2007 - April
Where perks are provided to employees and directors in the form of expenses and benefits, their details must be returned to the Taxman. Did anything change for 2006/7 that you need to be aware of?
Can your company pay for your golf club membership without any tax consequences for you? According to one of your colleagues it can. Too good to be true? What’s the full story here?
The rumour is that you’ll now face a big fine if you make a mistake on your 2006/7 tax returns. Is this true? What do you need to remember?
A recent announcement by the Taxman of his intention to counter large scale anti-avoidance is actually a reminder of how you could support your spouse in their own business and save yourself tax. How’s it done?
No degree in business economics
One way the Taxman handles enquiries is to try and reconstruct how well your business should have done. A pointless exercise you may think. However, when he presents these calculations during an enquiry, what should you do?
What about having a company track day instead of a Christmas party? The classic catch is that events which mix business with pleasure can saddle you with a tax bill. How can you minimise the tax consequences?
You and your parents have decided to sell your respective houses and buy one huge property for the two families. Is there anything you can do to minimise any future Inheritance Tax (IHT) bill?
We’ve been contacted by a subscriber who’s being pestered by a debt collector who says they can collect an old company debt from the directors personally. Surely this can’t be right?
If you’re in a long running dispute with a customer, a recent case suggests you should carefully consider what it might cost in legal fees if you go to court. What’s the up-to-date view?
Like any shrewd director, you’re always looking for ways to cut costs. Insurance is your next target. Can you make savings without increasing (personal) risks?
Heard the one about a company which put out its rubbish at the wrong time and committed a criminal offence? A director’s been in touch wondering if this story is for real and if so, what they can do to stay on the right side of the law.
Doesn’t everything pass tax-free to your spouse when you die? If so, making a will won’t make any difference to your estate. However, there is a hidden tax charge than can be avoided by using a will. What’s involved?
A director from another company has said that his firm uses a job costing system to maintain its profits. Is this something you should have? If so, is there an easy but accurate way to carry out job costing?
Like many directors, you’ve realised that there are healthy profits to be made from investing your surplus cash in the property market. But every purchase seems to result in higher fees. Is there a way to cap them?
We’ve heard that some HSE Health and Safety Awareness Officers are inspecting sites. Are they allowed to do this?
Personal Emergency Egress Plan (PEEP)
If you have employees with disabilities working for you then you should ensure special precautions are in place to assist with their evacuation in the event of an emergency. Why not use our free document to help?
A colleague has informed you that as your works involve noisy processes and chemicals, you’re under a legal duty to ensure your staff have regular general health assessments. Is this really the case?
British Waterways was recently prosecuted following the deaths of two employees working on river banks. How did the accident happen and what’s to learn from this particular case?
A serious near miss on a construction site prompted the HSE to investigate and prosecute a Scottish company. What actually happened, and what can you learn from this case?
Out of the blue you’ve received a letter from a claims management company regarding an accident to a visitor to your site - two years ago! However, as far as you’re concerned it never happened. How should you respond?
An area in your workplace is designated as a mandatory noise protection zone. However, the staff working there go through disposable earplugs at a rate of knots. How can you control the situation?
Firewall software is vital for alerting you to suspect Internet traffic (malware, hackers, etc.). We put four free programs to the test.
Music please… but without restrictions!
Even when downloading music “legally” - that is, buying songs at online shops - you may be confronted with copy-protected files. Indeed, most “legal” services impose restrictions. Here are some shops that don’t.
A form on your website is an excellent means of establishing direct contact with visitors. Creating such a form isn’t simple though. So try Wufoo.
Suppose you log in to your webmail via a colleague’s or a friend’s computer, or at a hotel or a cybercafé. How do you make sure that you don’t unwittingly leave any private information behind?
There’s a lot of software around that helps you to convert files into different formats. However, there are some good online services as well. We put some of them to the test…
Checking your online consumption
Even though broadband connections are becoming faster, some programs may have a very slow connection, or perhaps you simply want to know how much a program “consumes”. Here are some tools that can help you.
