Advisory
Fuel Rates for Company Cars
August 2006
HMRC have announced new
rates for journeys on or after 1 July 2006. These rates
apply to company car drivers who are reimbursed for
business miles driven. The rates can also be used by
company car drivers who claim all their fuel costs
and then reimburse their employer for their private
mileage.
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Warning
to Big Banks
August 2006
A survey by the Daily
Telegraph has revealed that small businesses are looking
to change their bank because they are no longer willing
to put up with poor service and that they were shopping
around for better deals.
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Low Pay Commission to Consider
Small Businesses
August 2006
The Low Pay Commission
(LPC) has been advised to consider the impact of any
increase in the national minimum wage on small businesses,
which is a change to the current remit of their considerations.
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Proposed
Trust and Tax Return Changes
June 2006
Last month we reported on the proposed inheritance
tax (IHT) changes for trusts. The professional bodies
are lobbying HMRC and the government to reconsider
the rules and we will keep you in touch with developments.
If you have a trust, created before Budget day, there
is no need to take any immediate action as the IHT
charges will not generally take effect until 2008.
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Small Companies and Their Associates
June 2006
A decision in the High
Court has overturned HMRC’s
usual interpretation of the rules on associated companies.
The small companies rate of tax of 19% is payable where
a company’s profits are less than the upper limit
of £300,000. Where the company has associates
(broadly companies under common control) the upper
limit has to be divided equally between the companies,
resulting in the companies paying higher rates of corporation
tax if they breach this reduced limit.
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Businesses Get Disaster Planning
Help
June 2006
Under the Civil Contingencies Act local authorities
are now obliged to help businesses plan for disasters
such as fires, terrorist attacks and bird flu. The
new services, launched recently, are designed to ensure
that disasters cause as little damage to the economy
as possible and businesses continue to trade.
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Will Your Business Win During the
World Cup
June 2006
Independent shopkeepers are expected to score a higher
percentage of alcohol sales than the big supermarkets
during this summer’s football World Cup. Scottish
and Newcastle UK predicts that independents will account
for two thirds of the extra sales of beer to be drunk
at home during the tournament.
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HMRC and Offshore Assets
June 2006
There has been a lot
of recent publicity about HMRC formally requesting
financial institutions, including Barclays, to deliver
up details relating to offshore bank accounts. This
is clearly a major offensive by HMRC, who seem to feel
that many UK residents ‘hide’ monies
offshore.
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New Funds Available
June 2006
Two new Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) are to be
created under a multi-million pound government scheme
to boost innovation, jobs and growth for small businesses
trapped in the equity gap, Small Business Minister
Margaret Hodge has announced.
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Responsibility
driven by results
Expertise in motoring and private criminal matters
May 2006
Motoring
You may know someone
who in the last 12 months has faced prosecution for
one or more of the following:
- Speeding
- Contravening traffic lights
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Benefits
in kind forms P11D are due
May 2006
It is time to start gathering
together the information to complete the forms P11D
which report to HMRC details of benefits and expenses
provided to employees and directors in the tax year
to 5 April 2006. The forms have to be submitted to
HMRC by 6 July so you have some time to track down
the relevant information and to complete the forms.
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Are
your VAT details up to date?
May 2006
HMRC have issued a reminder
to businesses to ensure that their registered details
are up to date
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New
Inheritance Tax Rules
May 2006
The chancellor, Gordon
Brown has revised his proposed Budget measures in respect
of trusts, following protests by the
life assurance industry and MPs amongst
others.
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Corporate Manslaughter Act is Coming
April 2006
UK fleet managers are
gearing up for the new Corporate Manslaughter Act.
This will hold companies to account for failing to
take reasonable care for the safety of their employees
or members of the public.
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One Million Drivers are
One Offence from a Ban
April 2006
The proliferation of
speed cameras on UK roads and motorways has dramatically
increased the number of drivers with penalty points
on their licence and it is estimated that one million
drivers are now only one offence away from an automatic
ban, with over125,000 of these claiming they will loose
their job as a result.
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Fag-End!
April 2006
The smoking ban set to
become law next summer for workplaces, pubs and clubs
could include company cars, which would be classified
an extension of the office.
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Duty Of Care - Driving
License
April 2006
Businesses that provide
no guidance to employees who are expected to drive
whilst on its business are running unnecessary risks
of increased costs, potential injury or prosecution.
