Points to Ponder
A collection of newsletters issued monthly to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye.
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Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 80th. newsletter issued in February 2012, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website.
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JSA NEWS
Up in the cloud! Our transition to cloud hosting for all our IT is now complete and, touch wood, all seems right with the world. Due to a major effort from everyone here we have managed to catch up the roughly 150 working hours we lost to computer problems.
This is the very last time we are going to put in 15 hour days in January because records are not brought in until late in December and January. In fact, one or two will have to pay the £100 fine as their accounts just cannot be finalised in time, despite the 2 day extension due to strike action by HMRC staff.
The other down-side of late-submitted returns is that these are flagged up by HMRC and are more likely to attract an enquiry. As we have warned before now, enquiries take more time to sort out than the accounts did in the first place and usually result in a tax assessment, plus penalties and interest and a bill for our time in trying to sort things out. Still, that’s the January 31st lecture over for another year!!
HMRC NEWS
Business records check
We have mentioned before that HMRC is imposing standards on records to be kept by businesses and we must say that many we received this year would fail those standards. Records don’t have to be complicated but as long as you keep all your receipts, invoices and bank statements, we can get them in to shape for you – but it’s up to you to give us the building blocks. |
Not registered for VAT – this affects you - VAT registration amnesty ends
HMRC has announced that following the initiative to persuade businesses that should have registered for VAT to do so by 31st December 2011 and avoid penalties, they will now start investigating non-registered businesses. If your turnover is over £60,000 then please contact us so that we can help you monitor it.
Did you receive a letter from HMRC last year, suggesting you should be registered? If so, you will be checked if you haven’t registered. The full version of this article can be found here.
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VAT on line
Very soon all VAT returns and payments must be made on line. The best payment method is direct debit, which we can help you set up. The payment is then guaranteed to arrive on time, subject to sufficient funds being available in your account of course, and there is at least an extra 10 days allowed before payment is taken from the account. Providing we are fully registered as your agents for VAT and we have the authorisation codes, we can submit all this through our TASBooks book-keeping programme at the touch of a button – or a few computer keyboard taps!
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EMPLOYMENT
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Taking on an employee
Often believed to be more difficult than it is. One of our other local MP’s, Chris Grayling of Epsom and Ewell, is responsible for the “off benefits and back to work” campaign and as part of that is launching “The Job Club – Pathway to Employment” at Nescot so Sue can report on that next month. Read it all here...
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Apprenticeships
The government is offering new apprenticeship incentives. Employers with up to 50 staff can receive an incentive payment, which we believe is tax-free, to take on an apprentice aged 16 to 24, who can expect to earn on average £170 net per week. Traditionally apprenticeships were offered in construction, engineering and related manufacturing, but the scheme extends to IT and other office-based training.
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FSB NEWS
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Pension Road Show
We know Sue is still on her soapbox about this but it is going to happen and it will cost you money. The FSB now has a pension provider in competition to the Government’s NEST scheme. The FSB scheme will be underwritten by Scottish Widows. There will be a series of Road Show presentations in the Surrey and Sussex areas, hosted by the FSB and Scottish Widows, so we shall try and let you all have details of when these events will happen. As she has been so vociferous about the compulsory enrolment pension regulations, Sue is going to have to help introduce all these meetings! The first is expected to be at Imber Court some time in April so watch this space. These meetings are free and open to non-FSB members, but the Scottish Widows enrolment is restricted to the FSB.
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The Federation of Small Businesses is launching its
“Real Life Entrepreneurs”
scheme this month to try and raise the profile of small businesses and encourage more co-operation between businesses, government and financial institutions. It is also hoping to encourage mutual support between businesses to swop ideas and services, including mentoring for start ups.
On a totally different theme, the FSB is also supporting the Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team at the 2012 Paralympics so let’s hope they go for gold.
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OTHER BUSINESS NEWS
2012 – The Olympic Year
Have you checked how this might affect you yet? The main problems for our area will be road closures, especially during the cycle races and the marathon but there will be additional closures during the torch relay. Check the details on the Olympics website and be prepared.
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SCAMS
Telephone scam – this isn’t really Microsoft calling. We all experience odd hiccups on computers and get a message suggesting we pass it on to Microsoft and most users don’t bother. An overseas call-centre has cottoned on to this and very plausibly introduces itself as the Microsoft help desk and asks if they can help to clear up the problem. The computer user is directed to a report on their PC that lists the problems encountered and the caller offers to clear everything up – free of charge of course. All they want is control of the PC briefly. DON’T BE FOOLED. Access to your PC can reveal all your financial details including your account passwords and your money can be lifted before the call is terminated. Never give access to anyone you don’t know. This may sound obvious but the callers are extremely well trained.
