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Tax Reviews -
SOFTWARE
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Written by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP
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Friday, 10 October 2008 14:14 |
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Reviewed by Mark McLaughlin ATII ATT TEP The 'Car Benefit Workbook' by Payexcel Limited is not the first product to compare the cost of running a company car against the cost of an employee using his or her own vehicle, and it probably won't be the last. However, like Payexcel's other products ('PAYExcel' and the 'Business Tax Comparison Workbook'), one of its big attractions for me is that it is built on Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet software, with which I am reasonably familiar both at home and in the office environment. And possibly you will be, too. Summary Anyone who has performed 'company vs own car' comparisons manually will appreciate that the calculations are fairly complex and laborious. They are not the easiest computations to set out in a comprehensible way, either. The 'Car Benefit Workbook' tries to make the process as painless and presentable as possible"! The Contents As indicated, the format is an .xls spreadsheet, with a number of worksheets across the bottom of the page. I would recommend that the user reads the 'Quick Tour' first, to get a feel for the workbook and its capabilities. Using the Car Benefit Workbook There is a 'summary' sheet, which shows the company car / own car comparison not only for the year under review, but for the following two years as well. As the name suggests, this worksheet summarises and compares the costs for a company car against a private car. The calculations (even for a summary) may well appear slightly daunting for uninitiated taxpayers (or their advisers!). However, this is mainly due to the complex nature of the calculations. On the 'plus' side, it shows the 'bottom line' clearly, i.e. whether a company car is an advantage or a disadvantage in financial terms, both for the employee and the employer. A 'taxable benefits' worksheet requires the user's input. This is where the company car details are entered, including the carbon dioxide emissions figure (if appropriate). This sheet calculates the employee's car and fuel benefits for the company car, for any three consecutive tax years between 2002/03 and 2008/09. This is a useful benefits calculator, even if comparisons with the employee's own vehicle are not necessary. A separate worksheet ('company car costs') calculates the cost to the employer of providing the employee with a company car, again for a three year period. This sheet requires an amount of input from the user (and for certain assumptions to be made, of necessity). A clear breakdown of the cost components is given, which makes potentially interesting reading. An 'own car alternative' worksheet calculates the cost to the employee of running his (or her) own car. In many cases, employers will offer the employee additional salary in lieu of a company car. The user can factor this information into the calculations as well. The figures also cover a 3 year period. There is also a 'scale charges' worksheet, which includes various tables used in the comparison calculations (e.g. the car benefit tables, and approved mileage rates for business use in the employee's own car). This sheet allows the user to input the various rates and allowances up to and including 2008/09 as they become known, and to estimate them in the meantime for 'what if?' scenarios. The Verdict This is a comprehensive, well thought out and comparatively straightforward product. It removes the necessity for complex and time consuming manual calculations, and is easy to use. It is a difficult task for any software developer to present the information and calculations in a way that the average taxpayer can follow (e.g. where accountants are printing the pages as reports to their clients). The workbook makes a good job of trying to do so, particularly the summary page. Further information For further information on PAYExcel software and the cost, visit www.PAYExcel.co.uk. Read our review on their other products: - PAYExcel Software - Business Tax Comparison Workbook Disclaimer The views expressed in this review are those of the writer only and not necessarily those of TaxationWeb. No responsibility can be accepted by the writer or TaxationWeb for any loss arising from action undertaken or refrained from as a result of this review. Mark McLaughlin
August 2002
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Tax Reviews -
SOFTWARE
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Written by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP
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Friday, 10 October 2008 14:13 |
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Reviewed by Mark McLaughlin ATII ATT TEP There is some comfort in familiarity! Even before opening this software, it was reassuring to know that I would be familiar with the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format on which this product is based. And so should most other users, as Excel is an extremely popular and commonly used piece of software. Summary I really enjoyed the simplicity of PAYExcel. It is very easy to use. The trial version allowed for the input of 2 employees. It would be interesting to see how PAYExcel could be used for larger employers. Certainly, for the vast majority of smaller employers, this software should be perfectly adequate, and for payroll technology 'luddites' (like me!) it is ideal! The Contents The format is an .xls spreadsheet. There are a number of sheets across the bottom of the page. I would recommend that the user reads the 'Quick Tour' and 'Notes' sheets first, as they contain some useful information on the product and the way in which it operates. Using PAYExcel Of course, like any payroll software, it is necessary to input a certain amount of information before proceeding. There is a 'records' section for this data, which is straightforward for entering basic information (e.g. name, national insurance number, tax code etc). On another sheet, there is a P45 'checker', which conveniently checks the P45 information of new employees. I really like the 'input' page. This is where the employee's salary details for the week or month are entered. The reason I like it is because it has the appearance of a payslip, and in fact it can be printed off and used as such. Salary calculations can be performed with the minimum amount of information (normally only the pay date, gross pay and tax code). In addition, there is a helpful facility for 'net to gross' calculations. When the salary input is finalised (it can be changed as many times as is needed), the information is transferred to the employee's Tax Deduction Working Sheet (or form P11, for those payroll experts among you!). There are separate sheets for tax and national insurance contributions, which can also