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Capital Allowances for
Smaller Businesses
April 2006
In Budget 2006, the government
announced that capital allowances in the form of first
year allowances (FYAs) on plant and machinery acquisitions
would be at the rate of 50% for small businesses.
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Corporation
Tax Rates
April 2006
A starting rate of corporation
tax of 0% was introduced in 2002 and applies to companies
with taxable profits of £10,000 or less. Companies
with profits between £10,000 and £50,000
enjoy a marginal relief from the small companies rate
of 19%. This was followed by the introduction of the
non corporate distribution rate of 19% on profits which
were distributed by way of dividends back to the shareholders.
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Pensions
- A Day 6 April 2006
April 2006
The new tax regime for
pensions finally takes effect from 6 April 2006, referred
to as ‘A’ day. There will be a single set
of rules for all registered pension schemes. A summary
of the rules is set out in the link below.
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IOD
Publish Report on Inhibitors to Growth
April 2006
The Institute of Directors
(IoD) has published a report highlighting the problems
faced by UK businesses. The IoDs’ head of business
policy Dr Richard Wilson, said that “Skill shortages,
red tape etc are what are holding UK businesses back”.
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Bad
Debt Reaches New Heights
April 2006
A study carried out by
the Credit Management Research Centre ( CMRC) shows
that late payment is causing small firms in the UK
to write off an average of £14,000 in bad debt
every year.
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Business
Rates
April 2006
The Federation of Small
Businesses advises that lots of smaller businesses
are paying too much in business rates.
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Budget
Report Summary 2006
March 2006
Gordon Brown presented
his tenth Budget on Wednesday 22 March 2006. Will it
prove to be his last? Has he won public and parliamentary
support for his bid to become Prime Minister?
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SMES
Happy Being Small
March 2006
Research shows that three
quarters of small business owners believe their quality
of life has improved since they started their own business..
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Employer
Pension Contributions
March 2006
From A Day, 6 April 2006,
the new pension regime will finally take effect. We
have previously reported on the introduction of the
new rules and HMRC have recently published their draft
internal guidance on whether or not employer pension
contributions will be deductible for tax purposes.
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National
Pensions Day - 18 March
March 2006
On 18 March 2006 the
future of pensions will be debated nationwide in the
UK's first National Pensions Day.
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Chip
and PIN
March 2006
We are sure you will
not have missed the introduction of the chip and PIN
payment system with the flurry of in store advertising
campaigns. Fighting for Private Business (FPB), a group
which campaigns for small businesses, says banks are
to blame for the difficulties surrounding the introduction
of chip and PIN by pushing the system through before
retailers and consumers are ready.
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Are
Your Customers Creditworthy?
February 2006
Small businesses should
check potential customers’ creditworthiness before
starting to trade with them and then continue to monitor
them to avoid payment problems developing, advises
the Better Payment Practice Group (BPPG).
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Car
Benefit Calculations
February 2006
The Revenue have produced
updated guidance in the Employment Income Manual on
how car benefits are calculated. The guidance sets
out the basis for the calculation using the list price
of the car and an appropriate percentage normally based
on the CO2 emissions of the car.
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VAT
Receipts and Employee Mileage Claims
February 2006
In last month’s
enews we reported on the changes to the procedures
for input VAT recovery by employers on employees’ mileage
allowances. Customs have issued further clarification
of the evidence required to support a claim for input
VAT recovery
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Some
Highlights of the Recent Pre-budget Report
January 2006
The Chancellor’s
recent Pre-Budget Report included two important business
measures.
Firstly a starting rate
of corporation tax of 0% was introduced in 2002 and
applies to companies with taxable profits of £10,000
or less. Companies with profits between £10,000
and £50,000 currently enjoy a marginal relief
from the small companies’ rate of 19%.
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VAT
Receipts and Employee Mileage Claims
January 2006
HM Revenue & Customs
has announced changes to the procedures for input VAT
recovery by employers on employees’ mileage allowances.
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Unscrambling
Your Tax Code
January 2006
The Revenue has announced
that, following a pilot scheme in south west England,
more than 20 million taxpayers will be receiving new
style PAYE coding notices over the next few months.
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Small
Businesses Winning Government Contracts
January 2006
Figures published recently
indicate that more government contracts are being won
by small businesses, although there is still room for
further improvement. To help increase this figure a
new guide has been launched to encourage more public
sector procurers to use smaller suppliers.
