The tax dashboard will show the following for each tax:

- Amount owed
- Repayments due from HMRC
- Payments already made
- Interest due on any late payments
- Penalties incurred, and
- Direct debit payment plans

You will not be able to reallocate payments between taxes, or even between periods for the same tax. The dashboard is merely a viewing facility.

Before you can use the tax dashboard you must be registered with the HMRC online service for corporation tax or self-assessment. You may already be registered and have separate online logins for the PAYE, VAT and corporation tax or self-assessment online services. If this is the case you need to move all of its online services to one login, in order to see all taxes on your tax dashboard. There are instructions on the HMRC page for the tax dashboard on how to move online services to one login.

Tax agents cannot use tax dashboard to view their clients’ tax liabilities, which would be really useful. This facility may be provided in the future, but we are not holding our breath!

The company can set a reasonable level of pension contributions against its profits subject to corporation tax (at 20%, 24% or 25%), and it pays no employers’ NI charges on those pension contributions. A ‘reasonable level’ is where the salary plus benefits, including pension contributions, form a commercially reasonable remuneration package for the work done. As long as the total package is set at a commercial level or below, the company can receive tax relief for the remuneration payments.

If you pay pension contributions as an employee, you need to extract the funds from your company. If you do this by a salary, this creates an income tax charge in your hands. The company receives tax relief on salary payments but it must pay employers’ NICs at 13.8%, with no upper limit. You are also subject to NICs on your salary at 12%, which then reduces to 2% on salary over £42,475 per year. So unlike pension contributions paid directly by the company, salary payments carry NICs of up to 25.8%.

If you take dividends from the company to pay your pension contributions, there are no NICs payable by you or the company. But the company does not receive tax relief on the payment of dividends. So the only tax relief due on the pension contributions is due at your marginal tax rate, on up to 100% of your earned income, capped by your annual allowance (see below). Dividends are not earned income, so if you only take dividends and no salary or other employment benefits from your company, the tax relief on your pension contributions is limited to £3,600 per year, which is the minimum for a person with no earned income.

Your annual allowance caps the amount of your pension contributions which attract tax relief. If this allowance is exceeded by pension contributions paid by you or your employer, you will pay a tax charge at your marginal rate. The annual allowance is now £50,000 per year, but this is extended by unused allowances brought forward from the previous three tax years. Thus the exact amount of annual allowance will be different for each individual, depending on his or her pattern of pension contributions.

We can help advise you on this for your own specific circumstances.

When you make a donation to a charity or to a community amateur sports club you can make a declaration that your donation is made under Gift Aid. This declaration can be made in writing, online or over the phone, but in all cases it should include your name and address details, the name of the recipient charity, and a statement that you have paid sufficient UK tax to cover the 20% tax the charity will reclaim from the Tax Office.

Say you make a donation of £1,000 to a charity, and make a Gift Aid declaration for that gift. This results in a gift of £1,250 in the charity’s hands as they can reclaim basic rate tax (20%) on the gross equivalent of the gift. In this example, 20/80 x £1,000 = £250.

You have to declare with your gift aid declaration that you have paid at least £250 in UK income tax or capital gains tax in the tax year in which you make the gift.

If you pay tax at 40% or 50%, the thresholds at which those higher rates are imposed are extended by the gross value of your gift, which gives you additional tax relief for your gift. For example, the 40% threshold is currently £34,370, so if you make donations under gift aid that total £1,000, these are treated as gross gifts of £1,250. Your 40% threshold is extended to £35,620, saving you 20% tax on £1,250 = £250. So overall it would have cost you £750 for the charity to receive £1,250.

It is not possible to completely eliminate your tax bill by making donations under gift aid. Such gifts would only reduce your tax bill to 20%.

The HMRC tends to like these expenses to be paid by the employer as opposed to them, as it is a mutual agreement between yourself and your employer that you work from home. If however your employer refuses to pay then there are other certain criteria that must be met, and if any of these requirements are not met then no relief at all will be given.

• First and foremost that you must show that you have no alternative choice but to work from home. As stated in the HMRC Tax Bulletin Number 79,

“there is an objective requirement that those duties should be carried out at the employee’s home and nowhere else.”

