It is common practice for director/shareholders of owner-managed businesses to take remuneration by way of a low basic salary paid through PAYE, with the remainder being taken as shareholder dividends. This is because dividends typically attract a lower rate of tax (both for the individual and the company) than would be payable as an employee. Yet, although this is common
Businesses struggling to pay their bills were given unprecedented breathing space during the pandemic, as the government closed off every avenue of attack for frustrated creditors. Now the gloves are gradually starting to come off. Landlords are still bound hand and foot and will be until at least the end of March 2022, but other creditors can now use the
There may be many reasons why a business owner or director continues to trade a distressed business rather than seeking professional assistance. In the present circumstances, where government support has propped up businesses, it may even be the case that your company has become insolvent without you realising it. As our recent article on the state of Scottish businesses outlines,
How business has changed Owners and managers were well used to reacting to occasional shifts in their markets before Coronavirus re-set the entire business world. It was an essential part of their job, not just as they considered their results each year or set their annual budgets, but as and when significant events occurred in between. Nothing can have prepared
As the full effects of the Coronavirus pandemic began to be felt in March 2020, many anticipated a significant rise in formal insolvency appointments as companies grappled with the difficulties of unprecedently severe business disruption, as revenues plunged and whole swathes of businesses were forced to close for extended periods. The insolvency and restructuring industry braced itself for an increase in
UK businesses have been given unprecedented protection from enforcement action by creditors since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, but from the beginning of October those vital ring fences have mainly been dismantled. It is now open season for frustrated unpaid creditors, wielding winding up petitions in pursuit of their money. New legislation has created a partial relaxation
