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MGT Silver Throne is a commercially astute and client focussed firm with a close partner-access service aimed at entrepreneurial small/medium sized enterprises and foreign nationals establishing businesses in the UK. Our clients come from many different backgrounds and nationalities. Our cloud based platform offers the most cost-effective accounting and tax solutions. MGT Chartered Accountants also comprise a number of associate companies with technical skills and other business operations such as Debt Factoring, Incorporation, Franchise Options and other strategic alliances. Our forensic skills and attention to details ensure we are always fully compliant and deliver to a high standard. We're always with you supporting when you start up all the way through to delivery of year end accounts, handling all of your tax issues, keeping your staff paid and monitoring your annual performance. We work across all sectors, advising small to medium size businesses on a wide range of issues related to achieving ambitious growth and realising value from the business.

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We endeavour to apply commercial common sense in what we do. If you are thinking of how to go around this and see how others are thinking, our switching team is available for easy transition. Not to worry if you speak a different language, we have got all covered. Read more

	Without an effective tax strategy, you could be paying more tax than you owe. Our helpful advice on how to keep liability on income tax to a minimum could save you thousands of pounds a year. Read more⇾ Whether it's a short term cash flow management or long term strategic planning, accurate forecasts are an essential tool throughout the business life cycle. Read more⇾ As a first step, ask your professional advisors for help estimating what you might owe. Then identify the tax planning strategies that best fit your personal circumstances Read more⇾ Running your business in the today's environment is challenging. There are more distractions and hence more time needs to be devoted than ever before Read more⇾

We are not just accountants, we are tech enabled financial, commercial and tax professionals who are committed to helping you save time and cost whilst improving efficiency and effectiveness.

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Tax Relief for Creative Sector

All the world may be a stage and we may all still be just players to paraphrase Shakespeare, but things have moved on a bit since his day.

These days the creative industries encompass a range of activities, many based on technology and innovative processes. We’re now also talking film and TV production, video gaming, musicals and stage productions through to interactive and informative exhibitions in museums and galleries. The creative sector encompasses a wide range of businesses and their people with technical expertise who contribute to the end product for an audience to enjoy.

A BIT ABOUT THE CREATIVE SECTOR

Did you know the creative industries contribute £108 billion to the UK economy every year, according to government figures, employing around 2.3 million people. This sector has seen growth at a rate of 1.5 times the rate of the wider economy over the past decade. In recognition of this valuable contribution, and to further bolster home grown talent within the Global market, the government has recently set out a new vision to grow the creative reliefs sector to £50 billion, with 1 million extra jobs, by 2030, by pledging £75 million in additional funding on top of the £230 million delivered since 2021. You can find out more about the impact and vision for this sector in the government’s report Creative Industries Sector Vision published in June 2023.

A major element of this funding is Creative Industry Tax Reliefs, these reliefs are aimed at supporting companies to innovate through the development of creative talent and technology.

This is where we can help, by working out if your business qualifies and with accessing the tax relief.

WHO CAN APPLY?

The reliefs operate to provide additional tax relief in key sectors as listed below:

Museum & Gallery

Video game

Film

Theatre

High end TV

Orchestra

Animation

Children’s TV

The reliefs and an additional deduction from taxable profits of up to 80% of qualifying production expenditure (what you spend to make the film, TV program, exhibition…) is made through the company’s tax return. The additional relief can reduce the company’s tax liability or, if tax losses are generated, result in a payable tax credit of up to 25% value of the losses.

Certain conditions must be met before a company can claim for these additional reliefs. These conditions vary between sectors and include cultural stipulations for claims in the film, television, and video games industries (generally designed to concentrate the activities and expenditure to the UK).

WHAT IS MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES EXHIBITION TAX RELIEF?

A qualifying exhibition that is considered the be of interest either scientifically, historically, artistically, or culturally. With at least 25% of the ‘core’ costs related to activities in the UK or European Economic Area.

THE BENEFITS

You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or increase a loss. This deduction is the lower of 80% of the total core costs or the amount of UK core costs. If you make a loss, it can be surrendered for a payable tax credit of 25% for touring and 20% for non-touring productions. See our article on the changes in rates as these have been increased.

WHAT IS VIDEO GAMES TAX RELIEF?

A video game certified as British that is intended for supply to the general public with at least 25% of the ‘core’ costs related to activities in the UK or European Economic Area (EEA).

