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April 19, 2008 News - Business tax impact a key factor

From a business perspective, followers of Gordon Brown’s previous Budget statements will be familiar with a number of recurring themes.


Alongside a fondness for using statistics to support his claims and his weakness for using those dreaded words ‘prudence’ and ‘fairness’, he has laid great emphasis on using the tax system to encourage enterprise.


He also used recent Budget statements to rail against what he sees as the tax avoidance industry and those who do not pay ‘the right amount of tax’.


While the headlines will focus on the cut in income tax from next April, in this his eleventh and most likely final Budget statement, he once again picked up on these two themes.


While the main focus of his statement was, as had been widely expected, increased spending on education and support for families, there were some very american national insurance co changes announced for both small and large businesses.


For large businesses, he announced a cut in the rate of corporation tax from 30% to 28% from April 2008.


The intention here, of course, is to help to persuade the very largest, international businesses to stay in the UK, following speculation that high tax rates were leading many to consider setting up shop - or bank - elsewhere.


There has been much criticism of the existing system of capital allowances, primarily because of its complexity
Budget reaction in Scotland


But the rate applies not just to large companies but to all companies with national health insurance plan
profits. So this will be widely welcomed.


At the same time, there are to be significant changes to capital allowances.


These are the allowances that businesses can set off against their tax bills when they spend money on capital expenditure - a new machine, for example.


There has been much criticism of the existing system of capital allowances, primarily because of its complexity.


Under the banner of modernising capital allowances, he proposes to simplify the system - so that allowances for spending on plant and machinery will be a standard 20% each year, for example - while at the same time introducing enhanced allowances for environmentally friendly assets.

Gordon Brown

Mr Brown announced a cut in the rate of corporation tax


There will also be increased help for company spending on R&D, seen as the abbey national insurance
of the innovative Britain that Gordon Brown has placed such emphasis on fostering.


But tax avoidance was sure to appear in some form. Under the heading of ‘artificial incorporation of small business’ there are to be measures to tackle what he sees as illegitimate tax avoidance.


In recent times many thousands of small businesses have converted to limited company status, taking advantage of the low rate of company tax of 19%.


This rate will now increase each year by 1%, taking it to 22% by 2009 - not far below the new large company rate of 28%.


A reference to aligning National Insurance rates also seems likely to be targeted at those same tax avoiders.


The vast majority of UK companies, however, are small companies.


So they will all see an increase in their tax bills, just when the fall in income tax comes into effect.


Once the dust settles and we all have a chance to digest the detail behind the Budget speech, I suspect that the extra tax burden on small businesses will be the focus of a great deal of attention.

April 18, 2008 News - Cameron says Brown in ‘deep hole’


On the environment he said carbon emissions were up and green taxes as a proportion of overall taxation were down since 1997.


And while the chancellor had been criticising Tory policy all year, he had ended up “jackson national life insurance
what we have said all along”, said Mr Cameron.


“You can increase spending and you can cut taxes - yes, you can share the proceeds of growth.”


He made several references to comments by Lord Turnbull, the former head of the civil service, who described Mr Brown’s management style as liberty national life insurance company
with “Century national insurance
ruthlessness”.


He said the Labour Party were “just realising their next leader has the national union insurance of Stalin and the poll ratings of Michael Foot”.


But he added: “Let me tell you what your real problem is, it is not that you are a Stalinist who holds all your colleagues in contempt - although I have to say that probably doesn’t help - it is that you have wasted money on an industrial scale.”

April 17, 2008 News - Cashier admits taking bogus wages
An Edinburgh hotel cashier paid herself more than 108,590 after inventing 10 fake employees and national interstate insurance company
their bogus wages into her bank accounts.


Janet Davis, 48, a paymaster for the Caledonian Hotel, admitted registering the made-up staff and having the cash paid into two of her accounts.


After tax and National Insurance, she admitted national health insurance scheme
a total of 83,703 between April 2000 and October 2004.


Sentence was deferred until next month at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.


She showed great remorse throughout the dealings with the police
Fiscal Depute Lucy Proctor


In the elaborate scheme, Davis falsified paperwork, forged signatures and even invented time sheets.


A financial auditor became union national life insurance
when she noticed that 10 different so-called Hilton Group employees were having their wages paid into only two different bank accounts.


She realised that all the signatures were in the same american national insurance co
and that some of the payment forms were incomplete.


“This was highly irregular,” Fiscal Depute Lucy Proctor told Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday.