• There is a very fine line with this rule and if the employee has even the slightest choice, they will not be given any form of relief. For example it is acceptable if your employer’s premises are too far away for you to be reasonably expected to travel there on a daily basis providing that you did not have a choice in this, i.e. by moving further afield, excepting a job too far away or turning down an offer to relocate you.

•  The work you carry out from home must be “all or part of the central duties of employment”.

•  You require certain hardware/software or other facilities that are not available at your employer’s premises.

So to summarise, tax deductable expenses for working from home can be claimed providing that they are realistic, that you meet certain strict criteria and that your employer does not already pay you for these additional costs you incur due to your job. Please ask a trained accountant if you require additional information or clarification as to what you can claim.

Written by Becky Drummer-Jones

Always seek professional advice before making a final decision.

Powered by Companies Made Simple – The simplest

• They can only “inspect” the areas of your home that are used for business.
• You can request they leave at any time but they will want to know your reasons for wanting this and also to arrange another visit. If you refuse this then it could lead to further questions and possible penalties ranging from £60 per day up to £3000.
• They have the right to “inspect” your premises, not “search”. Meaning that they can not specifically hunt for things to go against you. They can only look at the records they have requested, to check that all is in order.
• They have the right to look at business records but not to question/interview employees to find out more information.
• They can request information on the personal financial position of the proprietor/director of the business to check that their position is in line with the taxes being paid, but once again they cannot go “fishing” for extra information.
• As a general rule, they cannot remove documents from the premises without your agreement, they can only make copies or take extracts. But there are some documents that they do have the right to remove such as “legally privileged papers, tax advisors papers and appeal material”.  If they do remove anything from your property then you must make sure you get a full and detailed receipt of exactly what has been taken.

Though the HMRC can make unannounced visits, they usually provide you with either a phone call or letter seven days prior to their visit. In that notification they will state exactly when and where they will be visiting you, the name of the visiting officers and what documents they are coming to look at.

Once at your premises, they cannot demand to see extra documents that were not stated in the original notification. They would have to arrange another appointment for these. However if they find anything useful or unusual relating to another area in the documents they already have permission to view, then they can pass this information for further investigation.

The things they will usually be looking to review are things like your receipts, expenses of the business, sales and purchase records as well as possibly your PAYE and VAT files. They may also check equipment, raw materials and products produced. This is to make sure that all of these areas are relative to each other and that you are not claiming fraudulently. These inspections can take anywhere from a few hours to several days depending on the size of your business.

It is always a good idea to cooperate with the HMRC when they want to visit as though you can negotiate when and where the meeting will take place, you can never actually stop them from coming at all. And it is best to be prepared for them, than to have them make an unannounced visit which they would inevitably do if they are constantly turned away. You do have the right to refuse them entry but this could result in deeper investigations and if you have nothing to hide, then you have little to worry about.

Written by Becky Drummer-Jones

“travelling you had to do whilst doing your job”

 or the

“expenses you had to pay whilst doing your job and which related ONLY to doing your job”

There are also a few other factors that determine how much you can claim. Whether you are self employed or employed is one. How often you work from home is the second. And the third is whether or not you have a choice in working from home.

Self Employed

If you are self employed and work solely from home then you can claim back part of the costs for household bills such as water rates, gas and electricity as you are effectively using more energy in order to carry out your work. You could potentially even claim for a relief against your council tax, rent, home insurance and mortgage payments as these are also things that need to be paid in order for you to not only live in your home, but also work there. However, it is not beneficial for you to have a room dedicated solely to work, such as a home office that is private or out of bounds to the rest of the family. This is because it could cause problems further down the line regarding Capital Gains as your Only/Main Residence is now being used for work too. This usually reduces any gain to zero. It could also impact on your home insurance. It is therefore much better to simply have certain times that it is a “work zone” and other times for more recreational or family use.

If you are working mainly from home then the method to work out roughly what you should attempt to claim follows this simple formula:

 Total bills (water, electric, gas etc) ÷ number of rooms in the house = Amount A

Amount A x number of rooms used for work = Amount B

Amount B should be relative and in keeping with the type of business you run. As if you try to claim a little extra than normal, this will often be noticed by HMRC and in turn cause them to investigate. This is also the same situation if the second method of estimation is used. This option would be used if you work rarely or inconsistently from home. Common sense says that if you are only doing small amounts of paper work from home then far less energy will be used as opposed to if you were running the business solely from home. However this does not stop people slightly exaggerating their claims. There are no set limits or levels for particular trades but the main objective is to stay consistent and in line with your normal household bills and type of work.

