2008 - April
Diverting income for school fees
Wealthy relatives are often the source of funds used for school fee schemes. But what if yours don’t have the cash to set aside the amounts required for school fee investment plans. Is there a viable alternative?
Contract for employment or services?
Two cases decided in December 2007 could help you defend yourself from a costly tax bill if the Taxman decides one of your contractors was actually an employee. What new angles can you use?
The 2007/8 tax year has finished and it will soon be time to submit PAYE returns (P35). But there’s a puzzling new question on this year’s form. What is it and how should you react to it?
The Taxman has been picking apart your accounts and questioning some items/ goods you’ve acquired from the company at “cost”. He wants you to use market value, resulting in a large tax bill. Do you just have to accept this?
If you have young children, a large portion of your family income may disappear in childcare fees. You’ve probably heard of childcare vouchers but how much profit could you extract from your company this way in 2008/9?
Medical insurance is a taxable benefit-in-kind. But what about the cost of a check-up? Is it still a tax-free perk for key employees in 2008/9?
Experts recently decided that fire extinguishers fitted in the hallway of a block of flats should be removed. They concluded that the extinguishers posed more of a risk than a safety feature! What’s the real story here?
When someone had a nasty accident on your site, it created much confusion and commotion and everything stopped - even those who didn’t work locally came for a look! How can you minimise the impact of an accident on your site?
Corporate manslaughter is here
It’s taken twelve years, but the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act has finally hit the statute books. But do you really need to worry about it?
You’ve been told that all of your staff must have lung function tests because some of the chemicals used on your site are hazardous and could cause breathing problems. Is this really the case?
Safe use of machinery checklist
Using industrial machines, such as drills and lathes, should be done in a controlled manner. Staff must be trained and maintenance completed. To help you keep on top of things, why not use our checklist?
Don’t sell food with nasty extras
Superdrug recently found itself in trouble after a routine visit by local authority environmental health inspectors. Evidence of rodent infestation was found at one of its stores. What happened and how can such incidents be prevented?
Refurbishment works - the fire risks
You’ve employed a contractor to do some refurbishment works on one of your sites. However, you’ve realised that your fire risk assessment doesn’t cover what they’re doing. Do you need to amend it, or is this down to them?
Faster e-mailing using templates
When you’re e-mailing, you could probably be sending more or less the same messages on a regular basis. How do you avoid having to type the same text time and time again?
Your LCD display in top condition
The majority of both laptops and desktops now use flat LCD displays. If you have such a screen, it’s a good idea to adjust it carefully. You can do so in Windows itself or via free software.
Do you have wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi) but find it difficult to surf the Web in certain rooms of your house, if it works at all? Here are some ways of improving the signal of your Wi-Fi router.
Googling more accurately with SortFix
Not many people use the options for formulating more accurate queries in Google, i.e. those that produce a limited (and more useful) number of precise results. The SortFix site makes this a lot easier.
A recent survey predicted that two-thirds of us expect working from home to be commonplace by 2018. We look at how the Web can help you to be prepared.
Online storage space with Microsoft
Microsoft recently launched Windows Live SkyDrive, a service that allows you to store files online. How good is this newcomer compared with the well-established Xdrive?
Strange, isn’t it? The keyboard has become part and parcel of our lives, and yet few of us know how to touch type. Here are some free tools which can help you, or your children, learn how to type better and faster.
Everyone knows that you can find a lot of tourist information on the Web. We collected a few practical sites which should be among everyone’s bookmarks.
When people are surfing the Web, they tend to “scan” texts rather than reading them. How can you take this into account when drafting texts for your own website?
Donating your time via the Web
Thinking of volunteering? Use the Internet to find out what’s on offer, and to match up your interests, skills and availability with projects that need you.
Prepare for a dose of TV sportitis
Despite England’s failure to qualify for June’s European Championships, the event will still attract a lot of interest and then there’s the Olympics in Beijing. How should you prepare for the possibility of 20% of your staff being off “sick”?