To turn your Easter photographs into professional quality prints, you need the best online services at a reasonable price. We checked the market.
Twitter and other hyped-up products
You may already have heard about Twitter and Scribd, two new services operating in the “community” sphere. They have been hyped-up! Are they worth a try?
Do you fancy some video chatting? Besides the well-known tools Skype and Windows Live Messenger, SightSpeed is rapidly gaining popularity.
If you’re tired of your cheques being “in the post” or chasing up late payments, the Web can help. We look at sites that show you how to get paid on time.
Restrictive covenants are unenforceable unless drafted in a reasonable manner and they protect a legitimate business interest. So, how do you go about trying to ensure that your restrictive covenants will be valid? What’s the latest?
When new allegations come to light…
Where the evidence at a disciplinary hearing reveals potential misconduct that wasn’t specified in your original notification of disciplinary hearing letter, are you required to adjourn proceedings and send out a new letter?
Is this a post-resignation grievance?
One of your employees has just resigned. Unfortunately, he’s also submitted a letter which sets out several complaints. Should you treat this as a grievance, and if so, what should be your response?
Don’t ignore workplace bullying
Turning a blind eye to bullying at work can be a high-risk strategy, especially as 67% of employees claim to affected. What are the signs to watch out for and what should you have in place to deal with the issues?
You’ve heard that using pre-employment questionnaires can be an effective way to spot potential new recruits who might suffer with an attendance problem. But how far does the law really allow you to go?
If you receive a complaint that an employee smells of alcohol, you may be tempted to sack them on the spot. But would this be such a wise move?
The March 2007 Budget report ushered in changes to both Corporation Tax and Capital Allowances. So what’s the Chancellor done to small businesses?
If you’re already a higher rate taxpayer the problem with taking an extra dividend is that you pay tax on it, yet fellow shareholders may have no tax to pay. How can you use this to your advantage?
If you’ve included some bank interest on an old tax return, which shouldn’t have been taxed (or taxed in that year), should you simply make an adjustment for this error on the next return?
For 2007/8, personal allowances are up, the lower rate income tax limit has been extended and NI thresholds raised. Nothing new in that, however, this all has an impact on the dividends you take from your company. Read on.
If you registered for the service to send your Employer’s Annual Return online, you will also automatically get your PAYE notices and reminders online too. How can you use this to your advantage?
Purchasing a commercial property to trade from is likely to be one of the most significant transactions your company undertakes. What’s the most beneficial route to ownership, from a tax point of view?
Occasionally, your company hires a vehicle to deal with some urgent business. However, this time when the invoice arrived there was a “congestion charge, plus VAT” included. Can you claim for this?
Combining business and pleasure
A colleague collects tropical fish and has let slip that the Taxman is actually footing the bill for his hobby. How is this possible? Is there a loophole you could use to cover your own interests?
Reducing the tax on a company car
If your company provides a director with a company car and pays for their fuel, what are the tax implications? Are there any tips to paying less tax on this sort of arrangement?
How much can we pay ourselves?
The company hasn’t had its most successful year. But should this influence how much pay the directors can award themselves? And can you be given another lucrative service contract?
A director contacted us wanting to know what rights a bailiff really has and whether his personal goods could be taken. And is it true that new laws are on the way which give even greater powers?
You know that when an invoice is outstanding you have to chase it in writing. But how many times? What’s the best advice?
A business customer has just cancelled an order which you’d already started working on. They reckon that they have a statutory right to “cool off”. Is this correct and if not, can you claim for anything?
A recent survey has revealed that just under a quarter of all employees listen to their iPods at work for up to three hours a day. You’re concerned that this could give rise to health and safety and other issues. Could you be liable?
Contractors who don’t know the rules
A colleague employed a maintenance contractor who didn’t think health and safety rules applied to him as his business is very small. What happened, and how can you avoid a similar experience?
