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TaxationWeb by Bob Fraser MBA MA FSFABob Fraser, Associate Investment Director of Rensburg Investment Management Limited, outlines the potential tax incentives offered to enterprise Investment Scheme investors.Up to £200,000 (for 2004/05) can be invested in a qualifying Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) in any one tax year (with a minimum of £500) and will qualify for income tax relief and capital gains tax exemption. Tax advantagesThe tax advantages are: 1. 20% relief on the initial investment ... Continue Reading

VAT Voice by Steve AllenSteve Allen, Director of VAT Solutions (UK) Ltd outlines the importance to traders of obtaining valid VAT numbers from suppliers and customers.When you are trading with other businesses there are certain circumstances when it is important to get their VAT numbers and make sure they are valid, both for customers and suppliers. CustomersIf you are selling goods to customers in other member states of the EU it is important that you obtain their VAT registration number. Without ... Continue Reading

TaxationWeb by Arthur Weller and Amer SiddiqArthur Weller and Amer Siddiq, authors of '27 Proven Property Tax Saving Strategies' outline a potential tax planning strategy - courtesy of the Inland Revenue's own guidance manuals!IntroductionEver since Maurice Parry-Wingfield (Tax Director at Deloitte), mentioned paragraph 45700 from the Inland Revenue Business Income Manual, accountants and tax specialists have been highlighting the potentially huge benefits this can bring about for landlords. In ... Continue Reading

TaxationWeb by Daniel Feingold & Amer SiddiqDaniel Feingold and Amer Siddiq outline a potential CGT pitfall for property investors and some possible solutionsIntroductionGiven the property boom over recent years, a huge number of investors have quickly and successfully grown portfolios by using a very simple investment strategy. This strategy involves withdrawing equity from an existing property to fund the next purchase. Though this strategy has been successfully used to quickly grow portfolios ... Continue Reading

VAT Voice by Andrew NeedhamAndrew Needham, Director of VAT Solutions (UK) Ltd, explains that the significance of HM Customs and Excise Business Briefs may be lost on some people, potentially including some VAT Officers!BackgroundWhen the VATman changes his policy, either because he has reviewed existing policy and thinks it needs updating or when he wins or loses a court case, he notifies the world in general by issuing a Business Brief. This contains the background to the case, existing policy, ... Continue Reading

VAT Voice by Andrew Needham & Steve AllenAndrew Needham and Steve Allen, Directors of VAT Solutions (UK) Ltd, outline some useful VAT tips relating to the private use of mobile phones and the recovery of VAT on travel and costs incurred in the UK.Customs get tough on mobile phone bills Most employers provide some of their employees with mobile telephones to enable them to contact them for business reasons. In some cases, the employers allow staff to make private calls, whilst others do not. Customs ... Continue Reading

VAT Voice by Andrew NeedhamAndrew Needham, Director of VAT Solutions(UK) Ltd, outlines a potential problem with sales to EU customers, and offers some possible solutionsScenarioYour business is doing really well and your sales to the EU have increased rapidly over the past few years. You now think its time to improve the way you are doing business by speeding up deliveries and reducing costs. One way that seems a good idea is to store goods nearer to the market, i.e. have a warehouse on mainland ... Continue Reading

TaxationWeb by Andrew NeedhamAndrew Needham, Director of VAT Solutions (UK) Ltd, outlines some potential VAT difficulties with cross-border supplies to other EU StatesThe rules regarding the supply of services to customer in other Member States of the EU are complex, and can cause businesses a lot of problems if they are not aware of the implications of what the are doing. There are different ‘place of supply’ rules for different types of services, and can mean that a business has a liability ... Continue Reading

TaxationWeb by Andrew NeedhamAndrew Needham explains why cashflow savings in the short term can have unfortunate long term implicationsIf you don’t send in a VAT return, Customs’ computer will ask you to pay what it thinks you owe. If you pay this knowing that it is less than you actually own what will Customs do? Late returnsNormal situation - If you send in your return late, or not at all, Customs will normally put you into the surcharge penalty regime (warning letter, then surcharges of ... Continue Reading

VAT Voice by Steve AllenSteve Allen, Director of VAT Solutions (UK) Limited, outlines pitfalls and potential savings in the transfer of properties to pension schemes.Pension schemeFor some time it has been popular for companies to transfer their commercial property into a pension fund for the owner Directors. Most of the time, nobody considers the VAT aspects of the transfer, or what saving can be made. In most cases, the properties are transferred into the pension fund, and then rented back to ... Continue Reading