Less haste, more speed (and avoid a tribunal claim)
An employee is sick, during which time you press ahead with disciplinary action. They subsequently submit a disability discrimination claim, but it’s five weeks beyond the time limit. Can you argue it’s out of time and should be dismissed?
Age as a redundancy selection criterion
Since anti-age discrimination legislation was introduced in 2006, you must show that any discriminatory treatment is justified. But following a recent case, just what evidence will a tribunal look for when determining liability?
There have been many recent tribunal cases where self-employed workers have claimed they are “employees”. When you engage a consultant or self-employed contractor, how can you be sure they’re not really an employee?
Getting the most out of students
A business contact is extolling the virtues of offering university students sandwich placements or paid work experience. Is this something that you should consider too? If so, what might be the advantages?
Third party dismissal pressure
A customer has said that they no longer want a particular employee of yours to carry out work on their premises. You don’t have any alternative work for them and dismissal seems the only option. Is this the correct move?
Discrimination by association?
As you know, legislation protects those with a qualifying disability from discrimination. But following a new case, could their carers also be protected?
How to keep your tax rate down to 10%
Can you predict what your top tax rate will be in 2008/9? Well, the basic rate of income tax has been cut from 22% to 20%, but higher rate tax is still 40%. However, there is a way to pay just 10%. So what is it?
If, during an enquiry into your business accounts, the Taxman queries your tax deduction for “spouse’s wages”, how should you respond? Or what can you do now to improve your case should he ask sometime in the future?
It’s the end of the tax year and you are totting up the total wages and deductions you’ve put through your payroll. Is there anything you can claim back from the Taxman?
For 2008/9 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 charge your company rent for the provision of an office in your home, shouldn’t you in turn be paying business rates on that area?
Should your accountant bill you separately for preparing your tax return or can they just include it in their accountancy fee? Or doesn’t it make any difference as far as the Taxman is concerned?
Making the most of subsistence rates
If your employees make frequent business trips, the expense claims they hand in on their return can be time consuming to process. Is there anything you can do to simplify this process and reduce the likelihood of expensive mistakes?
Once a year you or your accountant prepare the financial accounts for the Taxman and Companies House. However, producing management accounts on a more regular basis might pay dividends. What’s involved?
Bowing to pressure, the Chancellor has introduced a new Capital Gains Tax (CGT) relief. What is it and when could it mean less tax for you?
Selling your car to your company
Your BMW is costing you a small fortune to run every year. What if you were to sell it to the company instead? Would you be any better off and what would be the company’s position?
A subscriber contacted us after attempting to cancel a contract. They were told to put this in writing but later received a bill for another year. When they queried this, the other party said the notice to cancel arrived too late. Who’s right?
Why bother with a shareholders’ agreement?
A director’s been advised that their company ought to have a shareholders’ agreement in place. What’s the legal position and what should such an agreement contain?
Cutting your Inheritance Tax bill
Your will has been drafted in a tax-efficient way, but what if your relatives haven’t done the same and landed you with a big tax bill? You’ve heard that a deed of variation could save the day. What are they and how do they work?
“That’s asbestos - I’m stopping work now…”
One of your staff has just phoned to say that during work on a client’s site they’ve come across what they think is asbestos. However, the client is adamant that it isn’t and that they should carry on. How should you deal with this?
You have direct responsibility for ensuring health and safety issues are dealt with, but often it feels as if your colleagues think that you’re working against them. How can you redress the balance?
If you import machinery from abroad, it is your duty to ensure that it meets with UK safety requirements. One company didn’t, resulting in a serious accident. So how do you make sure machinery is safe to use?
It’s come to light that cheap copies of PPE are being sold. What should you look out for and how can you ensure that what you buy is up-to-scratch?
Are keys in glass boxes to open a final exit fire door acceptable? They must be - after all you can buy them from many suppliers. But a number of fire authorities think otherwise. What’s the latest?
But our staff only use a PC and a phone!
