PCG Newsletter 02/06 - 19 January 2006

IN THIS ISSUE

• PCG disappointment as HMRC prepares to appeal Arctic

• Tax self-assessment deadline looms

• VAT receipts for business mileage claims

• Mark Prisk MP flies flag for family businesses

• Review of regulatory penalties

• EC consultation on patent system

• Emergence of offshoring trend in oil and gas

• Suggestions 'box'

• PCG complains about HMRC advertisement

• New Affiliate member: Wireworx

• Contract opportunities for members

• Regional meetings

• Marketing seminar in Sheffield

• Advertisement

PCG disappointment as HMRC prepares to appeal Arctic

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has decided to seek leave from the House of Lords to appeal the Arctic case, Jones v Garnett. 

Commenting on the announcement, PCG chairman Simon Juden said, "We are profoundly disappointed that HMRC has chosen to expose hundreds of thousands of businesses to yet more uncertainty, especially with regard to their self assessment positions, rather than accept the common sense verdict delivered in this case.” Read more... 

For a list of recent articles featuring PCG and the Arctic case, see PCG in the news

Tax self-assessment deadline looms

The deadline for submission of self-assessment tax returns relating to 2004/05, and full payment of any tax due, is 31 January 2006. Returns received from the morning post on 2 February will incur a late-filing penalty of £100, and interest is charged on any outstanding tax. According to HMRC, 998,000 penalty notices were issued to taxpayers who failed to meet the deadline last tax year. See their ten top tips for getting your tax return right.

If you are unsure how to complete your return in light of the Court of Appeal's ruling in favour of Geoff Jones in the Jones v Garnett case, and HMRC's intention to appeal, see:  

VAT receipts for business mileage claims

In our 8 December 2005 newsletter, we reported an HMRC announcement about a change to the rules governing the recovery of VAT by employers on road fuel, following a European Court judgement in March 2005. There has been some debate about this in the forums, and we can confirm that:

·                              From 1 January 2006, employers need to keep full or less detailed VAT invoices that their employees obtain from the fuel supplier as proof of purchase, to support their claim for VAT recovery.

·                                 Input tax may be claimed only on the cost of fuel for business use and invoices need to cover only this amount.

·                                 In many cases, the amount of the invoice will not match the input tax claim in that claim period and invoices may cover more than one period.

HMRC's guidance is available online in VAT Information Sheet 08/2005.

Mark Prisk MP flies flag for family businesses

At a meeting with PCG representatives Simon Juden, John Thomas and John Kell on Tuesday 17 January, Mark Prisk MP said that he would be challenging the Government's approach to Section 660. Mr Prisk, who is the Conservative Party's small business spokesman, believes that the Revenue's approach is an attack on the independent taxation of women.

"Their legal argument rests, in part, on being able to treat a wife's earnings as if its just part of her husband's income," he said. "If this were to be accepted by the House of Lords, it would have serious implications for thousands of working women and would undermine this important principle of our tax system."

"We understand that Mr Prisk will be writing to the HMRC executive chairman, Sir David Varney," said PCG chief executive, John Thomas. "He is going to voice the concerns of the small business community, especially the thousands of family businesses whose ability to plan their business or invest for the future is undermined by still not knowing what their tax liability is. We are very pleased to have his support on this crucial matter."

Review of regulatory penalties

PCG will be contributing to a review of penalties available to regulators which has been established by the Better Regulation Executive. This is as part of the follow-up work to the Hampton Report, published in March 2005, to which PCG contributed. In line with Hampton, it aims to promote risk-based and proportionate enforcement by considering alternative and more flexible sanctions.

Members with experience (not necessarily first-hand!) of regulatory penalties are invited to contribute either by posting their thoughts and experiences in the relevant thread in the Policy Forum or emailing them to John Kell by 8 February. Case studies that could be quoted at some length would be particularly appreciated.

EC consultation on patent system

The Commission has published a consultation paper as part of an effort to re-start the Community Patent agenda. This will be of obvious concern to the many members who expressed their alarm at the so-called "software patents" directive last year, but it may be that others are affected by the patenting system as well.

