The question of whether to incorporate commonly arises as a business expands - the limited liability status that company formation provides is often needed to start winning contracts with bigger companies.

Whilst the tax legislation does not include a specific allowance for an employer providing a Christmas party for employees, HMRC do allow limited tax relief against the cost of holding a social function for employees, providing certain conditions are met.

If a new business makes losses in its first few years of trading, there may be scope to carry back those losses and set them off against other income received in the years prior to commencement of the trade. This is commonly referred to as 'early trade losses relief' and it applies to losses sustained in the tax year in which a trade is first carried on, or in any of the next three years.

An economic operator registration and identification (EORI) number will be needed for UK businesses to be able to continue to trade with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Although it is possible to strike off a company and for distributions made prior to dissolution to be treated as capital rather than as a dividend, this is not an option where the amount of the distributions exceeds £25,000.

A tax exemption enables an employer to meet small personal expenses when an employee stays away from home for work, without the employee suffering a tax charge and without any need to report the expenses to HMRC.