The other way that you should be able to claim working from home is through fixed HMRC allowance. In the main the taxman will not ask questions if you claim these allowances. You will get a flat rate deduction of £3.00 per week (from 2008-09) for each week that you’ve got to work at home, this doesn’t include the cost of business telephone calls

Written by Becky Drummer-Jones

Tax relief is available for certain types of clothing. These include:

• Uniforms.
• Items of clothing with the company logo.
• Safety wears such as boots, gloves, overalls and helmets that you cannot do your job without.
• This is also extended to tools you have to buy/repair yourself in order to continue working.

The reason for this is that there is no real opportunity for you to wear these clothes in a casual setting, outside of work. This is then considered the sole use of the items involved and therefore a business expense. The tax relief also covers the cost of cleaning, repairing and replacing the items concerned.

The amount of tax relief you will receive depends on the nature of your work. You can either claim tax relief on the full amount that you have spent over the year (you would therefore need to collect all receipts that relate to purchases or up keep/cleaning of your work clothes). Another option is to claim a flat rate relief. You will receive a “flat rate deduction” that is decided by HMRC which varies from trade to trade. For example a carpenter may receive up to £140 per tax year due to the fact their clothes/uniform will have more wear and tear than say a security guard who could potentially claim up to £60 in tax deductions per year in order to purely cover the laundry/repair costs.

The process of claiming tax relief depends on whether you are self -employed or you are an employee. It is fairly straight forward.

Employees – Employees on PAYE can request a P87 form (for claims under £1000) from HMRC.  Tax relief is given will be given through adjusting your tax code (not a direct refund) to allow for the expense. You cannot claim tax relief on your clothing where your employer reimburses you for this expense..

Self Employed – As a self- employed person you can claim tax relief on when filling out your self assessment tax return. But the best way would always be to use a good accountant as they have a much better insight as to what and how much can be claimed.

Written by Becky Drummer-Jones

We are different. We would like to brand our cars with tasteful designs that is in keeping with the profession but at the same time are not boring and stuffy. Here is where you come in.

We would be grateful for your views (feedback) on the  car branding design links below. Please indicate which one you like. The one with the highest number of votes will be our chosen design.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Here are the links:

beetle_rosette This file has 6 pages

lines This file has 2 pages

A big thank you to Bison Bison (one of our clients)  for the designs.

They should reflect what you are trying to portray with your décor and choice of furnishings. This doesn’t always mean you want them to look expensive, as you may not want people to think they are paying for your luxury premises.

Use posters and blow-ups of adverts and press articles about you inside the building.

Your premises need to be tidy both inside and out. An untidy premises infers an untidy disorganised business. How often do you see the team at McDonalds tidying up outside – they know it matters.  Tax Inspectors are trained to interview people in rooms without any other files. What this does is create an impression they have all the time in the world to look into your affairs. Take a look at how tidy your premises look and whether it conveys the impression you want.

Not all businesses need special premises, and many self-employed people can work from home, creating convenience and cost savings. You may need to notify your house insurers as working from home can change the risk and your mortgage company. However, they are not normally a major obstacle. You could also look at using a shed in your garden and there are many suppliers of garden offices and workshops. Insurance for these will be a bit higher because of there being less security.

Serviced offices are also a very flexible way to take premises without any long-term commitment, often taking a licence for just one month at a time. They also offer services such as typing, reception, furniture, phone lines, etc.

If renting, get a solicitor with commercial experience to look at the lease. Areas to consider include…

• Length of the lease.
• Rent level.
• How often and the terms of rent reviews.
• Restrictions on use of the property.
• Can it be sub-let?
• Can you sell the lease on?
• Who is responsible for repairs and renewals?
• Who is responsible for internal decorating?
• Who pays the legal fees in connection with the lease?
• Consider the need for a survey, especially if it is a full repairing lease.
• What are the rates?

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This is where the power of testimonials and case studies comes in. It’s praise from your existing customers, the media, other experts or even a celebrity. They are extremely powerful.

