Last week saw the 2016 Autumn Statement which tends to be a “mini budget”.
There won’t be a lot to concern Yoga Teachers in there.
Possibly the most major issue was confirmation that HMRC are reporting in January 2017 on the latest plans for Making Tax Digital
Other than that the other business issue which could effect Yoga Teachers was a new 16.5% band for high labour intensive services under the Flat Rate VAT scheme, but I would expect most Yoga Teachers to be structuring themselves to keep out of VAT, and most yoga studios, if vat registered, would fall outside of the criteria for these new rules. Broadly, however:
From 1 April 2017, FRS traders who meet the following definitions will be considered “limited cost traders” and will be obliged to use a new 16.5% rate. A limited cost trader will be defined as one whose VAT inclusive expenditure on goods is either:
• less than 2% of their VAT inclusive turnover in a prescribed accounting period
• greater than 2% of their VAT inclusive turnover but less than £1,000 per annum if the prescribed accounting period is one year (if it is not one year, the figure is the relevant proportion of £1,000)
Goods, for the purposes of this measure, must be used exclusively for the purpose of the business but exclude the following items:
• capital expenditure
• food or drink for consumption by the flat rate business or its employees
• vehicles, vehicle parts and fuel (except where the business is one that carries out transport services – for example a taxi business – and uses its own or a leased vehicle to carry out those services)
Other than that there was a mixed bag of macro economic adjustments such as spending on infrastructure and stimulus, and some micro economic measures to do with increasing tax bands by inflation, but nothing that causes concern or surprise.
