Chestnut Green Limited

25/07/2026

As you can probably tell, we are thrilled to be in the guide of top pubs in the United Kingdom 2026
We work hard to make the welly the unique pub that it is and it's nice for that to be recognised.

Cheers 🍻

25/06/2025

Also on our plate recently have been a few cases of the standard 'my mate on the building site got a bigger rebate than me', or 'a guy in the pub told me about an accounting firm that got so much more back on my tax refund' scenarios.

Accountancy advice is based on tax law, and understandably there are some areas that are more subjective than others, but the standard question of 'is it too good to be true?' comes into play.

This link shows how easy it is to fall foul of one such plan by a less-than-honest firm of accountants in Suffolk, and how ultimately the taxpayer ends up footing the bill:

https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tax/hmrc-policy/dodgy-apostle-tax-rebate-scheme-failed-to-deliver

This is behind a paywall (aren't they all now?) but is free to register.

It came down to a taxpayer going to see a recommended firm who put through some high expense claims that resulted in a tax refund for a number of tax years. The firm took a 20% + VAT fee based on the level of refund, but were later found to be acting fraudulently and all their clients were investigated. This one particular case went to the First Tier Tribunal and lost the case meaning the individual had to repay the tax in full, plus penalties and interest (including the fee taken by the agent), plus legal fees!

Readers will doubtless be familiar with Apostle Accounting, the former Suffolk-based firm that was wound up in 2023 [1] following BBC Rip Off

25/06/2025

There are so many stories going round of people being ripped off by unscrupulous fraudsters that we thought it worth a post. HMRC very rarely contact anyone by email, and when they do it's to remind 'customers' that a filing or payment is due, but note they will never send out a document detailing a tax refund is due.

Some of the scam emails look very realistic - some things to look out for are whether they ask you to log in to what looks like an HMRC website, using a generic term like "valued customer", spelling mistakes, correct grammar and please note that *all* emails come from a gov.uk URL. Look out for scammers using gov.vk, go.vuk or similar.

If you have any suspicion, get in touch and we will be able to confirm its trustworthiness.

02/12/2024

We've been working through the changes in the recent Budget and have seen a major change to the tax system with regards to double-cab pickups.

Effectively, any such vehicle purchased after 06/04/2025 will be treated the same as a 'normal' car is right now - disallowable VAT on the purchase / running costs and personal / company tax on the benefit-in-kind.

Be aware though that any vehicle purchased before that date will still continue to be taxed under the old regulations.

We anticipate a spike in sales for these vehicle over the next 4 months, followed by demand falling off a cliff! Unless the Gov't changes its mind, which the previous one did, twice in 2 weeks!

Give us a call to discuss if you want some more in-depth information.

29/08/2024

Three of our team are heading down to Cornwall this weekend to attempt the Macmillan Mighty Hike - a 26 mile trek along the north Cornish coast to raise funds for a charity that does fantastic work to help those affected by cancer.

Cancer isn't fussy who it hurts, and that pain spreads to family and friends as well. We (Damian Blow, Rachel Upstone and Jamie Blackford) have recently lost a good friend, while also having loved ones fall foul of this terrible disease, so it is a personal challenge as well as just being a great cause.

This is the link to our fundraising page if you would like to donate:

https://www.justgiving.com/team/quiettimefordamo

Help Damian Blow raise money to support Macmillan Cancer Support

20/02/2024

As an edit to yesterday's note regarding double-cab cars, HMRC have today reversed the decision (see what we did there?) and they are now back to where they were before - no Benefits in Kind and full capital allowances available for them.

More cynical people than us here might think HMRC don't necessarily know what they're doing...!

19/02/2024

This will probably surprise a few, but in reality, it's been a long time coming. HMRC have finally woken up to the fact that double-cab cars are still, in fact, cars...
They have re-interpreted the rules regarding these types of vehicles and the tax treatment will change for any new vehicle purchased (or even ordered) from 1 July 2024. All existing owners just need to be aware that although the rules don't change for their existing vehicle, just if they order a replacement.
The VAT situation is currently unchanged (just to confuse everyone a bit more), but we doubt this will stay the same for too long.

This article explains in some more detail:

HMRC has revisited the interpretation of the treatment of double-cab pickups for income tax purposes in light of the Court of Appeal decision in /Payne &

22/11/2023

As you can imagine, we here at Chestnut Green were glued to the Budget, seeing what surprises the Chancellor would pull out of his hat (box). And it's safe to say there were quite a few, some more surprising than others:

1) National Insurance (essentially tax by a different name) has been cut by 2 %age points on the main rate for employees, from January 6th, as opposed to the normal April 6th.
2) Cutting Class 4 NIC to 8% and abolishing Class 2 NIC for the self-employed.
3) The current temporary capital allowance claims have been extended permanently. Please note this only applies to companies, and not sole traderships. It also doesn't apply to asset purchases such as land & buildings and cars.
4) State pension rates are to increase by 8.5%.
5) National living wage increases to £11.44 per hour

We're still waiting for some clarification on the finer points, but the above hopefully gives a simple guide to the changes announced today.