Budget: the hidden changes Posted 04/16/2012 by Michael Steed & filed under News. The price of (warm) pasties and sausage rolls may have hogged the headlines during this year’s Budget, but there was a lot more to it than that. Michael Steed shows you three changes that you may have missed in the melee The budget has been and gone – a lot of it had been leaked but still there was an uproar over the tax on hot foods and the raid on allowances for the over 65s. But there are some less obvious changes which George Osborne has announced and these include a clamp-down on VAT anomalies. Here we examine three areas of the Budget which you may not have considered but could affect you and your clients and if all goes to plan will be implemented from 1 October 2012. What are you storing and where? All businesses offering self-storage will have to charge VAT following George Osborne’s Budget announcement. If you offer storage facilities to your clients, you’ll need to understand the implications of these changes and what they mean. Previously organisations, businesses and individuals could supply storage facilities and could avoid charging VAT on storage/space by allocating their customers a discrete piece of land – qualifying for the VAT exemption. However other types of businesses e.g. removal companies have always had to charge the standard rate of VAT (as the area offered wasn’t discrete) so this measure has been put into place to make the system fairer and consistent. Some business will not be affected because they’ve opted to tax the land and this overrides the issue. If you’re a small business owner and you’re using untaxed self-storage space, you will be affected. It could be that the rates of untaxed storage facilities will rise even if some storage companies absorb the 20% VAT rise. The government believes this was a fairly big loop hole in the system and the change of rules will affect significant numbers of businesses nationwide. Renting that chair – stylists beware? This new regulation will affect smaller, independent hairdressers (compared to the more well-known nationwide hairdressing salons that usually employ fulltime members of staff). Independent boutiques will feel the full force of these changes if they are hiring out chair space in their premises to freelance/self-employed stylists and hairdressers. The question raised is: is the self-employed stylist/ hairdresser occupying land exclusively for his or her own work? In some cases the salon owners are not charging VAT, so they are claiming that the supply to the stylist is VAT exempt. HMRC has consistently argued that in most cases, self-employed stylists do not have exclusive occupation of land and that instead they use facilities, which are not covered by the exemption, so must be standard rated. The impact of this change will potentially affect both parties. The self-employed stylist will suffer the VAT charge if not VAT registered, so they will not be able to reclaim it and the salon owner will potentially have to register for VAT if their turnover (now taxable and no longer exempt) is above the VAT threshold. Pumping iron in the gym This next change will affect business owners of leisure and gym facilities and shops that sell health products. This tax will align the UK with the rest of the EU in which standard-rated VAT is levied on protein and sports drinks. Products that will be affected by this change will be carbohydrate workout drinks, protein drinks and drinks containing creatine, These drinks will no longer be considered zero-rated because of their nutritional content (i.e. they can’t pretend to be basic food). HMRC will implement this rule so there is consistency across the board and so there will be a 20% VAT increase on these products. Michael Steed MAAT is from Kaplan Hawksmere and will be presenting at this year’s Members’ Weekender in Bristol on 18-19 May.
Top tips for becoming a sole trader Posted 04/12/2012 by Lucy Cohen & filed under Run your business. In her second post AAT member in practice, Lucy Cohen of Mazuma, offers advice on becoming a sole trader and the low-down on making sure your VAT is in order. What advice would you give to sole traders? Keep those receipts. It’s important to get organised and on top of your tax affairs from day one. It makes life easier in the end. Register as an employer if you take on staff. Don’t forget to register with HMRC as an employer if you take on staff because you’ll need to sort out their tax and national insurance as well as your own. The HMRC employers hotline number to do this is 0845 60 70 143. File your tax returns on time. Don’t forget… £100 fine if you file your tax return for the year ended 5th April after the 31st January the following year. Pay your self assessment tax on time. Save yourself automatic penalties and interest. If you are one month late HMRC will increase the tax due by 5% – a late payment penalty. Interest will run from the due date, 31st January or 31st July. Profit does not equal cash. Don’t forget that the timing of sales and purchases is important. Your profit is based on when things are done (i.e. the invoice date), not when they are paid. This means that you can have a tax bill but no cash. Claim for working from home. The owners of most small businesses will work from home occasionally, even if just to do the paperwork sometimes. In these cases, the taxpayer may claim an appropriate proportion of his or her household bills as a business expense, including heating and lighting costs and council tax. Here the proportion is generally based on the number of rooms in the house, excluding bathrooms, toilets, kitchens and hallways. This allowance can help to reduce your tax bill so it’s worth the little extra effort to work it out! Do I have to be VAT registered? There is a myth that every legitimate business is required to be VAT registered. This is not the case. Your business (as a sole-trader, partnership or company) does not have to become VAT registered until the total sales for 12 consecutive months exceeds £73,000. However, this total does apply to all the businesses you run as a sole trader. You can’t artificially divide your businesses to avoid registering for VAT. Of course you can still register for VAT if you don’t hit the £73,000 turnover mark – this is called voluntary registration and can give your business the appearance of being bigger than it is which can sometimes be useful commercially. However, think carefully if you are registering before you have to – if your business is a business to business (B2B) trade then it may not matter as much because the businesses who buy your services can reclaim the VAT. However, if you are selling to the public then bear in mind that you’ll have to add 20% to your prices when you become VAT registered which may make you less competitive in your market. You also need to take into account the extra hassle of completing VAT returns every quarter. In her next post, which goes live on 19 April, Lucy tells you all you need to know about expense claims. Lucy’s first post in this series concentrated on the tax hurdles you face when starting a business. You can also follow Lucy on Twitter.