THE BENEFITS

You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or increase a loss. This deduction is the lower of 80% of the total core costs or the amount of UK core costs. If you make a loss, it can be surrendered for a payable tax credit of 25%.

WHAT IS FILM TAX RELIEF?

A film certified as British that is intended for theatrical release with at least 10% of the ‘core’ costs related to activities in the UK.

THE BENEFITS

You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or increase a loss. This deduction is the lower of 80% of the total core costs or the amount of UK core costs. If you make a loss, it can be surrendered for a payable tax credit of 25%.

WHAT IS THEATRE TAX RELIEF?

A play, opera, musical or other dramatic piece that tells a story, or ballet that is provided to paying members of the general public or for educational purposes with at least 25% of the ‘core’ costs related to activities in the UK or European Economic Area.

THE BENEFITS

You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or increase a loss. This deduction is the lower of 80% of the total core costs or the amount of UK core costs. If you make a loss, it can be surrendered for a payable tax credit of 25% for touring and 20% for non-touring productions.

WHAT IS HIGH-END TELEVISION TAX RELIEF?

A drama, comedy or documentary programme certified as British that is intended for broadcast to the general public with at least 10% of the ‘core’ costs related to activities in the UK. The programme must have ‘core’ costs of at least £1million per hour, with a length of at least 30minutes.

THE BENEFITS

You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or increase a loss. This deduction is the lower of 80% of the total core costs or the amount of UK core costs. If you make a loss, it can be surrendered for a payable tax credit of 25%.

WHAT IS ORCHESTRA TAX RELIEF?

An orchestra, ensemble, group or band that consists of at least 12 instruments that is intended to be performed live to the paying public or for educational purposes with at least 25% of the ‘core’ costs related to activities in the UK or European Economic Area.

THE BENEFITS

You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or increase a loss. This deduction is the lower of 80% of the total core costs or the amount of UK core costs. If you make a loss, it can be surrendered for a payable tax credit of 25%.

WHAT IS ANIMATION TAX RELIEF?

An animation programme certified as British that is intended for broadcast with at least 10% of the ‘core’ costs related to activities in the UK and 51% of the ‘core’ costs on animation?

THE BENEFITS

You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or increase a loss. This deduction is the lower of 80% of the total core costs or the amount of UK core costs. If you make a loss, it can be surrendered for a payable tax credit of 25%.

WHAT IS CHILDREN’S TELEVISION TAX RELIEF?

A programme certified as British that is intended for broadcast to a primary audience under the age of 15 with at least 10% of the ‘core’ costs related to activities in the UK.

THE BENEFITS

You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or increase a loss. This deduction is the lower of 80% of the total core costs or the amount of UK core costs. If you make a loss, it can be surrendered for a payable tax credit of 25%.

A FINAL THOUGHT

We think it’s worth noting that the tax credit rates have temporarily increased for theatres, orchestras, museums & galleries in recognition of the impact of Covid-19 on these sectors. The tax credit rates increased to up to 50% for companies in these sectors from 27 October 2021, returning to a tapered level up to 35% in April 2025.

An additional point to note, is that claiming creative Industry Tax Relief can restrict the ability to claim for Research and Development Tax Relief and Research and Development Expenditure Credits. As such, planning would be required if both schemes could potentially come into play. With substantial changes happening in the field of R&D Tax  and the Creative Tax Relief schemes.

It’s worth getting in touch to work out which would be the most valuable routes to take for your company. We’ll talk you through the best options and the process.

 

SRA Accounts Rules Compliance

Every law firm authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has a mandatory requirement to comply with the SRA Accounts Rules.

Breaches aren’t just a small firm problem, despite the popular assumption it’s SMEs who are the riskiest. Breaches aren’t just a big firm problem either, although these are the businesses where the stakes are highest and implications furthest reaching.

The steps to compliance

So, what do you need to do to keep your accounts clean, pristine and secure? Here are a few tips to help you out:

Top Tip #1: Make sure your financial management processes are robust

Clearly documented, robust accounting controls, which are not just ‘assumed’ to be happening, but are checked by an internal audit function, go a long way towards compliance. From reconciling bank accounts at least every five weeks, to scrutinising unidentified transactions, ensure you perform the right steps at the right time in the right way. It begins by understanding the SRA Accounts Rules thoroughly and introducing better processes for assured regulatory compliance. To achieve this goal, training of ALL staff, not just cashiers, is absolutely essential.

