You are currently browsing the Blog - EMS - Business Consultants weblog archives for September, 2011.
27/09/2011 by Geoff.
Due to a recent European Court of Justice ruling, HMRC now consider that the provision of a benefit via salary sacrifice to employees constitutes a supply of services for consideration and is therefore subject to VAT.
Benefits that will be affected include:
To give employers time to make the necessary changes to their record keeping HMRC will not require output tax to be accounted for on salary sacrifice supplies until 1 January 2012.
Simone Greasley
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27/09/2011 by Geoff.
Posted in Business interest, Current Issues | No Comments »
18/09/2011 by Geoff.
Last month HMRC started an automated reconciliation of UK taxpayers’ PAYE records.
Tax overpayments 2010-11
Initially HMRC will be looking for taxpayers who have overpaid tax. By the end of September 2011 HMRC should have submitted forms P800s and refunded any tax overpaid. It is estimated that up to 3.5m taxpayers will be repaid an average of £340 each.
Tax underpayments 2010-11
In the following quarter, to the end of December 2011, HMRC will be sending out P800s to taxpayers who have underpaid tax for 2010-11. It is estimated that 1.2m people will owe an average of £550 each. In most cases the tax will be recovered by reducing code numbers for 2012-13.
It is worth noting that for 2010-11 the amount below which underpayments are written off is reduced from £300 to £50. Also the maximum liability that can be recovered by a reduction in a code number will increase from £2000 to £3000 for 2012-13.
Simone Greasley
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18/09/2011 by Geoff.
From 4 July 2011 the forms that are required to be submitted to HMRC when a property is purchased will change.
The significant change is that the ‘lead’ purchaser will be required to enter information on the form that will enable HMRC to track down their tax records!
The unique identifiers required are:
So please bear in mind that when you buy a property from now on details of the purchase will likely be sitting on your file at the tax office.
Simone Greasley
Posted in Business interest, Contact Us | No Comments »
05/09/2011 by Geoff.
Learn from the mistakes and successes of your competitors - Watch what your competitors are doing and learn from it. They may be advertising everywhere but it may not be enough to win them new business. Your marketing does not necessarily have to centre on traditional advertising. Sometimes, more subtle approaches such as email marketing, direct mail or even blogging via Twitter can prove more targeted and yield better results than buying expensive advertisements.
Target the right audience - Identifying the segments of the market that are worth targeting is the key to developing a marketing campaign that yields results. Monitor trends in your particular business sector and develop strategies to target those clients who spend more on your type of product or service. Alternatively, you may decide to go with a low cost strategy and focus on selling large volumes. The key is to market your product or service to an audience that will be receptive to your sales proposition.
It’s cheaper to sell to an existing client than it is to win a new client - There is a “cost of acquisition” associated with winning new clients. Whether you need to offer a discount for the first year or take corporate contacts to a rugby match in order to close a deal, there is a cost associated with winning that new piece of business. Existing clients have already demonstrated that they are willing to do business with you. These clients should be targeted for either a repeat sale or a cross sale of one of your additional products or services which they have not yet purchased.
Build your database - Effective marketing campaigns require mailing lists, email addresses and telephone numbers. New contacts should be added to your database in order that they receive future special offers, newsletters of invitations to events. No matter what type of marketing campaigns you wish to engage in, you need to track client contact information so that you or your sales team can easily follow up and close the sale.
Simone Greasley
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05/09/2011 by Geoff.
The health and safety executive (HSE) have recently released a new video which shows the application of the Work at Height Regulations of 2005. In this article we briefly outline the basics of what you should be aware of in relation to this legislation. For more detailed information we recommend reviewing the guidance available on the HSE website – www.hse.gov.uk. These regulations were introduced in order to recognise and reduce the risks associated with injury from falling, even if it is at or below ground level. The HSE recommend that, where possible, work at height should be avoided. However the governing principle of the regulations is that you must do all reasonably practicable actions to prevent anyone falling.The Work at Height Regulations 2005 applies to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury.
As an employer the guidance details the following areas that should be considered:Planning - This includes reviewing the risks and making appropriate plans for the completion of any work which will be at height.Weather - Take into account any weather conditions which may impact the work being undertaken.Staff Training - Ensuring all staff working at height have had appropriate training.The Place where the work is to be done - Ensure that the location of the work is safe and any risks have been mitigated.Equipment, temporary structures and safety features - Ensure appropriate equipment is used at a location and the appropriate safety features are being used correctly.Inspection - A competent person should inspect the location and working environment including any structures that have been constructed prior to starting work to ensure that it is safe to undertake the work.Fragile Surfaces - You must ensure that the condition of any surfaces have been taken into account and these conditions have been taken into account in the planning of the work.Falling Objects - You must ensure that there is no risk of falling objects or mitigated this risk so injury does not occur.The following websites - http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.pdf or www.hse.gov.uk contain more detailed information and guidance on Working at Height Legislation.Simone Greasley
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