It’s got to be the most popular question for accountants at the moment . . .

“Brexit: How will the vote affect me and my business?”

Following the UK’s historic decision to leave the European Union, many of you will be wondering how the Brexit vote will affect business and personal finances.

Consumer champion and Money Expert Martin Lewis has been quick to confirm that very little is likely to change until the Government chooses to invoke Article 50, the mechanism for leaving the EU.

The Government then has to agree new terms for how the UK intends to deal with continental friends and neighbours in the future.

According to Lewis, “Unless things take a very radical path, that’s at least two and a half years away.

“If you’re going to panic, the time to panic would be in a couple of years’ time but, hopefully, there won’t be any need to panic anyway.”

How will Brexit affect your bills?

This is a tough one to predict, but Lewis believes that any hit to the value of the pound could make a difference to your bills.

He said: “The lower price of the Pound means imports are more expensive and that could affect oil, gas and electricity prices. But then again our economy can be boosted by it because we have cheaper exports.”

Of course, this is liable to change when Britain recovers from the initial economic shock and the economy gets back on track.

Despite a current climate of uncertainty, the UK economy nevertheless remains strong.

The result of the referendum will not have an immediate impact on any tax and business legislation.

However, significant changes are likely to come into effect in the future.

At Clay Shaw Butler, we will be keeping on top of any changes, and working to minimise the potential impact, and indeed take advantage of any opportunities arising both from the business and personal finance perspectives.

Having in place a proper tax and financial planning strategy is always important, but this is now even more the case.

It is important individuals and businesses get expert, proactive advice on everything from dealing with tax and compliance issues, to getting support with financial forecasting and strategic planning.

As the UK has voted to leave the EU, it is likely that some laws will change in the future – but not immediately.

Everything will stay the same until new laws are made.

If you’re an EU citizen living in the UK, your rights to live, work or get benefits won’t change unless the government passes new laws.

If you’re a UK citizen living in the EU or travelling to the EU, your rights won’t change yet either.

You don’t need to take any action now.

Changes to the law will be announced before they happen, so you’ll have time to prepare if you’re affected.

If you think you’ve been discriminated against because of the Brexit, for example if you’ve been refused work or housing, or told your rights have changed, you should contact your nearest Citizens Advice.

Finally, a few reminders on the tax front –

• Class 1A NIC for 2015/16 is due to be paid 19 July 2016. Where the payment is made electronically it must be cleared by 22nd July 2016.
• The Tax Credit Renewal date is getting closure – ensure yours are submitted by 31 July

You can find out more about money matters on the Clay Shaw Butler website (under our news for business section) –

http://www.clayshawbutler.com/news/latest-news-for-business

We have a strong and experienced team with great local knowledge all geared-up to helping you get the very best from your finances – whether that is as an individual or as a business.

We stay ahead of the game by putting great store by continual professional development for our staff.

With Investors In People status at Clay Shaw Butler, we care passionately about making sure our staff have all the tools they need to serve you, our customers.

Weblink –http://www.clayshawbutler.com

The team at Clay Shaw Butler can be contacted on 01267 228500.

The team at Clay Shaw Butler are on Twitter. Look for @clayshawbutler.