“Mrs Davis was asked for an explanation. She could not provide one.”


Family debts


Davis, of Livingston, West Lothian, telephoned the hotel and admitted the scheme. She did not return to work.


“She outlined exactly how she had carried out the fraud and said it had gone on for between four and five years,” Ms Proctor said. “She could not say how much she had obtained and was formally dismissed.


“She freely admitted to police that she has falsified paperwork, made up fictitious employees and time sheets. She showed great remorse throughout the dealings with the police.”


Davis told officers that she had mounted up family debts when her husband was laid off.


The court heard has repaid 1,400 and saved another 2,000 to hand over.


Defence agent Ian Bryce told Sheriff Andrew Lothian that he had ordered a psychiatric report on Davis.

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April 16, 2008 News - Tax and the self employed

The key thing to remember about tax is that if you make money at something the chances are it is liable to tax.

A lot of people have hobbies, sidelines or freelance work they think won’t be liable to tax - but this is wrong.

If you are buying and selling items on a market stall or sell lots of honey as a beekeeper, you’re carrying out a trading activity and it is liable to tax.

If you are self-employed, you need to register for Schedule D status at your local tax office.

The tax office will want to check that your status is genuine and you are earning your living from a variety of different sources

If more than 80% of your income comes from just one employer, it may well advise you that you are not eligible for Schedule D status and will have to pay tax on the Pay As You Earn system (Schedule E).

Once the Revenue has accepted your Schedule D status, however, you will be able to start counting a proportion of your household costs against your business activities, so if you use a study in your house for work you can start working out how much of your electricity and heating you are using when at work.

Tax returns

The self-employed always have to fill in a tax return as part of self-assessment - the principles of the system are the same for everyone but as a self-employed business person you may also have to fill in extra sections of the tax return.

Tax has to be paid twice a year in instalments every six months under the self-assessment system, known as “payment on account”.

Payments on account have to be made for the tax year before the return for that year is due - so on 31 January in the tax year and by 31 July after the end of the tax year.

You will also be liable to pay National Insurance National insurance institute
and these have to be deducted at regular intervals.

VAT

Whether or not it is worth registering for VAT depends on the turnover of your business activities. Unless your business is likely to have a turnover worth more than 60,000, it is generally not worth it but your local Customs & Excise office can advise on the best course of action.

The most important aspect of liberty national insurance company
and the tax system is that it is imperative to keep good records - never throw away old receipts, invoices or accounts as it is a legal requirement to keep everything relating to the business for a number of years.

The Tax Return (SA100) and the self-employment national insurance recruiter
pages (SA103) will both apply to you - other forms may be relevant, but details of which forms apply are set out on page two of the tax return itself.

If you have any queries about your tax status, you should contact a national insurance contribution tax adviser or the Inland Revenue.

The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not held by the BBC unless specifically stated. The material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.

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April 15, 2008 News - Bogus wages cashier sent to jail
An Edinburgh hotel cashier who paid herself more than 108,590 after inventing 10 fake employees to embezzle their wages has been jailed.


Janet Davis, 48, a paymaster for the Caledonian Hotel, admitted registering the made-up staff and having the cash paid into two of her accounts.


After tax and National Insurance, she admitted embezzling a total of 83,703 between April 2000 and October 2004.


She was jailed for two years on Tuesday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.


She showed great remorse national farmer union insurance
the dealings with the police

Defence agent Glenn Fraser


In the complex scheme, she falsified paperwork, forged signatures and even invented time sheets.


Sheriff Andrew Lothian told her: “This is a very large sum of money taken by you in an elaborate, careful and deceitful scheme.


“There is no question you should go to prison. It would have been for three years but for your american national insurance company
.”


A financial auditor became suspicious when she noticed that 10 different so-called Hilton Group employees were having their wages paid into only two different bank accounts.


She realised that all the signatures were in the same handwriting and that some of the payment forms were incomplete.


“This was highly irregular,” Fiscal Depute Lucy Proctor told Edinburgh Sheriff Court at an earlier hearing.


“Mrs Davis was asked for an explanation, but could not provide one.”


Extreme debt


Davis, of Livingston, West Lothian, phoned the hotel and admitted the scheme. She did not return to work.


Ms Proctor said: “She outlined exactly how she had carried out the fraud and said it had gone on for between four and five years.


“She showed great remorse throughout the dealings with the police.”