You must have systems to collect them and then leverage the power of them by using them in all your marketing materials.

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Now, we’re agreed you are the most important person in the world.

The problem is that the customer thinks they are and that’s why you have to treat them that way if your business is to be successful.

Would you believe that if your customers are satisfied, you’re in trouble? That’s right, you read it correctly…

Let’s say you have a 95% customer satisfaction rating. Sounds great, but what it means is that you have 5% going round telling everyone how awful you are. The other 95% felt ok about you so they may shop with you but they could shop anywhere – they don’t have any special loyalty to you.

What’s more, a dissatisfied customer is 20 times more likely to tell someone. So if 95% of your customers are happy, you’ll have more negative than positive message out in the market place.

It’s loyalty you should be after, not just satisfaction. For example, the typical customer satisfaction question may ask “did you enjoy your stay?” or  “were we friendly?” The only answers these give are ones of satisfaction, not designed to find out if the customer felt great and had a memorable experience that creates loyalty. You must use questions designed to find out how loyal your customers are.

Here are typical examples of how most businesses treat their customers and why their customers will never be anything more than just satisfied…

“We’ve done all we can…”

“You’ll have to…”

“That’s not my job…”

“The person who deals with that is on holiday”

“Our policy says…”

“We’re out of stock, I don’t know when we’ll have some more”

“What seems to be the problem”

“Let me transfer you”

“I’ll have to check if that’s OK”

“Sorry, that offer ended yesterday”

“Why didn’t you…”

An insincere “Sorry about that”

“You don’t have to be rude about it”

“I’m just doing my job”

And aren’t those computerised phone systems great for customer service, not!

The list is endless. So many people seem to act like they’re doing the customer a favour.

The best rule to follow is…

If you wouldn’t like it done to you, don’t do it to someone else.

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However, the amount you can reduce costs by is limited but the amount you can increase sales by is unlimited. So there is far more potential in increasing sales.

There are only 3 ways to generate more sales…

• Increase the number of customers.
• Increase the value of each transaction.
• Increase the frequency of sale to each customer.

More importantly, if you do all 3 together, you can achieve far higher growth.

For example, lets look at the following scenario…

• You presently have 100 customers.

• The average transaction value is £100 for a product that costs you £30 to produce.

• The average frequency of purchase by a customer is 10 times a year.

• Fixed overheads are £20,000

Therefore the annual profit is presently as follows:

Sales 100 x £100 x 10                         100,000

Cost of Sales 100 x £30 x 10              30,000

Gross Profit                                           70,000

Fixed Overheads                                 20,000

Net Profit                                            50,000

If we now increase all three sales generators by 10%, we get the following results.

Sales 110 x £110 x 11                         133,100

Cost of Sales 110 x £30 x 11              36,300

Gross Profit                                           96,800

Fixed Overheads                                 20,000

Net Profit                                            76,800

So profits have now risen by £26,800, a 53.6% increase as result of improving all 3 generators by just 10%.  This shows the power of working on all 3 areas at the same time to achieve maximum results.

The marketing tools you can use to get growth in all three of these areas can be categorised in the following areas.

• Lead Generation – of quality leads.

• Lead Conversion into sales.

• Re-selling to existing customers.

An overriding factor in all these is outstanding customer service, particularly in re-selling to existing customers. Increasing your number of customers is a factor of both how many you gain and how many you don’t lose.

Remember never to sacrifice profit for growth. There is the saying “turnover is for vanity, profit is for sanity”.

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Customer Dedication

Successful businesses all have an understanding of their customers needs or rather perceived needs and a total dedication to their customers.

Their marketing strategy is built around the customer – “what must the business be for the customer to choose us?”

Everything they do is focused on the customer and they are continuously improving how they do it.

In order to do this they need to understand the demographics (who they are) and the psychographics (why they buy) of their customers. Only then can you build your business to serve them.

Adding Value

Customers buy perceived value, which is the difference between the perceived benefits and the price. The more you increase the difference the more value that is added to the customer. The benefits are unlimited but there’s only so low the price can go which is why it’s often better not to work on the basis of price-cutting.

Explaining that a pair of shoes are made of leather, why they are more comfortable, shock absorbing, will last, etc will make their perceived value higher than the same shoes that are not so described.

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