Top Tip #2: Assign roles, responsibilities and authorities

Trickier for smaller-sized law firms with fewer staff, if you’re able, designate specific cashiering-related duties to different people – for example, someone entering accounts data, another processing payments, another reconciling your bank accounts etc. On top of this, set up controls in the form of authorisation levels. Systems permissions are a great way to create boundaries and prevent corruption.

These combined best-practice methodologies, cross-referencing checks and layers of approval act as a deterrent or, at the very least, allow you to notice anomalies before it’s too late.

Top Tip #3: Run an accounting health check

Comprehensive health checks reveal vital business intelligence and compliance insights. Many of the problems referenced above would be identified and headed off at the pass with this type of measure.

Recognising you may not possess these skills in-house, it’s worth knowing consultancies such as MGT Silver Throne perform health checks day in, day out. Thanks to our health check’s thorough financial review, detailed compliance analysis, reassuring reconciliation verification, helpful audit preparation and easy-to-implement actionable report, your accounts will be shipshape in no time. 

Top Tip #4: Report breaches accurately and promptly

While minor compliance failures only need to be recorded in-house by your COLP or COFA, serious breaches must always be reported to the SRA. The SRA’s Code of Conduct dictates whether a breach is considered reportable or not and you’ll need to apply your professional judgement too. Remember to strike the correct balance between reporting trivial oversights unnecessarily and withholding information about grave matters. The latter scenario will cause the SRA to come down much harder on the law firms and individuals concerned.

Top Tip #5: Carry out a best-practice study

Combining #1 to #4, tap into the expertise of external legal-specialist consultants and trainers like MGT Silver Throne to take a close look at your existing processes, and recommend improvements to and restructuring of day-to-day, month-end and year-end procedures – for optimum outcomes and guaranteed compliance.

These best-practice advisory services are not simply about showing which buttons to press in your legal accounting and case management software. It’s a consultative approach to making crucial changes to your internal operations – so you can run a first-rate accounting function that industry regulators will approve of.

Go Back ↻

Tax Efficient Investments

UK Tax-efficient Investments

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Various tax efficient investment routes for higher rate taxpayers

Including:

⇥Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)

⇥Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs)

⇥Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR)

⇥Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs)

Dive and Go further⇥

 What are tax-efficient investments?

Tax-efficient investments give investors tax relief on investments in qualifying companies or investment vehicles. Many UK government-approved schemes offer investors tax relief. These reliefs range from capital gains tax (CGT) to loss relief and inheritance tax relief.

As with all investments, there are trade-offs when weighing up the pros and cons of each. Two rules to keep in mind when considering these, or any type of investment:

✅First, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We’ll only be looking at government-approved schemes in our review below.

✅Second, the more tax relief on offer, the riskier the investment class is likely to be. We’ll get into this later when we talk about the alternative investments that offer tax relief.

Below we’ll take you through the HMRC-approved tax-efficient vehicles and the various reliefs they offer. While you can’t avoid paying tax entirely, you can reduce the amount you pay while diversifying your portfolio and having a positive impact too.

What is Silver Throne Foundation?

Established in 2022, the  Silver Throne Foundation will lead the fundraising initiatives for our group of accountants and business advisers.

Since its inception, we have been supporting local communities and charities in the form of monetary donations. We are perfectly placed to provide charitable and social support to our local communities.

We are passionate about making a positive and lasting difference to the lives of local individuals and are keen to expand on our corporate social responsibility by establishing The  Silver Throne Foundation.

What we are looking to achieve

Throughout our history, we have regularly engaged in social responsibility initiatives, however these have predominantly been delivered by small local teams or individuals. Establishing the foundation will allow us to make greater use of our capabilities, and allow us to utilise the wider Silver Throne team to increase both our reach and effectiveness.

The Silver Throne foundation will enable us to outline our future commitments and identify causes to support that align with our chosen criteria. This will enable us to make a greater contribution to our local communities that are supporting sustainable development and demonstrating the behaviours that reflect our core values.

How we raise our funds

The Silver Throne team member community will support the foundation in multiple different ways. This includes offering donations, involvement in our annual fundraising days and also as volunteers supporting the foundation’s criteria. Fundraisers are an important part of the foundation’s income - these include events such as sponsored walks, selling wooden puzzles as gifts and car boot sales to name just a few.

All of the administration costs for the foundation are covered by Silver Throne, meaning that every penny raised will be donated to the charities and organisations that we support. 

Apply for funding

Funding provided by The Silver Throne Foundation is guided by a core criteria, with the focus on small to medium-sized organisations that can benefit from grants of up to £500 - £1,000. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting initiatives  any where in the world, where necessary support and assistance is required.

