Issue #69 - The Tax Issue š
Autumn Budget Whispers | How to file your paper tax returns | Claiming a tax refund | Join our community | Flickers Of Success | Words | Tunes | More
š¦¾Ā GO
Donāt be slack, file your tax š©
Welcome to Issue #69 of The Backbone - the fortnightly newsletter from Bionic.
A brief heatwave gave us one final flirtation with summer, but the wind and rain are back to signal that Autumn has finally arrived. This instantly brings a few things to mindā¦
Cafe owners can finally get rid of all that pumpkin spice flavouring theyāve been stockpiling
Salon owners are entering the season of lowlights
Mechanics will have their work cut out with winter servicing and countless breakdown callouts as the weather gets colder
The deadline for filing paper tax returns for 2021/2022 is almost upon us. They must be submitted by October 31, 2023. But if you need more time, you can always sign up to file them digitally and submit them in January 2024.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast will go ahead on November 22, 2023, along with the Governmentās Autumn Statement. What does this mean? Well, weāve heard whispers that the Plastic Packaging Tax will be clarified to help businesses with compliance. There could also be news on Customs Duty tax following Brexit (the spectre of which looks set to haunt us forever). This seems like a government attempt to help ācut the red tapeā for UK business owners.
But will any of this really make a difference? Itās been over a year since we suggested that nothing in the UK is working as it should and there are no signs that anything is getting better.
The last few years have been tough for small business owners and redundancies are now on the rise. UK businesses could do with a bit more support.
Most of the UK layoffs are happening in London, with 37% of London-based employees reporting job cuts in the last 12 months. This compares with 28% in the rest of the UK. 63% were let go due to cost-cutting, 28% were due to a decrease in operations, and 26% a decrease in funds.
It may sound bleak, but weāre on your side. We can offer tips on how to keep your business afloat during tough economic times and help to cut your running costs. Weāve pulled together some of our best resources below:
And if you canāt watch the Autumn Budget, donāt worry - weāll round up the key takeaways in a later issue, shedding light on any new policies that may affect your business.
š° NEWS - Exclusive community access!
We recently launched exclusive access to our small business hub. A private community of small business owners to chat, share advice and help each other through the lows and highs of running a business. To join, all we need is your business email address (we wonāt use it for anything else) and weāll send you an invite. Be the first to get involved š
šĀ READ
How to complete your small business tax returns šø
As a business owner, if taxes are the last thing on your mind, we donāt blame you. Saying that - you really canāt ignore them, and they need to be paid. And if you fail to do so, you could end up in a sticky situation with the taxman.
But have no fear, we have put together how to go about paying your tax returns, whether you use an accountant or file it yourself.
Small Business Tax: How to easily claim a tax refund š ļø
Think youāve been taxed too much? You may be able to claim a tax refund. This is when HMRC gives money back to you after you've paid too much tax.Ā You can claim a tax refund while submitting your tax return.
Most of the time HMRC will automatically check your tax and refund you if you have paid too much. There are many reasons why you might have paid too much or too little. But instead of listing them all here, our Content Journalist Chloƫ, has rounded them up for you.
šØ SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to The Backbone to get each fortnightly edition into your inbox at 7 am every other Friday. Perfect for a quick read at breakfast or on the commute.
š£ Ā SHOUTOUT
#SmallBusinessStory - Flickers Of Success š„
Bionic chatted with Richard, who runs The Recycled Candle Company with his real-life and business partner Sargon. We uncovered what inspired them to set up, what makes them melt in the world of business and how they plan to expand.
Bionic: What inspired you to start your business?
Richard: I got really into candle making as a kid. My mum got me a kit when I was about 8 years old, I grew up in a hotel my mum and dad owned, so my childhood was very business oriented. My mum was also a florist, so looking back that in itself really created a unique secret catalogue in my brain of floral scents and what might work with what.
B: How do you come up with new scents?
R: Weāll just think about any gaps in our market, we have ideas of what would sit well together and we work with an amazing fragrance house. But the main concept behind our scents is that I have to be transported somewhere with a smell, I can just smell lemon and think āOh thatās niceā but itās not taking me anywhere, however, if you add a bit of limoncello, I might think back to a friendās wedding in Italy and how we were served Limoncello and Iāll be back at that day.
B: How do you market your business?
R: We use lots of social media, blogs and Google ads, Sargon is very good at that side of things and weāre working with someone in digital marketing to make sure weāre doing it correctly. I think during lockdown, with everyone shopping primarily online, we got a lot of organic traffic that way. Now a lot of customers who come to us are actually looking for tips on how to recycle themselves. But the whole business has really grown, weāre stocking in places like Selfridges this year.
B: What businesses inspire you?
R: I love a zero waste shop, if ever Iām in a new town and I see one I have to go in. Being zero waste is just such aĀ big statement, itās not an easy thing to do. At The Recycled Candle Company, weāre as close to zero waste as possible but as soon as we get pallets delivered they come with a load of plastic, so itās really hard to do. The respect I have for people who run zero-waste shops is unbelievable.
B: Are you concerned about the cost of living crisis?
R: Ā We have avoided raising prices but the crisis is keeping us on our toes and is a concern. We donāt want to pass on a price increase to our customers, because everything is going up. Customers arenāt spending as much and theyāre being more savvy, which obviously we encourage. But we try to listen to customers and make sure they still get that nice feeling when buying a luxury candle whilst making sure theyāre still getting value for money.
š Read more of this small business story at Bionic
š©āš¤āš©š¾ S H A R E
If you love The Backbone (or even if you just quite like it) share it with someone who has equally great taste in email newsletters.
š¦¾ BIONIC
Bionic - the business price comparison expert - compares a range ofĀ business essentialsĀ to help you save time, money, and hassle.
Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal onĀ business energy,Ā insurance,Ā phone,Ā broadband, orĀ finance. No jargon. No-fuss.Ā #BeABionicBusinessĀ š¦¾
We're giving out the double thumbs up at Bionic HQ this week šš
Check out more āāāāāĀ Trustpilot reviews
š§Ā LISTEN
Playlist š¶
Nothing screams boring like working out your Corporation Tax, so to lighten up the mood and get your accounts in check, weāve pulled out a seemingly appropriate playlist. From The Beatles to ABBA, these tracks will make the most tedious of calculations more interesting. So get out your books and turn the volume up.
Podcast š
On days when you need extra motivation to get you set, the 7 Good Minutes podcast - yes you guessed it - features short 7-minute episodes, the perfect morning activity. Life lessons, self-improvement tips and inspiration to help high achievers and a whole lot more. Go on, give it a listen.
š©āš¤āš©š¾ SHARE
If you love The Backbone (or even if you just quite like it) share it with someone who has equally great taste in email newsletters.
š” HOUSEKEEPING
Check your folders š
If The Backbone isnāt landing in your inbox every other Friday, please mark this address as ānot spam.ā If it isnāt in your spam folder, it may have been moved to another folder, like āPromotionsā or āSocialā.
š« STOP
Thanks for making it to the end of another Bionic small business bulletin š¤š»
Carry on the conversation at our Bionic socials š¤³
Please leave a comment and let us know if thereās anything else we should be featuring.
And donāt forget to send this link to all your friends and get them to subscribe āš»