The court heard earlier how she has repaid 1,400 and saved another 2,000 to hand over.


Defence agent Glenn Fraser said Davis had become stressed and suffered from compulsion when she fell into debt.


“The reason for this offence taking place was extreme debt,” he said.


“She is repaying as much as she can as quickly as she can and has co-operated fully with the investigation.


“This can be old republic national title insurance company from other cases in that it did not support a luxurious lifestyle. It was simply to pay off debts. No luxurious items were bought.”


A spokesperson from Hilton Hotels Group said: “It is a very regrettable incident. At the time we worked closely with the police and the hotel in question and helped with the investigation.”

April 14, 2008 News - Tories ‘to simplify business tax’

The National interstate insurance company have outlined plans to make the tax system simpler for small businesses.


Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said VAT, income tax and National Insurance were too complex and create too much paperwork for businesses.


The Tories have asked accountancy firm Grant Thornton to look at aligning the administration of NI and income tax.


But he was accused by the government of offering an unfunded “wish list of tax cuts” to the party’s right-wing.


‘Needless complexity’


Mr Osborne told an audience of businesspeople in London the Conservatives would try to reduce the tax burden on small businesses, in return for them encouraging more flexible working.


Raising NI and income tax contributions using different systems, and over different periods, was causing “needless complexity and administrative federal flood insurance national program
“, he said.


Fidelity national insurance company
the Byzantine intricacies of VAT administration will make a real difference to small businesses all over the country

George Osborne


The Conservatives are looking at aligning the charge period to ease the “regulatory burden”.


Grant Thornton will also review the documentation, information and administration required for VAT.


“Streamlining the Byzantine intricacies of VAT administration will make a real difference to small businesses all over the country,” he said.


‘Come clean’


He also questioned the value of tax relief on investment announced in the last Budget, saying some companies would not be eligible, while others would need to hire expensive tax advisers to make claims.


“The Conservative Party will continue to oppose the american national insurance company
latest tax rise for small businesses. We are fighting this measure every step of the way in Parliament,” he said.


But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms said Mr Osborne should “come clean” about his plans and spell out how he plans to pay for his pledges.


He added: “After caving in on grammar schools, David Cameron and George Osborne are now promising the Tory right a wish-list of tax cuts - without any idea how to fund them.


“If they ever got the chance to implement these uncosted, up-front tax pledges, the result would be a return to boom and bust in our economy.”

April 13, 2008 News - Hope still strong for missing son

Almost three years after Cath Nutley’s son James disappeared on a golfing trip, she insists he is still alive.


James Nutley, from Caldicot, Monmouthshire, whose 28th birthday is on Thursday, was last seen a few yards from his hotel in Tenby, American national insurance co
.


Although his driving licence was later found on the town’s South Beach, there has been no sign of him since.


But Mrs Nutley said the family must believe he has come to no harm. “That’s what keeps us going,” she said.


Mr Nutley was with a group of about 20 friends on an annual golfing trip to Tenby when he went missing on 24 October, 2004.


The group had arrived earlier that day, settled into their various hotels and then gone to local pubs for the evening.


I’ve said in the past that perhaps he tripped up, hit his head, doesn’t know who he is
Cath Nutley


“Apparently about 12 o’clock he decided he was coming back because he had to play golf in the morning and from the CCTV he disappeared about 30 yards from the hotel door,” explained Mrs Nutley.


She said seeing the CCTV footage for the first time last year was a “bit of a shock” because the family had been led to believe her son was last seen on the South Beach.


It was there his driving licence, National National auto insurance card, and golf membership card were all discovered, she said.


Members of the family have gone back to the Giltar Hotel in Tenby - where Mr Nutley had been staying - to mark his 28th birthday.


She said the lives of all the family, of his father David and sister Helen, have changed since they were told he was missing.

Poster issued in the search for Mr Nutley

A poster campaign has drawn a blank


Despite launching a website and a campaign including his face being featured on milk bottles, and more recently the support of the Missing Wales charity, there has been no breakthrough in their search.


The family offered a reward last year, but have not received any information as a result, so they were no further forward than the day he disappeared, she said.


“I’ve said in the past that perhaps he tripped up, hit his head, doesn’t know who he is,” said his mother.


“But my point to the police is, who does know that James is missing?


“If we could have got that publicity there would be a lot more people who know James is missing.


“At the moment we think a very very small percentage would know, so if he is around somewhere, who is to know he is missing?”


American national insurance co
Police said their file on Mr Nutley was “very much still open”.