We would like to hear general thoughts on patenting and intellectual property and your experiences of such matters in any and all sectors, either in the relevant forum thread  or by email to John Kell. PCG will respond to this consultation and continue to monitor developments and the significance members attach to this issue.

Emergence of offshoring trend in oil and gas

A trend is beginning to emerge of large companies in the oil and gas sectors offshoring some or most of their engineering work. Although this is not yet as pronounced as in IT, PCG would like to gauge what is happening and investigate how best to respond, having enjoyed some success in its work on offshoring with respect to IT.

We would therefore be interested to hear from members; please tell us about your experience of this trend, where you think we should be looking to find out more, and any apparent reasons for its development. Please let us know by email or in the relevant forum thread.

Suggestions 'box'

Members who have questions or suggestions for PCG's directors and management team should email them to a new address that has been created especially for the purpose: suggestions@pcg.org.uk  

This new initiative is designed to facilitate communication between the membership, board and management team, to ensure that ideas are listened to and concerns addressed. Answers may be published on the website as an FAQ digest.

PCG complains about HMRC advertisement

PCG's chief executive, John Thomas, has written to the Advertising Standards Authority to register a formal complaint about an advertisement placed in the national press by HMRC. The advertisement  shows a plumber hiding under a kitchen sink, alongside a caption publicising a hotline to report self-employed people who do not pay their taxes.

New Affiliate member: Wireworx

PCG is pleased to welcome new Affiliate member WireworX, a Windsor-based company that was formed to provide "corporate levels of PC support and service to independent professionals" in a manner that was not previously available. 

Contract opportunities for members

For information about the latest job, project, contract and work opportunities, see PCG's Commercial and Members' Commercial forums. The Commercial forum may be accessed by Affiliate members, and PCG welcomes postings by agencies. If you are willing to have your commercial post published in the fortnightly newsletter, please include the words "newsletter OK". Current opportunities include:

·       SOX testers - six month contracts in Scotland 

·       Aerospace sector, hardware/system design - Southampton (urgent)

·       Learning and skills sector, facilitator/consultant - East Anglia/surrounding counties

Regional meetings

Regional meetings, traditionally known on the forums as "RLMs", encourage members to socialise, network and discuss PCG issues. These meetings are open to all members, and in many cases non-members are welcome to come along too.

If you would like to attend or propose regional meetings, please post to the relevant thread on the RLM forum, or email the local co-ordinator.

·                                 Sheffield  - Tuesday 24 January 2006 18.00
Bar Matrix, Sheffield, S1 4HS. Regional event in conjunction with Digital South Yorkshire, featuring marketing seminar (see below). Email sy-region@pcg.org.uk

·                                 Thames Valley - Wednesday 25 January 2006 20.00
The Greyhound (Wetherspoons) in Queen Street, Maidenhead. Email thamesvalley@pcg.org.uk

·                                 North West - Saturday 28 January 2006
Monthly meeting, venue to be agreed. Email cm-region@pcg.org.uk

Marketing seminar in Sheffield

Many freelance businesses sell services rather than physical products. Marketing a service presents its own challenges, especially for small businesses competing with larger firms, which typically have vast budgets to support their prospecting activities.

PCG and Digital South Yorkshire (DSY) will be hosting a seminar in Sheffield on Tuesday 24 January 2006, aimed at helping freelance businesses get their marketing messages across to potential clients.

Diana Watson, who has nearly 20 years' marketing experience, will offer practical advice, tailored for the smallest of businesses. Having offered freelance consultancy to a range of private, public and not-for-profit sector clients through her own marketing business for the past four years, Diana is well placed to share her valuable ideas and proven techniques for winning profitable business.

If you would like to attend, please email sy-region@pcg.org.uk to register in advance. 

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Disclaimer. PCG carries very limited advertising only from known and reputable Affiliate members and complementary organisations. Even so, publication of any advertisement carries no implicit or explicit endorsement by PCG.

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