Oct

24

A David Cameron-led government would reverse the inflated tax rate on
small business owners whose annual profits are under £300,000, it
emerged yesterday.  Speaking to a group of entrepreneurs, George Osborne, the shadow
chancellor, said his party would scrap a £50,000 investment scheme to
pay for lower corporation tax.  The Tories believe small companies would prefer lower headline taxes
instead of having to apply to retain cash they spend on equipment, as
the scheme proposes.

The UK trade group for freelancers has said offering an annual
allowance of £50,000 for investment in specific machinery suggests all
companies wish to expand.

“Yet this fails to recognise that many businesses do not wish to grow:
not all B&Bs want to be the next Hilton chain, and not all
one-person consulting company wants to be the next KPMG,” the PCG said.

Also helping the Tories reposition themselves as the traditional party
for enterprise is their pledge to vote down the Finance Bill,
legislation which would action a hike to capital gains tax, from April.

In fact, the meeting Mr Osborne addressed was called to discuss the 80%
increase to CGT, which this week unified all four of the UK’s main
business groups in opposition.

For only the third time in 17 years, the CBI, the British Chambers of
Commerce, the FSB and the Institute of Directors joined forces to
protest about a single issue.

Oct

9

The BBC is carrying a story today about the tax credit system.

The tax credit system is “unfair” to some of the UK’s poorest families, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has said.

As a result of the “harsh” way HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) recovers overpayments 363,000 families are being pushed into debt, Ann Abraham added. She called for a more sophisticated way of dealing with the problem that would not leave people at risk of hardship. HMRC added it was looking at changes to its service that would improve the lot of its customers.

As a tax practitioner I have always declined to get involved in tax credit claims other than to provide the claimant with the information necessary for the claim and with good reason. Every one of my clients, without exception, who has ever made a claim has regretted it. In one case, my client had a serious accident that left him hospitalised for several months with no income coming into the family. They made a claim, were awarded payments and then a year later received a demand for all of it back. To this day they do not understand why.

FULL STORY

Oct

8

IR35 and MSC

October 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment

In an interview with ContractorCalculator, John Redwood, Member of Parliament for Wokingham and chairman of the party’s Economic Competitiveness Policy Group announced a commitment to do away with both IR35 and the managed service company legislation.

John Redwood
“Why not just turn back the clock, and allow contractors freedom to operate?” Redwood said. Asked if there was a need for new legislation to replace these regulations, Redwood insisted that there was not. “These regulations are simply a burden on contractors’ doing business,” he added. Redwood’s recommendations bear considerable weight. George Osborne, Conservative party shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, welcomed the report and said the party would be considering whether to adopt the programme set out in the report on Economic Competitiveness that was presented.

Oct

8

Small husband and wife companies are expected to be among the losers when Alistair Darling, the chancellor, delivers his first Pre-Budget Report on Tuesday 9th October, 2007.  Announced on Friday, the minister’s inaugural PBR speech will be the first opportunity the government has had since it vowed to legislate against their income-splitting arrangements.  Made by the Treasury, the pledge in July came just 24 hours after the House of Lords ruled that Arctic Systems, and thousands of other firms, were entitled to use the tax structure.

The UK’s top accountancy body says any proposals in the PBR to nullify what the government sees as an “unfair advantage” for husband and wife firms must be followed by consultation.   Chartered accountant PKF believes the current political climate might deter the government from any sweeping change to the taxation of husband and wife companies.  But, in a statement, the firm said this would only delay the inevitable.  “With political considerations to the fore, it is perhaps unlikely that any sweeping changes will be announced by the chancellor in the Pre-Budget Report – although a consultation paper cannot be ruled out.  “However, in the longer term, it is clear that the income tax and NIC benefits of operating a small business through a company will be eroded,” PKF said on Friday.

Elsewhere, Grant Thornton wants the tax system to be simplified, a call likely to be endorsed by business groups.  In fact, the ICAEW has called for the consultation to be “open and detailed” on any new measures following the exchequer secretary’s July statement on the Jones V Garnett decision.

Oct

4

Boat bathtub

The Boat-Shaped Bathtub also called Vascabarca is designed by Anne and Parick Poirier Antonio Lupi. This is a very unique design specially designed for those who want something interesting in their bathroom. They’re only making 10 of these, each of them carved from a single monlithic block of stone, and they can be personalized with your name on the stern.

Oct

3

Wordpress

October 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment

After testing out blogger and never really getting comfortable with the interface or the design I’ve decided to switch back to a wordpress blog.  I’ll be having a go at importing my old content back here but if it’s gone so be it

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