H M Revenue & Customs

They are responsible for tax collection in the UK and HMRC’s website is a mine of useful information. There are full details of Income Tax, Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax, VAT, Excise duties and Stamp duties, including all rates and allowances. The site can be accessed via their Home page at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/index.htm

You may also find the following pages useful:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/calcs/esi.htm – This Employment Status Indicator tool will give their opinion of whether someone is your employee or is self-employed.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employment-status/index.htm – Guidance on the employment status of workers
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/se1.pdf – A guide to starting up in business
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/index.htm – A useful guide to VAT, including when and how to register
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/intro/basics.htm – A basic guide to how and when to operate PAYE
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2008/business-payment.htm – What to do if you cannot pay your taxes immediately
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/schemes/flat-rate.htm – Advice on the the flat rate scheme of VAT which can be advantageous under certain circumstances
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/forms-rates/rates/rate-rise-guidance.pdf – Guidance on how to account for VAT during the transition to 20% standard rate

Grants

Are you looking to see whether your buiness qualifies for any form of grant or funding. If so, then one very useful website to look at is http://www.j4bgrants.co.uk/Default.aspx
Direct Gov

The central site pointing you to the government’s latest information and advice on their services including information on retirement, caring for someone, motoring, travel, the environment, living abroad, parenthood, disability, plus many others. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm