The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 67,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
SCA have recently completed the acquisition of Access Scaffolding IW, and have formed a single division for our Isle of Wight operations that will become the largest provider of contract scaffolding on the island. Access Scaffolding IOW will exist as a wholly owned subsidiary of the SCA Group, with the existing owner, Ashley Palmer, excited to commit his future to the new venture.
Ashley Palmer’s scaffolding business, Access Scaffolding, has been a presence on the Isle of Wight for many years, and the business has undergone substantial growth under Ashley’s stewardship, forging some great partnerships and working relationships along the way. SCA recognises the potential in Ashley’s business, and the hard work that has gone in to creating such a fantastic company, and coupled with our resources, reputation and enhanced service provisions, we believe that we can further improve the offering to the Isle of Wight, and build upon some well laid foundations.
SCA also has vast experience of working on the Isle of Wight with local people and local businesses, and we can further establish the reputation of ‘SCA Access IOW’ through our accreditations and memberships, not to mention our network of contacts and customers. As full members of the National Access & Scaffolding Confederation, or the NASC (as one such example), we can demonstrate our dedication to high standards of workmanship, attention to detail, and ability to work to the highest levels of health and safety, something that can only bring additional benefits to the service we can provide.
Ashley’s focus in the past has been on delivering a high quality, access scaffolding service to his clients, which has served the market well. With SCA’s influence, we can expand on these capabilities, and offer a wider package including Rope Access and Industrial Painting as well, and we look forward to exploring these possibilities with Ashley on board.
With the formation of a single division now complete, it is essential to us that ongoing activities remain uninterrupted, and with this at the forefront of our minds, all existing customer contracts of Access Scaffolding will be fulfilled as scheduled as we look to not only maintain existing relationships, but build and strengthen them as well.
Should you have any queries or concerns or future requirements for the new division, please note all the relevant contact details below:
While millions of people are exchanging presents, feasting on turkey, and nodding off in front of the television, 1,600 people are expected to take time out from the yuletide festivities and do their tax return online
If your employer spent more than £150 per head on parties you could be facing a tax bill in the new year
If you are given third party gifts (suppliers) worth more than £250, then you could he taxed on them
An employer may provide employees with a seasonal gift, such as a turkey, an ordinary bottle of wine or a box of chocolates at Christmas. All of these gifts can be treated as trivial benefits.
Shoppers spent £1.2bn on ‘Panic Saturday’ (20th December 2014)
Christmas Shoppers will spend £74bn in 2014 and of this £17.4bn will be spent online
From 2016, employers will be able to give employees tax-free “benefits” – not cash – of up to £50 a year.
HMRC will not be holding any Christmas Parties for its staff according to the Telegraph
Many people think Scrooge was an accountant but he was actually a moneylender
There is no VAT on purchased gift vouchers as they are treated as cash equivalents, its only when they are used to purchase items that VAT needs to be accounted for.
HMRC have made it clear you can’t claim Capital Allowances for Personalised Car Number Plates, however, they do fall within the Intangibles Regime.
CTA09/PART8/S712
An intangible asset (other than goodwill) satisfies the asset conditions if it meets all the following tests:
it is an intangible asset for accounting purposes (CIRD11120) including an asset which comes within the definition of ‘intellectual property’ in section 712 (3) of Part 8 (see CIRD11150),
it does not fall within one of the statutory exclusions (see CIRD25000 onwards).
Basically you write off the cost over it useful life or use a rate of 4% per year.
There is an argument for not claiming a deduction against your corporation tax because then any gain will be subject to the capital gains tax rules, but as you will probably keep the Registration indefinitely getting a tax saving now rather than possibly getting one later might be more beneficial.
You can tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about any income you haven’t declared (this is known as ‘voluntary disclosure’).
The Solicitors Tax Campaign gives you the chance to do this if you work within the legal profession as a solicitor in a partnership or company, or as an individual.
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has recently highlight the following problem areas:
Employer forgeting to do the declaration of compliance within 5 months of staging, many employers wrongly assumed that registering on the Government Gateway was enough.
Confusion caused by running multiple payrolls for the same employer for example weekly and monthly
Completing the declaration of compliance but without choosing a pension provider
Omitting self employed workers who have a contract to provide work personally
your computer breaks down just before or during the preparation of your online return (HMRC)
a serious illness, disability or serious mental health condition has made you incapable of filing your tax return (HMRC)
you registered for HMRC Online Services but didn’t get your Activation Code in time (HMRC)
it was lost in the post HMD Response International v’s HMRC 2011 The accountant produced a contemporaneous note in his office diary for 16 May showing that he had filed the return.
Around one in nine (11%) of the 560,000 people in Inner London who had to send in a tax return last year didn’t do so by the relevant deadline – 31 October for paper returns and 31 January for online submissions.
The one million taxpayers in Outer London were more punctual, with one in 11 (9%) failing to meet the deadline, but they were still the second worst offenders. The tardiest taxpayers outside of London were in the North West of England, with 8% of their 890,000 returns failing to meet the deadline.
Taxpayers in the rest of the English regions fared better. The most punctual were in the South West, with only 6% of their one million tax returns arriving late. The other English regions, as well as Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, all registered 7% of late tax returns, which was the UK national average.
The big news in the Autum Statement was the change to Stamp Duty.
• No stamp duty will be paid on the first £125,000 of a property
• 2% will be paid on the portion up to £250,000
• 5% is paid for the portion up to £925,000
• 10% is paid on the portion up to £1.5m
• 12% is paid on anything above that
It’s Self Assessment season, most people who are required to do self assessment will submit their returns in December and January.
You must always send a tax return if you’re:
a self-employed sole trader
a partner in a business partnership
a company director (unless it’s for a non-profit organisation, eg a charity, and you don’t get any pay or benefits, like travel expenses or a company car)
Don’t miss the deadline of 31st January or you will get penalties and interest
If you are new to Self Assessment makesure you get your HMRC log in details early and know your NI and UTR numbers otherwise you won’t be able to file online which could lead to penalties
Claim all your expenses for example a self employed worker will claim for travel , protective clothing (PPE), home office expenses
Don’t forget Pension Contributions if the tax hasn’t been claimed by your pension provider or you are a higher rate tax payer