be printed out. The total of employees' payroll deductions are transferred to a 'P30BC', or the Inland Revenue Payslip Booklet, which will also be very familiar to many payroll operators. This page shows the amount payable to the Revenue for each tax month, and in total. Some of the fields may need to be manually entered (i.e. those relating to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) or Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)), as the system does not calculate those pay items (or at least not yet). Payslips can be directly printed out, or alternatively can be sent to a 'Payslips' page which can accommodate up to 4 payslips at a time. The Verdict As mentioned in the summary, I would certainly recommend that small businesses have a good look at this software. I commend it to smaller businesses in particular because as mentioned the software does not presently calculate SSP or SMP, although I understand that future versions may do so. It would be interesting to see what 'pay day' would be like for a payroll of (say) 50 employees. As someone who used to operate a payroll of 10 for a local Conservative Club, I honestly wish that I had discovered PAYExcel sooner! Why not download a trial version from PAYExcel's website, and give it a try? Further information For further information on PAYExcel software and the cost, visit www.PAYExcel.co.uk. Read our review on their other products: - Car Benefit Workbook - Business Tax Comparison Workbook Disclaimer The views expressed in this review are those of the writer only and not necessarily those of TaxationWeb. No responsibility can be accepted by the writer or TaxationWeb for any loss arising from action undertaken or refrained from as a result of this review. Mark McLaughlin
August 2002
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Tax Reviews -
SOFTWARE
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Written by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP
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Friday, 10 October 2008 14:12 |
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They've done it again! It seems that PTP have done it again! They have identified a gap in the market for a piece of tax software that will be useful to a huge professional market, and introduced a helpful, time saving product at an affordable price, that can be exploited as an 'added value' marketing tool by firms offering tax services. Introduction Inheritance Tax (IHT) is an area of tax planning with which many practitioners may not previously have been too concerned. However, with the recent escalation in property prices, the value of the family home alone is likely to give many clients a potential IHT problem. And let's face it, clients are becoming increasingly demanding as far as service from their professional advisers is concerned. This is where IHT planning can help. The Product As you might expect, PTP's 'IHT Planner' has the facility to save information for multiple clients. There are three main sections to the planner, namely 'Lifetime Transfers', 'Chargeable Estate' and 'Calculations'. A customised report can be prepared and printed for each client. Different IHT planning scenarios can also be saved for the same client. The 'Lifetime Transfers' section allows the user to input details of past and possible future transfers, both chargeable and potentially exempt, and to specify whether any relief from IHT is available in respect of them (e.g. payments to charity or gifts in consideration of marriage). The IHT position is calculated and can be viewed on a cumulative basis for each transfer, showing any IHT payable (at the time of a lifetime transfer and/or on death) or the remaining nil rate band. The 'Chargeable Estate' section allows for the addition of assets and liabilities (including pecuniary liabilities), and the allocation of the residuary estate between beneficiaries. Specific assets can be allocated to particular beneficiaries in accordance with the client's will, and account taken of any gifts with reservation of benefit, available relief (e.g. business property relief) and tax attributable to successive transfers ('Quick Succession Relief'). For those clients without a will, it is possible to set up the software as an intestacy planner. The 'Calculations' section gives amounts and a full breakdown of tax on the chargeable estate, and also additional tax in respect of failed PETs. The IHT Planner produces a selection of reports, which can be edited for individual clients. The full report I printed off ran to an impressive 10 pages, and contained summary and detailed IHT calculations, breakdowns of lifetime transfers, assets, liabilities and so on. Rather disappointingly, the version of the IHT Planner sent to me was only a demonstration version, and I was unable to have a proper 'play' with it in order to evaluate the software fully. However, overall I was quite impressed with what I did see. Do I have any criticisms or reservations about the IHT Planner? Not really, such as it is. However, it would be really helpful if PTP could develop IHT software to produce Inland Revenue returns in respect of the death estate (IHT 200) and also chargeable lifetime transfers (having said that, a version of the software dealing with the IHT 200 return is understood to be on its way). But for planning purposes, as the phrase goes, "it does exactly what it says on the tin"! The Cost As with all PTP tax software products in my opinion, the IHT planner is good value for money, a 12 month single user licence costing just £99 and a multi-user licence costing £199 (both plus VAT). To order your copy, go to http://www.ptpgroup.co.uk/softorder.htm. Summary I envisage the IHT planner being useful in a variety of situations. For example, practitioners not previously involved in estate planning to a significant degree could use the planner to prepare inventories of their clients' estates for IHT purposes as a starting point in the tax planning process. This estate inventory (with tax calculations) could be given to the client as a basis for IHT planning. A revised report could then be produced following this planning exercise, illustrating the potential IHT savings achievable from implementing the planning recommendations. The IHT Planner should save much time and number crunching when dealing with "what if?" scenarios of this nature. The relatively modest expense of buying the IHT Planner is likely to be recovered very quickly after it is brought into use on behalf of clients who are eager to reduce their potential IHT exposure. Who knows - it may help to generate additional fees in a largely untapped area of tax planning. Why not give it a try? Disclaimer The views expressed in this review are those of the writer only and not necessarily those of TaxationWeb. No responsibility can be accepted by the writer or TaxationWeb for any loss arising from action undertaken or refrained from as a result of this review. Mark McLaughlin
September 2003
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