year, the Commons Treasury committee called on the government to consider an online sales tax to create a more level playing field in the retail sector.
>See also: Nearly a quarter of small businesses cut jobs despite furlough scheme
Another idea under consideration is charging home-delivery customers a surcharge for having online goods delivered online, which say critics, is adding to urban congestion.
Both ideas are part of a wider review into business rates, which the Government launched as a consultation earlier this month.
The review, begun last week, will conclude by next spring. In a consultation paper, the Treasury said it was “exploring the potential strengths and weaknesses of alternative property and online taxes put forward as possible replacements for rates”.
The COVID-10 pandemic has struck when bricks-and-mortar shops are already struggling

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Hot Business News Today

What winning The Start-Up Series meant for me – Andy Roberts, Weekly10

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Andy Roberts started out as a developer, working with artificial intelligence and machine learning technology throughout his career. Several years later, while managing a team of 50 people, he came up with the idea for his business.
Frustrated by ineffectual annual reviews and anonymous surveys, he put his knowhow into creating Weekly10, an employee engagement and performance software platform measured in weekly sessions.
Companies, particularly those in the legal and accountancy sectors, really took to the software. And in recent months, the accelerated move towards remote working has seen a transformation in clientele for the business.
In February 2019, Andy entered The Start-Up Series competition and he bagged the funding for Weekly10. We caught up with him to learn more about the business and how The Start-Up Series has been invaluable to him.   
The Start-Up Series competition begins again on September 1st 2020. You can register your interest on our pre-registration page.
Tell us about yourself and how you launched Weekly10.
Before Weekly10, I worked across different industries in the software sector.
We were always told by HR and senior management to run performance reviews every year and encourage people to do engagement surveys, but the most

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Hot Business News Today

Nearly a quarter of small businesses cut jobs despite furlough scheme

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The latest research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows that 23 per cent of firms had already cut jobs in the last quarter, which is an all-time record for the survey.
This is predicted to become even more of an issue as the furlough scheme starts to taper off next month. The scheme has covered the wages of over 9m workers since it was introduced in April. But starting August 1st employers will need to start paying national insurance and pension contributions for furloughed staff, putting a further financial strain on bosses.
Begbies Traynor have carried out research of their own showing that an increasing number of small businesses are in distress. In fact, the number has risen by 16,000 since the end of March this year, now totalling 52,000 businesses. By ‘in distress’, Red Flag means that a businesses has had a minor County Court Judgement (of less than £5k) filed against them or that they’ve been identified in Red Flag’s credit scoring system as having a key or marked deterioration in key financial indicators.
The firm’s latest Red Flag report shows that this Q2 was the seventh consecutive quarter showing an increase

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Hot Business News Today

Small businesses may have to pay 2% online sales tax

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses face being hit with another sales tax as Rishi Sunak considers launching a digital sales tax for goods sold online.
The Treasury is debating whether to charge 2 per cent on top of goods sold online, as a way of giving High Street shops a slight price advantage over online retail, according to The Times newspaper. The levy would raise around £2bn a year.
Last year, the Commons Treasury committee called on the government to consider an online sales tax to create a more level playing field in the retail sector.
>See also: Nearly a quarter of small businesses cut jobs despite furlough scheme
Another idea under consideration is charging home-delivery customers a surcharge for having online goods delivered online, which say critics, is adding to urban congestion.
Both ideas are part of a wider review into business rates, which the Government launched as a consultation earlier this month.
The review, begun last week, will conclude by next spring. In a consultation paper, the Treasury said it was “exploring the potential strengths and weaknesses of alternative property and online taxes put forward as possible replacements for rates”.
The COVID-10 pandemic has struck when bricks-and-mortar shops are already struggling

Read more...