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AND FINALLY
And finally – a competition – name that phobia! Several of our clients who bring records in late say they have a paperwork phobia but there doesn’t appear to be an agreed name for this on Google, A fear of dentists (Sue’s main phobia) is dentophobia and a fear of not getting things done on time is omophobia but can we give this excuse an official title? Once it’s named, perhaps it can be treated! As you may perhaps guess, light-headedness is setting in again after the dreaded pressure of Self Assessment deadlines – now that should have a phobia name, all of its own!
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Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 79th. newsletter issued in November 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website.
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Computers are wonderful - when they work!
As some of you may be aware, we have suffered a melt-down despite all the measures in place to protect us. It seems the odds against the problem we had happening were many hundreds to one, but we turned out to be that one! We are now completely changing our hosting so the odds become millions to one of a repeat. The good news is that our backup system worked so we didn’t lose any data but we have lost all e-mails sent to us more than a week ago. If you have sent an e-mail and not had a reply, please can you send it again? We apologise for the inconvenience but we are now getting back up to speed.
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National Minimum Wage
This is a reminder that the rates changed on 1st October 2011. The hourly rate for workers aged 21 and over is now £6.08; for 18 to 20 it is £4.98; for 16 to 17 (above school leaving age but under 18) is £3.68 and the apprentice rate (for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeship) is £2.60. If your employees receive a share of tips these are not to be counted as part of the hourly rate. |
Abolition of default retirement age.
With effect from 1 October, the default retirement age (DPA) of 65 was repealed by the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations that prohibit age discrimination in the workplace. Employers can no longer insist on an employee retiring at 65.
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Take charge of Social Networking
Platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer endless possibilities for businesses to reach new customers, react more quickly and work more flexibly.
On the other hand, giving employees a free reign to tweet and blog as they please can bring the potential issues of defamation, time theft and cyber bullying with it.
Now, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), a public body that aims to improve organisations and working life, has released its own guidance for businesses.
Its advice is the same as ours: start by developing a written policy. When drawing it up, consider the following areas and what should it cover?:
• Acceptable behaviour and use for:
• Data protection and monitoring: including how employees will be consulted.
• Network security: including viruses and firewalls.
• Business objectives: promoting employee engagement, your business brand and
your reputation.
• Disciplinary procedures: be clear about what’s not allowed and the penalties for
breaching the policy.
Social networking is not a passing fad; it’s essential that the way you deal with ‘electronic behaviour’ is consistent with the way you treat ‘non-electronic behaviour’.
For more advice and guidance on social networking, go to the ACAS website and read the full publication.
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Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 78th. newsletter issued in October 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website.
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This WILL Cost You Money
The new pension laws are going to affect all employers, whether or not they operate PAYE. Even if there are no eligible employees, all likely employers must set up a pension scheme. The law comes in to force from 1st October 2012, with phased staging dates up to 1st February 2016. Small businesses (those with less then 10 employees) will start to be affected from 1st April 2014. Although the legislation starts next year, changes are still being made to the rules. At the moment there are deemed to be 3 types of employees - eligible jobholders who must be automatically enrolled; non-eligible jobholders who can opt to join the scheme and expect employer contributions and entitled employees who have a right to join the scheme but not to expect employer-contributions. That was the easy bit – it gets worse. We are trying to unravel the legislation as the Department of Work and Pensions has kindly informed us that they are relying on advisers and accountants to explain everything to their clients! We are therefore hoping to stage a seminar to help explain what has to be done in words of one syllable. This will be in conjunction with the Federation of Small Businesses which is fighting to have the legislation simplified. The seminar is the only bit that might be free.
The pension will require employer contributions and it will be run along with your payroll but it will be time consuming to set up, run and maintain the staff records the Government is insisting on. We shall have to invest in new software to manage this on your behalf and we shall keep everything up to date for you. We shall try and keep our costs as low as possible, but this will affect everyone.
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CIS Returns
We have been encountering problems with some nil CIS returns submitted for 6 months but fines being issued. It has now come to light that these cases are where there is also a nil PAYE submission as the client has both subcontractors and employees. HMRC has now changed its website interface for this so it now clearly states that if you enter a nil monthly return it will take it that any previous period not covered by an individual return will be also treated as a nil return. We presume this has been done in response to the high number of complaints and incorrectly issued penalties. |
Superfast Broadband for everyone in Surrey by mid 2013.
Well, that’s the promise the leader of the council is making, backed by the Minister for Communications, Jeremy Hunt. Sue attended a public meeting in Farnham where this promise was discussed. What came out is that firstly no tenders for the installation have been received, next the promise is that each village will have access to super fast broadband but lastly, there is no guarantee that it will be installed in every home and business. The connection from the central village box to individual buildings will be down to the occupier – so more misleading promises.