A spokesperson said officers met the family in the past two months and they were exploring other avenues of keeping the inquiry going.

April 12, 2008 News - School funding crisis ‘to worsen’
Many more schools than previously thought could be forced to lay off teachers as a result of a funding crisis, a survey suggests.

A shortfall in cash for this financial year has led some schools in England to close teaching posts and other support staff positions, such as teaching assistants.

Now research by the Press American national insurance co
suggests local education liberty national life insurance
fear the problem may be more widespread than first thought and could continue well into the next financial year.

Head teachers have put the crisis down to insufficient funding for higher teachers’ wages, National Insurance and pension contributions.

In response to the problem, Education Secretary Charles Clarke announced in July he would give schools 800m from the national insurance institute
unspent cash reserves for education over the next two years.



Surveys of this kind have consistently proved inaccurate and unreliable


Department for Education

But the PA survey of 36 LEAs in England suggests over 500 schools would be forced to set deficit budgets next year.

A total of 304 teacher jobs were lost in these authorities, through a security national insurance
of national insurance crime bureau redundancy, early retirement and natural wastage, the poll indicated.

The LEAs also lost 165 support staff, including teaching assistants.

If these figures were representative of the remaining 114 authorities in England, schools would have lost some 1,260 teachers in 2003.

By contrast, Mr Clarke has said that around 270 teaching posts have been lost.

Eleven authorities said more teacher job cuts were either fairly or very likely.

The LEAs indicated that 329 primary, 167 secondary, 16 special and
two middle schools went into the red this year.

‘Inaccurate’

A spokesperson for the Department for Education dismissed the survey as inaccurate and unreliable.

Mr Clarke would be giving details of new funding arrangements in the autumn, the spokesperson said.

“We fully acknowledge the difficulties that some schools have faced and the measures we have introduced for the next two years are the right basis for tackling the situation.

“We will continue to work with schools and LEAs to ensure the situation is improved in the future.”

But Shadow Education Secretary Damian Green was sceptical about the government’s power to rectify the problem.

“The prospect of money next year will not compensate for the pain schools are feeling today,” said Mr Green.

“Charles Clarke was far too slow to react to this crisis, which we now know is even worse than previously thought.”

Heads’ concerns

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers said the survey backed up what head teachers had been telling him.

Charles Clarke

Charles Clarke has offered schools 800m from government reserves

“These figures very much chime with
the figures that we have been producing for some weeks now,” said Mr Hart.

“The crucial issue is whether Charles Clarke is going to come up with
solutions that satisfy head teachers that they will have the cash in the bank
that they need over the next two years.”

Martin Ward, deputy general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association said it was too early to say whether Charles Clarke had done enough to stave off the problem.

“The sorts of steps he has taken in principle are adequate - provided there
are enough funds applied to the system.”

April 11, 2008 News - Tuckshop treats, Seattle-style

In the popular imagination, catering at English public schools revolves around the spartan pleasures of boiled cabbage, steamed pudding and the occasional tuckshop blowout.

But now Charterhouse, one of the country’s most venerable and expensive schools, has enlisted corporate behemoth Starbucks to provide its pupils with lattes, espressos and mocha coconut frappuccinos.

Charterhouse is paying Starbucks a licensing fee for equipment and materials, and will sell its coffees - at discount prices - in a planned new “social area” at the school.

For British schools, whether state-run or fee-paying, alliances with companies are an increasing part of making ends meet.

And Starbucks, best-known for its century national insurance company
chain of Seattle-style cafes, is finding a rich seam in licensing out its brand to whoever is willing to pay.

Boarding bounce

These are generally good times for public schools such as Charterhouse.

Boarding - which can cost 20,000 and more a year - nearly became extinct a decade ago, but has enjoyed a dramatic resurgence in recent years.

Starbucks coffees

Public schools are keen on offering creature comforts

But at the same time, says David Woodhead, national director of the Independent Schools Council Information Service (ISCis), which represents 1,300 private schools, commercial pressures have also increased.

Costs are rising sharply, especially in terms of salaries, National Insurance and pensions.

This means that school managers are ever more concerned that services like tuckshops pay their way - or even bring in extra revenue.

And at the same time, competition means schools need to provide more in the way of creature comforts.

“The most striking feature of the boarding sector is the huge improvement in the standard of student facilities,” Mr Woodhead says.

“Schools have to run themselves in an increasingly businesslike fashion.”

