23 January 2024

National Hair & Beauty Federation releases ground-breaking independent VAT paper

For over 15 years, the NHBF has been at the forefront of advocating for VAT reform and fairer policies. In our latest initiative, the NHBF has commissioned an independent paper by Pragmatix Advisory which models a 'smoothing mechanism' or tiered rates around the VAT threshold, aiming to incentivise growth.

The paper sets out possible options for the future rather than recommending just one solution for a change in the current VAT system. The aim of the paper is to generate discussion within our sector, with the government and other industry organisations and it has already received the support of key business trade bodies.

Click here for further information.

 

Third phase of British Business Bank’s Recovery Loan Scheme offers £1bn of lending to UK smaller businesses

The British Business Bank announces today that the third iteration of its Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) has supported £1bn of finance offers to smaller businesses since its launch in August 2022.

The guarantee scheme, which has more than 60 participating lenders, has enabled lending to smaller businesses across the whole of the UK. Approximately two thirds of facilities under the third phase of the scheme have been offered outside of London and the South-East.

The Recovery Loan Scheme has also supported a wide range of finance types including term loans, asset finance, invoice finance and revolving credit facilities, and a new asset based lending variant was recently launched.

The scheme has attracted a diverse range of lenders, including specialist and challenger banks, funds, community development finance institutions/social lenders, asset-backed and alternative finance providers, property and development finance providers, as well as the High Street banks.

Read more here.

 

Final week for self-assessment

The deadline to submit a self-assessment tax return is just a week away, on 31 January. Self-assessment returns can be completed online. They are mandatory if you’re self-employed, have a total taxable income of more than £100,000, or need to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge. There are resources available from HMRC on how to complete a self-assessment, including video tutorials and a step-by-step guide.

 

Spring Budget – write to your MP

Ahead of the Spring Budget on Wednesday 6 March, and the government making decisions around public spending, use our MPs letter template here to write to your MP calling for targeted support to the sector.

The NHBF submission to the Spring Budget portal (portal closes tomorrow, 24 January) will call on the Government to:

  • Urgent VAT reform
    • reducing the rate of VAT eg. the Netherlands reduced VAT to 6% in the early 2000s for labour-intensive services, which led to the creation of 4000 sector jobs.
    • a smoothing mechanism or tiered rates around the VAT threshold. A recent independent paper published by theNHBF ‘Avoiding the Cliff Edge’ shows businesses ‘bunching’ behind the threshold and modelled different options for tiered rates to incentivise growth.
    • Offer targeted apprenticeship incentives to small and micro employers up to £3,000 per employee, particularly to help fund the gap between the apprentice wage and the national minimum wage for older apprentices aged 19+. Achieve this through a more effective redistribution of funds from the apprenticeship levy.
    • A crack down on tax evading businesses to give legitimate businesses a chance at recovery.

Enter your postcode here to find your local MP and their contact details and share your letters with enquiries@nhbf.co.uk