Can our organisation benefit from the Silver Throne Foundation? Yes, of course.

Please contact us today for more information.

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Silver Throne Managed Services

Clients tell us that they need their teams to focus on providing strategic insight and advice as their businesses face unprecedented change and new challenges. 

At the same time, we know that the accounting/tax teams’ budgets are under pressure as businesses look to control costs. Silver Throne Managed Services allow in-house teams to focus on the most important strategic issues and projects, while providing a cost-effective delivery of routine day-to-day work that is more than just simply outsourcing the process. 

Silver Throne Managed Services bring together our experts, innovation, technology and project management teams from across Silver Throne to deliver ‘business as usual’ tax workstreams on a fixed retainer model. Unlike other suppliers we can deliver a managed service that seamlessly brings in our deep sector expertise when you need it. 

In a Managed Services arrangement, we take on the operation of one or more of an organization’s non-core but board-critical functions, including finance, , HR, tax and compliance functions. Unlike traditional outsourcing fixed on short-term cost reduction, Managed Services function gives organizations a new way of operating, to better navigate more complex conditions and build a platform for long-term value creation.	Our managed services division supports organizations to build an adaptive, future-ready organization, positioned to make the most of opportunities. A connected experience built upon a common, data-driven platform makes it easy to add or expand solutions as business needs change.	The right managed services partner brings deep subject matter experience across key functions, particularly finance, tax, risk and compliance. The right partner is guided by a relentless focus on value and delivering tangible results, at the same time pushing to innovate and constantly improve operating performance.

Working with our clients we are delivering managed services for aggregated work in areas such as: 

①⟶Real Estate Sourcing and Management  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help	②⟶Data Base Management and Analysis  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help	③⟶Managed HR Service Offerings  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help
④⟶Managed Service Charge Accounting & Reporting  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help	⑤⟶Managed Estate Agency Accounting & Reporting  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help	⑥⟶Managed IT Network Security Services  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help
⑦⟶Managed Solicitors Accounting & Reporting  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help	⑧⟶Managed CFO & Controller Services  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help	⑨⟶Managed Virtual Finance Director Services  Read more ⇲ Related Article Related Article How We Help

The sector is splitting into firms that only want to service the ‘bet the farm’ transactions, financings and disputes and others that are seeking to process high volumes of work based around standard processes and lower cost staff to match the perceived lower value of this work. At Silver Throne, we know that its often the routine work that drives our clients businesses – so we can support both. 

At Silver Throne, we handle substantially large and complex work for our clients, and we combine this with a commitment through Silver Throne Managed Services to supporting our clients’ routine day to day work. We have the scale, experience and technology to run this efficiently, feeding in our deep sector expertise, which has resulted in delighted clients. 

 

If you would like to know more about how Silver Throne Managed Services can help your inhouse team, then please do contact either your regular Silver Throne contact or a member of the Managed Services team.

ATOL Reporting Accountants

ATOL licence holders need an Accountant who is qualified as an ATOL Reporting Accountant, to submit ATOL Accountants’ Reports to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

CAA developed the ATOL Reporting Accountants’ scheme to help improve the standard of ATOL reporting and to provide assurance that any financial information submitted to them is accurate. They designed the scheme to ensure that accountants are sufficiently knowledgeable about the travel industry as well as the specific requirements of the ATOL scheme.

The complexity of the travel industry rule book shows no sign of easing and with the introduction of The Package Travel And Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, industry-specific understanding is increasingly demanded by regulators.

The CAA is insisting that only accountants who meet the requirements of the licensed practitioner scheme are eligible to submit the Accountants’ Report to the CAA.

The ATOL Reporting Accountants’ (ARA) scheme has been developed to provide assurance that financial information that is submitted on behalf of ATOL holders is accurate and to reduce the risk of reporting false or inaccurate financial information. This is about working with professional bodies to improve the standard of ATOL reporting. CAA have worked with ICAEW and others to establish a set of key principles to underpin the new scheme and create a framework for sharing information.

ATOL rules are quite complex and they’re not static. One needs to have a good working knowledge of the sector and the ATOL regulatory environment if you are to be in a position to know what is and what is not ATOL-licensed.

Professional Consultation Find out how we help our clients determine the right strategic priorities to grow profitably and offer support with practical solutions. Book an appointment Email:info@silverthrone.co.uk | Tel: 0800 689 1495