Life outside of the EU is considerably more complicated for businesses in Great Britain who import goods, as import VAT applies to the value of most goods that come in. There are different rules for businesses in Northern Ireland.

It is a sad fact that some fraudsters have obtained SEISS grants by using innocent taxpayers' Government Gateway IDs and passwords. Once the ID has been proven to work, the fraudsters attempt to double their money by submitting false tax returns to claim tax refunds.

A year ago, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government automatically deferred all VAT due to be paid to HMRC between 20 March to 30 June 2020. The direct debit to collect that VAT was not activated by HMRC and no interest or late payment surcharges have been charged on that debt until now.

A fundamental change to VAT charged within the construction industry came into effect on 1 March 2021.

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) applies to purchases of most land and buildings in England and Northern Ireland. Wales and Scotland impose different land taxes.

The IR35 rules have been around for over 20 years but those rules have been redrawn and renamed 'off-payroll working'.

All employers can now register to receive free rapid lateral flow Covid-19 tests for employees

Self-employed individuals will be able to apply for the fourth SEISS grant from late April if they submitted their tax return for 2019-20 by midnight on 2 March 2021 (it was due by 31 January 2021).

As the owner and director of your own company you decide how much salary to take each year. Paying yourself a small salary can be a good way to maintain your national insurance record to build up state benefit entitlements.

Some potentially good news for employers is the Chancellor’s decision to extend the furlough scheme in its current form until 30 June 2021. Employers can continue to claim 80% of each furloughed employee's usual wages for periods the employee is furloughed, up to £2,500 per employee per month.

As a self-employed individual you may have been able to claim up to three grants under the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) since the start of the pandemic.

Income tax and national insurance contribution rates have been frozen for 2021-22 and are likely to remain frozen until the end of this Parliament in 2024.

The Government have announced that they will permit businesses to carry back losses for up to three years.

HMRC is changing the way taxpayers interact with them in a project called making tax digital (MTD).

The Chancellor announced that taxes would have to rise, but not quite yet, as all tax rates except for VAT are frozen for 2021-22.