What’s on everyone’s minds this month? VAT? Pre-Budget Report? Christmas?
A quick rundown then: VAT: A headache ensues? The administrative burden of changing prices to reflect the tax change from 1 January will be heavy. If you are in retail, issues could arise in January on Christmas gift returns, so be prepared. In the hospitality industry, outlets staying open past midnight on New Year’s Eve could also be in breach of the rules if they continue to charge the 15% VAT rate, although to simplify matters HMRC has stepped in with a promise that the 15% VAT rate will last until 6am on January 1st. The same rules will apply to mobile phone calls and texts, so make the most of it.
The recent pre-Budget report said that "efficiency savings" will help save £12bn over four years. “Smarter Government”, will apparently achieve a 20% reduction in the senior civil service budget. Savings will be made through staff relocations, tackling sickness levels and renegotiating pay settlements. These measures are something that your business may be considering as money saving tactics, but they are measures which should never be taken without quality legal advice. Any changes to your working practices need to be made taking legislative issues into consideration, so get in touch to discuss what you have in mind before you take any action. Take a look at our website for a brief snapshot of the main points contained in the pre-Budget report.
And continuing on the subject of staff, we take a look at the subject of employee absence and what you can do to deal with and avoid it altogether; this is just one of a number of stories in the Employment Library on our website.
And finally everyone at Neves wishes you and your family a very Happy Christmas , and a Prosperous New Year. Neves NewsAs reported last month our Milton Keynes office has taken part this year in the Will Aid scheme, which has proved an enormous success raising almost £4,000 for very worthwhile charities, with a few donations still to be received. Well done to all those involved. If you did not manage to take advantage of Will Aid and need a new will why not make it your resolution to contact us early in the new year! Thinking of getting rid of your Auditor? Make sure you follow correct procedure. If you are not seeing eye to eye with your auditor because their view of your financial statements doesn’t quite match your own, you need to be aware that Sections 522 to 525 of the Companies Act 2006 set new requirements for auditors and companies to notify the ‘appropriate audit authority’ when an auditor ceases to hold office. Information and resources on the subject can be found on our website this month and of course, if you are in any doubt about whether you are following correct procedure, you should take legal advice.
Employing Staff below School Leaving Age? Read the New Guidance. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has produced guidance which sets out the key provisions of the law governing the employment of children under school leaving age. Age limits and permitted working hours; the type of work children are allowed to do; permits and health and safety requirements are all covered. Visit our website to download the full guidance.
Compulsory Pensions: Be Prepared From 2012 the Pensions Act 2008 contains provisions which will make it compulsory for an employer to enrol qualifying workers aged between 22 and the state pension age who earn more than £5,035 per annum (currently) into a pension scheme and to make contributions to the scheme of a minimum of 3% of salary. The employee will be required to contribute minimum 4% of salary, up to a maximum of (currently) £3,600 per annum. There is more detail on this on our website this month; now is the time to start thinking about the potential impact of this regime.
Waiving your Director’s Salary? Watch out for the Pitfalls! If you have been considering waiving your director’s salary to help ease cash flow, take care. Unless the waiver is done correctly, the PAYE on the salary waived (which, together with the related National Insurance Contributions, can amount to more than a third of the gross salary) may still be payable. There are other circumstances in which unclaimed salary can be liable to tax. If you are considering waiving all or part of your salary, take advice: HMRC can be unforgiving when PAYE irregularities are found. Read more about this on our website.
Employee absence causing problems? Having sound policies and procedures in place will help you better deal with the costly business of unexpected staff leave. Family friendly policies lead to more contented staff members and picking up on and dealing with work related stress is vital. Of course, some sickness is unavoidable but if staff are more likely to want to get back to work quickly, this will make things easier for you. Much advice courtesy of our Employment Law library showing what you can do to better handle staff absence, and avoid it in the first place.
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