2010 - July
Accounts late filing - tougher stance
Your company doesn’t want its customers and suppliers to know that it’s had a tough year. Can you hide the poor results by not filing the accounts?
Following some repairs to the roof, the board wants to know if the associated costs can be recovered from the landlord. You’ve been asked to review the lease and report back on anything you find. What might you discover?
Factoring sales through a third party
Your business has recently clinched a deal to sell through a third party “central buying unit”. While this is likely to be good news for sales, it could lead to problems if you factor your debts. What do you need to watch out for?
Whether it’s a cigarette break here, a longer lunch break there or “popping out” to run an errand, there’s a fine line between trusting your employees and them taking the Mick. What’s the cost, and where’s the balance?
Your company is in the early stages of negotiating a merger with one of its competitors. How can your finance department help ensure the new merger runs smoothly and efficiently?
You’re thinking of investing in a renewable energy project for your business premises and have heard that government funding may be available. So could such a project really save your business money?
Now that’s summer’s here, the days are long and the amount of natural light should, in theory, be on the up. So how can you take advantage of what nature has to offer to save some cash?
In the current economic climate, you’ve decided to take on a part-time credit controller to try to improve debtor days. How can you focus their efforts and make sure they say the right things to customers?
Share options are not just for public companies. How can you use them as an incentive for key staff within privately owned businesses, and are there any tax advantages (even in this economic climate)?
You want to share a budget workbook with others in your company. However, you need the data entered by them to be accurate and consistent. How can Excel help you control your fellow users?
Another Labour invention, Tax Credits, received some severe pruning at the hands of Mr Osborne in his Budget. Even where your income is over £50,000 you might be entitled to them, but is it now the end of the road for such claims?
Disproportionate approach to VAT surcharge
The penalty system for late VAT returns and payments was updated just over a year ago. But some of the old rules weren’t reformed and can still lead to disproportionate fines. Can you argue against these?
As expected, the Emergency Budget saw the rate of Capital Gains Tax rise from 18% to 28%, but not for everyone. Only higher rate income tax payers will be hit, but are there ways even they can dodge the increase?
Capital allowances - what goes up must come down
Mr Osborne has decided on drastic measures by slashing the annual investment allowance and cutting the rate of capital allowances. But these changes don’t take effect immediately, so what steps can you take now to maximise tax relief?
Company cars - time to think again?
At one time the government’s intention was to tax company cars out of existence. These days it’s a little more enlightened, even offering extra tax relief in some cases. This begs the question: which cars are best for tax breaks?
In a hotly contested case the tax tribunal considered the employment status of agency workers. The Taxman convinced the judge that the workers were controlled by the companies they worked for, but was this factor enough to win the case?
Mr Osborne backed up some stark warnings in his Budget with serious tweaks to the tax regime. Here’s our take on a couple of the most important changes.
Lease disputes: litigate or negotiate?
A dispute has arisen over a commercial lease. Rather than incur the costs of court action, the directors are thinking of negotiating with the tenant instead. But can they still insist that it foots their legal bill for taking the softer approach?
Fit note recommendations are too expensive
An employee has produced a “fit note” which states they may return to work if certain workplace adjustments are made. But the directors are worried as these appear too expensive to implement. Are they bound by the GP’s advice?
Dividends - the cost of not reading the small print
Now that the Budget has confirmed the hike in NI it makes even more sense to pay greater dividends and less salary. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. Make an error and you’ll be easy prey for the Taxman.
The word is that the Business Link service is to be scrapped as part of the cutbacks. This sounds like bad news if you’re using, or intend to use, this service. Does it mean you’ll be left to fend for yourself or even be out of pocket?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have your own place in the sun and escape there every so often when the going gets tough. And wouldn’t it be even better if there were tax relief on the running costs; the idea is not as far fetched as you might think.
Enforceability of contracts ruling changed
The Court of Appeal has overturned an earlier ruling on the enforceability of unsigned contracts and highlighted an important principle of contract law. What has it done and how can the directors be certain any offers are watertight?
Emergency Budget - not all bad news
The Emergency Budget brought the expected tax hikes for individuals, but there was also some unexpected good news for companies; what was it?
Own goal for government fire department
The department with responsibility for overseeing fire safety policy in England and Wales has been served with an enforcement notice for fire safety failings. What had it done wrong and how can you avoid following suit?
What’s the minimum training to drive a forklift?
You’ve been looking at forklift truck training for your warehouse supervisor. However, all of the courses available are really in-depth and last for days. Do you really need to send your member of staff on such a course?
What is a “lock out - tag out” system?
You want to make sure that power is safely isolated before your maintenance staff work on machinery. You’ve heard that a good way of doing this is to follow a “lock out - tag out” procedure. What is this?
Selecting protective footwear used to be a relatively simple process. However, there are now many styles and levels of protection, which makes the task trickier. So to help you make the right choice, why not use our new checklist?
Companies pay £800k for lift death
A health club and its lift contractor have been ordered to pay substantial fines after a woman was killed by a faulty lift. What happened and what can be learned from this case?
Is the HSE about to be scrapped?
The press has recently featured many reports on how health and safety enforcement is set to change. Some have even suggested that the future of the HSE may be in doubt. What’s happening and how might you be affected?
Legionnaires’ disease from cars?
A study by the Health Protection Agency which links car washer jets and legionella has recently been published. Is there anything in this?