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Message from Sue to our clients
As some of you are aware, due to the practice moving in to one office rather than two, I am now permanently working from home and as such it isn’t practical for me to be involved so much in the day to day running of the business, although I am still a director / shareholder along with Angela.
With this in mind, at a recent board meeting, Angela and I decided that she will take full responsibility for the office with Ian as her deputy and Paul assisting with accounts. Pat will continue to oversee the payrolls and the book-keeping with John and Lesley reporting to her. Lorraine and Steve will continue to take care of the admin as usual. This leaves me free to concentrate on some “bulkier” jobs as I seem to have more room in my office at home than in Gilders Road! It’s also quite peaceful but I do seem to be getting through more coffee!
This completes a full circle back to where the practise started and I am proud of how it has grown and widened and that we now have skilled staff who can look after you all.
This is nothing more than a basic change in procedures; I’m certainly not ready for retirement and I am almost always at the end of the phone or on e-mail but there is usually someone else in the office who can help you – probably easier than I can as I only have the files I am working on with me. I live only a couple of minutes away from the office so can come in for meetings if required at very short notice.
Many thanks to you all for your continued support.
Dates for your Diary
20th October - FSB North Surrey Branch AGM then meet the Enterprise Doctor for a diagnosis of the cause of your business problems.
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Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 77th. newsletter issued in August 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website.
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VAT Updates
If you receive a letter from HMRC headed “VAT Initiative Campaign” please contact us IMMEDIATELY. This is serious. The implication is that HMRC holds information that leads them to believe you have exceeded the VAT registration threshold but have failed to register. So far we have seen one of these letters sent to a sole trader who has moved in to a limited company. The letter says if you are sure your position is correct, do nothing, but we are waiting to see the follow-up. The letter also refers to other taxes, so any follow up will involve a full disclosure requirement. If you think you may have exceeded registration level, please check with us what you should do – better to own up before being found out.
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Automatic Enrolment & Workplace Pension Reform – More facts.
The current protests by Public Sector Workers about changes to their pension schemes and retirement age is hiding the fact that private sector workers will be much harder hit by the new regime being introduced. It also means that a great deal of Government time is being taken up by these larger pension schemes so there is insufficient time to “educate” small employers. As with the changes to the Construction Industry Scheme, as we feared, the onus of informing those going to be affected is being pushed on to their advisers. We have just received a letter from The Pensions Regulator suggesting that we might like to inform our clients about the changes. We can certainly try but if you do receive any correspondence from The Pensions Regulator, don’t ignore it – again there will be heavy penalties for non-compliance. There are information sheets on the Department for Work & Pensions website and some are quite clear, but it is just going to be more red tape and more costs.
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HMRC’s apology.
A Government committee has criticised HMRC for failing its customers with long delays of up to three months in answering letters and not answering all telephone calls. Also calls that are answered are not always being dealt with correctly. It has been hardest for older people and those with no Internet access to sort out their queries. HMRC has apologised and promised to try harder. Even using the Agents’ Support lines, we have often found the officers unhelpful. Clients calling the Debt Management offices have reported harsh and unhelpful responses. We know of more than one who when told that time to pay would not be extended, has been forced to close down. This means that the Revenue has lost the entire amount owed as it wouldn’t accept phased payments – where is the logic in this? Debt collection is now being sub-contracted out to private debt collection companies but it is not clear what authority, if any, these companies will have to accept a series of payments. As they are paid on results – i.e. money collected rather than closed files, they may be more helpful than HMRC – we can but hope.
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Some better news
Following residents’ protests, backed by the Federation of Small Businesses and other trade organisations, Claygate has made Surrey County Council back down over its plans to change parking charges in all retail areas. One size does not fit all. Other areas are now increasing their hopefully the small shops will not be hit again. By charging parking in all streets with small shops, customers will move away more to the big chain stores that offer free parking.
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VAT UPDATE – July 2011
VAT is constantly changing and with increasing fines and penalties for getting things wrong, it’s time to review the current position.
Read more on....VAT update – July 2011
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Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 76th. newsletter issued in July 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website.
Read more: July 2011
Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 75th. newsletter issued in June 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website. To save paper, we shall no longer be carrying forward general items from month to month.
THE MOVE IS COMPLETE!
THE OFFICE AT 220 CHESSINGTON ROAD IS FULLY RELOCATED TO 100 GILDERS ROAD.
After a battle with the telephone company, the main phone number from 220 has now been transferred to Gilders Road, so we are fully contactable again. We hope this problem has not caused too much upset to anyone. If you still have records to be collected from us, please can you drop in and get them? We are so short of space, it is becoming very difficult. Many thanks.
Read More On: June 2011
Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 74th. newsletter issued in May 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website. To save paper, we shall no longer be carrying forward general items from month to month.
