HMRC has taken on an additional 24 full-time staff to launch and enforce the new rules, so if you have a side hustle, read on.

There are over four million people in the UK who are registered as self-employed with many having a side hustle alongside in addition to their usual business activities

This will also affect employed people currently paying PAYE. If you have a side hustle and earn extra money you will need to report the additional income from your side hustle.

Make sure you declare this on your next tax return.

I have many clients with Offshore Companies and UAE Free zone Free Zone Companies who find it almost impossible to open Bank accounts. This is even more difficult due to the current sanctions imposed on Russians. Banks are scared witless that they may inadvertently provide account facilities for Russians, using Offshore Companies with dubious beneficial owners.

If we also consider the recent takeover of Credit Swiss Bank and the collapse of Euro Pacific Bank, which has affected many of my clients, we have cause for concern.

I may have an attractive solution, but with a caveat. Opening a new account with a UK FCA-regulated EMI Bank (Electronic Money Institution). The cost of opening such an account is £3000.00, Yes, £3000.00. The fee is only applied once the Bank agrees to open an account for your Company. So, what is the advantage of this account? The answer is all funds are held in a Barclays Bank Trust Account opened by the EMI, so your money is safe.

There is little point in trading via a tax-free  Company if you lose all your money should your Bank fail.

If this is of interest to you, please contact me.

Big changes are afoot in the Business Bank Accounts sector, and it is about time. I have predicted for many years the downfall of the traditional international business banking sector, mainly due to the constantly increasing compliance information imposed upon customers, some bordering on the ridiculous. I am delighted that new digital business bank accounts are now taking advantage of this sad state of affairs by offering quicker account opening procedures, cheaper fees, and less compliance intrusion with customers’ accounts. I am rapidly converting many clients to digital banking platform accounts.

What is a Digital banking platform, or EMI (Electronic Banking Institution)? The answer is a more modern, simple, and inexpensive way of making and receiving international business funds transfers.