Rising Starbucks

For Starbucks, meanwhile, this kind of deal is an easy way of extending its franchise.

The company has a division which markets its brand and products to clarendon national insurance company
, especially other companies.

Last year, that division - which includes other forms of licensing activity - accounted for 15% of the company’s turnover.

The Charterhouse deal is the first of its kind among public schools, Mr Woodhead believes.

But in certain parts of the state sector, schools are being encouraged to bring in private companies, either for sponsorship or to provide services.

Swiss foods giant Nestle and McDonald’s have been national life and accident insurance co
active in this market.

April 10, 2008 News - Cash-strapped schools get 4% rise

Schools in England are being promised a minimum cash increase of 4% for the next financial year.

The increase assumes their costs will rise by 3.4%.

The announcement - with an emergency 120m to balance budgets - is meant to draw a line under the mistake this year which saw many schools go into the red.

Education unions and local government leaders say its success will depend crucially on this year’s pay settlement for teachers, due next month.


Salaries account for the great bulk of schools’ costs.


Also due next month are the overall local government funding figures for 2004-5.



I am not going to go around saying all this problem was bad management but I think it was a factor in some cases in some schools


Charles Clarke

Warning on staff costs

The Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, said in a statement to MPs that the proposals were designed to restore confidence in the school funding system.


He said his figures assumed an estimated increase in costs for schools next year of 3.4%.


This allowed for an “inflation-led pay settlement” - that is, approximately 2.5%.


Looking ahead, he expected the minimum increase for the following year, 2005-06, also to be 4%.


Emergency funding


Mr Clarke said a school whose pupil numbers stayed the same next year would be “guaranteed” a 4% increase next year.



The funding of education is routinely described in terms such as “fiendishly complex”


Where the money goes

If pupil numbers declined, it would get more than 4%, to help cover fixed costs such as cleaning and heating.


But he said that, because of the decline in young children in the population - 50,000 fewer of school age this year and next - the number of primary schools with less cash and therefore possibly fewer staff “will be significant”.


Secondary schools with falling rolls would be in the same position.


If numbers were increasing, schools would get at least 4% for the existing pupils and an overall increase for next year of at least 3.4%.


The minimum amount allocated to local education authorities for education - known as the formula spending share - would be 5%.


Details would be announced later and the amounts would vary from one LEA to another, but he expected the maximum increase to be 6.5%.


Mr Clarke said there should be enough money to implement the workload agreement with the unions - reducing the burdens on teachers and increasing the role of support staff.


Balancing budgets


He was easing the regulations to allow education authorities to help schools to balance their budgets.


Even so he expected some schools would still have problems, so he was establishing a “targeted national insurance institute
grant” for the next two years.


This assumed a minimum increase of 12% per pupil across the whole country from 02-03 to 04-05, “well ahead of our best estimate of unavoidable pressures for those years”.


He estimated this would cost about 120m and benefit about a third of the 150 LEAs.


Some schools would still have difficult balancing budgets, so their LEAs could argue for more “to avoid real damage to children’s education”.


There would be up to 300,000 per LEA, or 0.2% of its budget, available for next year - to be recouped in future years.


“I do acknowledge that getting back into balance may involve difficult decisions,” he said.


‘Suspicion’


The shadow education secretary, Damian Green, called it “a fairly national life insurance statement”.


He said many familiar with school funding regarded “with deep suspicion” the assumptions about a 2.5% pay rise and 3.4% in costs.


He said he hoped we would not see a repeat of the funding crisis, “but I fear we will”.


The general secretary of the Secondary Heads National health insurance company
, John Dunford, said the measures would be successful only if the increase to schools was more than their costs.


But also they must give enough help to the schools worst hit this year “to enable them to escape from the financial trouble into which they were plunged”.


The National Union of Teachers said schools had needed an average increase of 11% to stand still this year.

“A 4% guarantee for the next two years is a very long way from that.”


“More teaching posts will be lost. More teachers will face redundancy. More pupils will be old republic national title insurance company
by classes being taken by unqualified persons.”


More but not enough


The government put an extra 2.7bn into schools for this financial year.


But schools had to cope with higher wage bills, the Workload Agreement - which takes certain administrative and other day-to-day tasks out of teachers’ hands - and higher pension and National Insurance contributions.


The already complex calculations were further complicated by a change in the distribution of the money between different areas, which saw winners and losers.


But councils said the overall settlement simply was not enough.