Smaller firms are still failing to get the help they need from the Banks, in spite of the recent start of the Business Finance Taskforce

The Business Finance Taskforce was setup by the British Financiers ‘ Organisation (BBA), and committed participating banks to 17 measures in 3 broad areas , including making certain better access to finance.

It would seem , however , that the banks have not been fulfilling their particular duties and offering to lend more to smaller enterprises.

A post on the Forum’s money flow and finance panel has disclosed that following a survey 24 per cent of home entrepreneurs queried were calling for more selections for ‘traditional ‘ bank facilities and 21 p.c are calling for more access to different types of financing . In total , 26 per cent of respondents are searching out alternative financial products.

According to Mervyn King, the Governor of the BoE, banks should be incentivised to lend to small to middle-sized firms .

As soon as you start a business it is a good idea to make yourself familiar with the rules regarding VAT. If you need to register then you must make yourself aware of the requirements that the HMRC puts upon all registered companies and how to implement them and get help with the completion of VAT returns.

To be liable to become registered for VAT the turnover of the business will exceed the threshold which is usually increased annually by the rate of inflation. We can provide you with these figures. As a rule only the previous twelve months turnover is taken into account, an exception to this is when taxable supplies may exceed the registration limit during the next thirty days.

Registration is compulsory if at the end of any month, the total value of taxable supplies made in the past 12 months are more than the compulsory registration limit (check with us for the latest figure). A VAT form 1 must be completed and sent to HMRC within 30 days. The date of registration is the first day of the second month following the relative month.