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DTI
Research Dispels Some Myths
January 2006
New research from the
DTI has revealed there are a number of myths surrounding
starting and running a business. These myths are potentially
damaging as they can discourage people from taking
the plunge and starting up their own business. Examples
include:
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Issues
Facing New Businesses
December 2005
New businesses have historically
often cited problems with raising finance as the key
obstacle to growth. A recent survey by the Better Payment
Practice Group (BPPG) suggests that credit management
is now the key issue for new and growing businesses.
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Banking
December 2005
The Office of Fair Trading
(OFT) is to examine the UK system of cheque clearance
and will publish a report in the summer of 2006. A
number of issues will be considered including a cost/benefit
analysis on cheque clearance times as well as differing
practices between banks.
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E-Commerce
Survey
December 2005
The government’s
National Statistics Office has released the findings
of its 2004 e-commerce survey. Internet sales rose
to £71.1 billion, an impressive 81% increase
over 2003.
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Data
Back-Up for Small Businesses
December 2005
Recent research by British Telecom in
association with the Institute of Directors has found
that less than 20% of UK small businesses back-up their
data remotely despite over 80% admitting that they
could not function without it.
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Happy
New Year!
November 2005
Start
your 2006 healthily by conducting a review of your
business finance arrangements.
Our business finance
services cover all possible funding requirements from
directors cars, commercial vehicles, equipment and
other assets, to IT and property. In addition, we can
help source working capital facilities such as confidential
invoice discounting or factoring, and even the more
traditional forms of finance such as bank overdraft
facilities.
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Small
Firms Loan Guarantee
November 2005
The
Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) was introduced
in 1981. It is designed to help SMEs with viable
business propositions but without the necessary security
to access debt finance. Loans are currently available
for periods of between two and ten years on sums
from £5,000 to £100,000 (or £250,000
if the business has been trading for more than two
years). The SFLG covers 75% of the lender’s
exposure with the borrower paying a 2% premium to
the government.
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Construction
Industry Scheme (CIS)
November 2005
The
new CIS was due to be introduced in April 2006. At
the eleventh hour a government announcement has confirmed
a 12 month delay in its introduction. This follows
pressure from the construction industry and an admission
on the part of the Revenue that their systems would
not be fully ready for an April 2006 start date.
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Raising
Business Finance - Common Mistakes Sourcing Funds
September 2005
Martin Shearwood, managing
director of Wolverhampton based MJS Business Finance
looks at the common mistakes made by business owners
looking to source funds.
Raising business finance
is never a simple process. Whether you are setting
up a new business, expanding your company or facing
financial difficulties, there are certain mistakes
which get made again and again.
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Discounting & Factoring
August 2005
There are many ways of
funding and growing a business ranging from the traditional
bank overdrafts to venture capital funding, and market
flotation to name the extremes. This is in addition
of course to the businesses, or shareholders, own resources.
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July 2005
The House of Lords have
given its long awaited ruling on the case of NatWest.v.Spectrum
last week.
The Lords ruled that
in a collect out situation following a formal insolvency
appointment, banks’ charges over book debts,
rather than being fixed charge recovery, are merely
covered by the floating charge, from which preferential
creditors claims have to be paid out in priority to
the banks.
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July 2005
Tony Blair must prove
early on his historic third term that Labour is committed
to supporting small businesses, the backbone of the
UK economy.
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July 2005
KARAN BILIMORIA is the
face that the deeply unfashionable factoring industry
has been looking for.
The founder of Cobra
Beer is a cheerleader for this form of finance, which
he says is ideal for an ambitious small business unable
or unwilling to tap into more mainstream sources. “It
is a grossly under-utilised route which more companies
should consider,” he says.
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June 2005
Small Businesses are
wide open to a dangerous new form of identity fraud.
Few safeguards are in place to prevent criminals running
up thousands of pounds of debt in their name.
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May 2005
Local businesses and
accountants across Wolverhampton and the West Midlands
can now access a fully independent business finance
company following the launch of MJS Business Finance
Limited.
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Why
you should choose independent business finance advice
Only the Independent Business Finance Adviser has access
to all companies and contracts on the market, and the
legal obligation to act as your agent. A tied agent
is responsible to their employer to meet their sales
targets (ethically, of course) and has only one set
of products from which to choose.
No funding provider is best at everything, so we use
our many years experience combined with our computerised
quotation, product selection and rate performance systems,
to select the right product and the best company for
you.
Click
here to arrange a no obligation meeting to
discuss your funding requirements.
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