Implementing safety improvements
You’re struggling to win support from senior managers about some of the ideas you’ve had to reduce risks in your workplace. They see them as expensive and pointless. How can you convince them otherwise?
Not one or two, but three points of contact
Whilst you know that using ladders and stepladders has not been banned, you’ve been told that staff using them must maintain “three points of contact”. What does this mean and is it really practical to do it?
One of our subscribers contacted us for advice after they’d read that they should have a chemical treatment system to prevent Legionella in their water supply. Do they really need one?
According to a leading insurer, one million small businesses aren’t compliant with new fire laws. What should you be doing?
If you’re in the construction industry, you’re now faced with putting staff through a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) before they can get a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card. What’s the best way of doing this?
Getting from A to B without any problems
Transporting goods around any size of premises can be fraught with difficulty. Locked doors, blocked passageways etc. can result in a dangerous obstacle course. So what can you do to ensure safe transit?
Large files (for instance a long PowerPoint presentation or a video clip) may not be able to be sent as an e-mail attachment (due to size limits). So how can you make them reach their destination?
At the popular news site Digg, the users themselves determine which messages will appear at the top of the Digg homepage. This principle is being applied increasingly by other websites. Here are some useful ones.
Windows Vista has a handy search field for locating and launching programs and documents. In Windows XP, however, you often have to wade through a lot of submenus before getting there. Except if you use a free “launcher”...
You may have quite a lot of videos sitting on your hard disk: clips from YouTube, home videos you’ve made using a digital camera... How can you easily convert them to DVD and watch them in the comfort of your living room?
Online RSS readers allow you to read the headlines of a wide variety of online news resources and newspaper websites collected on one personal page. We check out the best services.
Word processing, offline and online
You’re probably using a word processor such as Microsoft Word, and perhaps you’ve already tried an online word processor such as Google Docs. The free WordPerfect Lightning aims to make the best of both worlds. Does it succeed?
The online DVD rental market is booming - we look at rental sites and the different packages available.
The so-called “peer to peer” (P2P) networks for exchanging files don’t generally enjoy a good reputation and are often associated with “illegal” downloads. And yet, a number of big shots are still around.
After the browser war, the battleground appears to be shifting to the file formats for Office documents. What do you need to know?
You can also use blogs to keep in touch with customers and suppliers. And for business research, we look at sites that help you to make the most of a business blog.
Maintaining flexibility and staying legal
You’re looking to revamp your employment contracts and want to draft one which will allow you maximum flexibility to make adjustments, whilst remaining legal. What are the most important areas to get right?
There’s still confusion over what evidence employees must raise in order to shift the burden of proof over to you in discrimination claims. What’s the latest news?
You’ve decided to smarten up your corporate image by issuing your customer-facing staff with uniforms. As you don’t have any contractual provision for this, are you able to do so? If so, how should you deal with any staff objections?
You know that if you fundamentally breach an employee’s contract, e.g. by cutting their pay, they can resign and claim constructive dismissal. However it’s possible that the dismissal is still fair. How can this be?
In several recent cases it was held that the end-user was effectively the employer of agency temps. Bearing this in mind, should you still bother using temps and if so, what should you always watch out for?
If an employee appeals against a disciplinary sanction, you have to set up an appeal hearing. But, what if you decide that the original sanction was actually too lenient? Can you increase it following the appeal hearing?
What’s classified as pollution?
You’ve heard about businesses being prosecuted for polluting water, but never really understood what classifies as “pollution”. What is it, and who can you expect to knock on the door if you’re suspected of causing it?
Your insurers have asked for details of the precautions you’ve taken to prevent environmental incidents. As you’ve never had one, it’s not something you’ve considered. So, what should you do?
Hybrid heaven or petrol-head hell?
Some company cars are in need of replacement. So, as part of your green (and money saving) commitment you’re looking at hybrids. Are there any real benefits in them or are they more of a gimmick?