One of our subscribers, who operates a call centre, has received a request to see risk assessment documents from their insurance company. However, as they felt that their business was low-risk, they haven’t any. Are they needed?
One of your drivers has just returned to work following surgery. He says he cannot wear his seat belt while operating his lift truck, even though your policy says he must. He is happy to sign a waiver, but is this really allowed?
Better bidding thanks to eBay Desktop?
Until now, eBay was accessible via its website in your browser. But now there’s eBay Desktop, an application based on Adobe AIR (see the article on page 6). Does this make it any easier to track eBay auctions?
Suppose you want to edit an odd video clip but don’t want to invest in expensive (and complex) commercial software. Are there free (online) alternatives?
Continuing our comparison of US and UK online shopping, we test if it’s worth going to US websites to buy lower-value items, such as CDs, DVDs and books.
“Rich” web applications: no more browsers!
Web 2.0 applications such as online photo editors or word processors are performing relatively well, but they are often limited. Enter Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). What are they? And are there any useful RIA applications yet?
Are you looking for good online courses for yourself, colleagues or staff? The Internet hosts a large number of online courses, especially in the IT sector. Here are a few useful addresses.
Perhaps your inbox is increasingly being flooded with spam, although your e-mail program claims to have a filter. So what can you do if the spam filter in your e-mail software can no longer cope?
With broadband becoming standard, TV on the Internet is finally taking off. We settle back on our sofa to look for the best free telly on the net.
All entrepreneurs have to regularly develop and manage projects. Here are some online services that can give you a helping hand.
Outlook and Google: sync or swim?
In previous issues we reviewed software for synchronising your Google Calendar with Outlook. But now Google has released its own free syncing program: Google Calendar Sync. Is it better?
Removing stubborn spyware using HijackThis
If you don’t succeed in getting rid of stubborn spyware/malware and you seek online help, the solution you’re almost always pointed to is the free HijackThis program. What does it do and how do you use it?
You may already be aware of the benefits of using occupational health support to manage complicated employee health problems. But once you’ve appointed an advisor, how can you ensure that you get value for money?
An employee complains of harassment, but no disciplinary action is taken. The accused complains about the way the complaint was handled - can they claim the whole course of events is one act of race discrimination?
Of course you know how important it is to follow the disciplinary procedure to the letter. So when you invited an employee to a hearing you advised them of their right to be accompanied. But what role can their rep really play?
There are a number of restrictions which you must comply with when considering employing a child. What do these restrictions say and what do you need to do to comply with them?
Agency staff are not employees
The issue of whether or not agency workers have the same rights as employees has finally been resolved by the Court of Appeal. Good news or bad?
Is consultation a “reasonable adjustment”?
Although the requirement to make reasonable adjustments is well-established by disability legislation, it’s not been clear whether a failure to consult is a failure in its own right. What does a recent case have to say on the subject?
What happens if you don’t produce all your tribunal evidence when needed and the case goes against you? Should you apply to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) if you get your act together after the event?
Cheshire County Council recently had to fork out £60,000 to re-home a protected species that was found during the construction of a school. Why did they have to do this? Can’t you simply pretend that you never found it?
That’s not what it says on the paperwork
A company recently ended up in court when it was identified that they’d incorrectly described hazardous material on a waste transfer note. What can you learn from this particular case?
You’ve become aware that there may be environmental laws that you aren’t compliant with. As you don’t know the intricacies of the law, you’ve decided that you need to employ an expert for assistance. How should you go about it?
“Plastic carrier bags are killers”
Plastic carrier bags are in the press again and this time even the Prime Minister has joined in. What’s prompted these recent reports and could this mean the end for disposable plastic bags?
Site waste management plans - what’s involved?
From April 6 2008 all construction projects with a value in excess of £300,000 require a site waste management plan to be completed. What does this actually involve?
A colleague has said that if you’re acquiring wood products and want to keep up your environmental credentials, you should only buy ones that have a seal of approval from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Is this right?
On April 6 2008, the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations come into force. How might this affect your business?