THE MOVE IS COMPLETE!
THE OFFICE AT 220 CHESSINGTON ROAD IS FULLY RELOCATED TO 100 GILDERS ROAD.
One thing we have learnt from the move is that the dilapidations clause in the lease is heavy. Having been told by a solicitor when we signed the lease that this clause was “standard”, we were not prepared to have to put the premises in to better condition than when we first moved in. Please learn by our mistake!
Read More On: May 2011
Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 73rd. newsletter issued in April 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website. To save paper, we shall no longer be carrying forward general items from month to month.
TOP NEWS!
No, not the budget, our office move! It has all now happened and we are back under one roof – or at least for most of the time. The office can accommodate 7 desks but there are 8 of us. This means that Sue will be desk-sharing and on days there is no space in the office, she will work from home. We would like to welcome Steve who has joined us to help with admin and book-keeping and he will be in 3 days a week. Please can you make a mental note that all records to be collected are now at Gilders Road and as space is extremely limited, we would be grateful if you could collect them.
Read More On: April 2011
Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 72nd newsletter issued in March 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website. To save paper, we shall no longer be carrying forward general items from month to month.
Practice update – Major happenings – we’re on the move! – A Reminder
The move date for leaving 220 Chessington Road of 31st March 2011 is getting closer and we have made a start. Lorraine is moving back to 100 Gilders on Monday 7th March to sort things at this end. We shall be transferring the main telephone number from 220 but not the fax number. All our Gilders Road numbers and all the e-mail addresses are unchanged.
Read More On: March 2011
Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 71st newsletter issued in February 2011, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website. To save paper, we shall no longer be carrying forward general items from month to month.
Happy New Year!
Well, that was the message we all got from Angela on Tuesday morning – 1 st February and another Self Assessment deadline over. Again, some clients selfishly delivered their records at the last minute and still expected them done – we do have a life and commitments outside the office and next year we really won’t be doing these late nights. Records that arrive late will be dealt with IF WE CAN, so if you can’t make the effort, be prepared to pay the fines.
Read More On: February 2011
Points to Ponder!
Welcome to our 70th newsletter issued in December 2010, to keep you up to date with some of the changes in Income tax, National Insurance and VAT along with compliance regulations for businesses, plus other oddments that have caught our eye. If you would like a copy of any past newsletters, please call and we can either send or e-mail them to you or you can find them on our website. To save paper, we shall no longer be carrying forward general items from month to month.
Practice update – Major happenings – we’re on the move! – A Reminder
As we announced last month, we have decided not to renew the lease on 220 Chessington Road for a variety of reasons. With careful reorganisation, we shall all work out of 100 Gilders Road. The official date for the change is 31st March 2011. We sent out a letter to all the companies with their registered office at 220 to ask when we could make the change at Companies House and I’m afraid we have had very few replies so far. Please can you contact Lorraine soon as possible if you had a letter? Lorraine will be moving back to 100 Gilders early in the New Year to oversee the logistics, or that’s what she says! We think it may have more to do with the central heating system. We’ll keep you updated on progress on our move via the newsletter and the website. Thank you for your continued support.
Read More On: December 2010
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What most visitors are reading |
Minimum Fees Minimum Fees for new clients - from May 2009
Starting rates£
Sole Traders
Minimum charge, including accounts and self-assessment based on an average £45 per hour
330
Partnerships
Minimum charge, including accounts and self assessment for 2 partners, based on an average £45 per hour
460
Limited... Read moreUseful Info Useful Information!
New Business Payment Support Service
If you are having problems finding your tax money, you can contact the HMRC Support Service on 0845 302 1435, Monday to Friday between 8 am and 8 pm and at the weekend between 8... Read morePoints to Ponder VAT UPDATE – July 2011
VAT is constantly changing and with increasing fines and penalties for getting things wrong, it’s time to review the current position.
Read morePayroll fees Payroll fees as at February 2009
Set up fee £28.75 + VAT
Number of Employees Weekly & Bi-Weekly Monthly & 4 Weekly Quarterly
£
£
£
0 to 5
18.40
23.00
51.75
6 to 10
35.65
44.85
101.20
11 to 15
52.90
65.55
149.50
16 to 20
69.00
86.25
195.50
21 to 25
82.80
103.05
235.75
over 26
By arrangement
All fees quoted are... Read moreCIS Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) Services
Here at Jackson-Scott we understand that the legislation relating to CIS can be complicated and time consuming to some and we take great pride in being able to relieve this responsibility.
As a contractor you are no... Read moreInternet Site Design No website, but would like one?
As Sue announced in the November 2009 newsletter now offer a Web design service.
The design can be based on a simple set of static pages showing your products or services to a site with lots of contents... Read more
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