Don’t get taxed by tax Posted 04/05/2012 by Lucy Cohen & filed under Run your business. Today marks the last day of the tax year. In an exclusive three-part post AAT member in practice, Lucy Cohen of Mazuma, guides you through the tax hurdles that you face when starting your own business. First up: how to get started How to get started When you decide to work for yourself you need to choose which form your business will take. The most common forms of business are: Sole-trader – you run the business on your own, usually under your own name Partnership – you and one or more other people jointly run the business Limited liability partnership – a special type of partnership that gives you and the other business owners more protection from creditors Limited company – an organisation that you own and control, which carries out the business on your behalf. If you run your business as a sole-trader or as a partnership you are legally self-employed and you’ll need to let the taxman know so that you can be sent a tax return to complete each year. The good news is that it is very easy to register and being a sole trader is the easiest form of business to operate through. When you start your own business you must register as a self-employed person with the taxman (HMRC). It is best to do this as soon as possible after you start to charge your customers for the goods you sell or for the services you provide. You can register: on the HMRC website by telephoning the tax office on: 0845 915 4515 by completing the leaflet CWF1: Becoming self-employed and registering for national insurance contributions and tax. You must register as self-employed even if you make a loss from your business. Every partner in a partnership business must register separately as a self-employed person. If you do not register with the taxman by 31 January following the end of the tax year in which you started your business, you may be charged a penalty of up to 100% of the tax and national insurance you owe, so it’s best to get registered as soon as possible. How to record income and expenses Keeping proper records is important just in case you have a tax investigation. There are many ways that you can keep records: some people choose a sophisticated software package, some use a spreadsheet and some just use a book in which they list all of their income and expenditure. It’s important that you have proof of all of the expenditure you incur for your business so keep those receipts safe. If you want to be sure that an expense is verifiable, keep the receipt/invoice. However, getting a receipt from a parking meter when you are visiting a customer can prove difficult. So speak to us at the year-end and make sure you keep a list of all those items that are not recorded in your books, because you couldn’t obtain a formal receipt, i.e. car parking, car washing, laundry and cleaning of overalls and so on. As long as the expense is commercially justifiable there should be no problem incorporating the estimated items. One of the best ways to have proof of all of your income and expenses is to have a business bank account and use it only for income and expenditure that relates to the business. Many banks offer free banking for a time when you first open the account and some banks even have free business bank accounts for life so it’s worth shopping around. What happens if I get it wrong? It’s important that you get your record keeping right for a number of reasons. One good reason is so that you declare the right figures on your tax return, but a very good reason is because of HMRC’s recent initiative which they have called a ‘Business Records Check’. The Taxman believes that a lot of businesses do not pay the right amount of tax because they don’t accurately record their business income and expenditure. In other words their business records are not of a high enough standard to produce accurate accounts. So HMRC is now sending out 120 tax officers to examine the un-sorted raw records held at thousands of businesses. If the tax officer (who is not a trained accountant), judges the business records to be inadequate the business owner could receive a penalty of up to £3,000. Although the Business Records Check programme was suspended following a review earlier this year, it is still good practice to keep proper records of everything and to get an accountant who will be able to help you if you’re not so hot with the admin side of your business. If you discover that you have made a mistake when filling out your tax return then you can submit an amended one – you have one year from the date of filing (31 January) in which to make any changes. Contrary to popular belief, HMRC can be pretty helpful if you are honest and open with them; even its penalties system is based on how cooperative you’ve been during investigation. Genuine mistakes are usually not punished with a heavy penalty, and you may just have to pay a bit of interest on any tax that was due to them that has resulted from the correction of any errors. In her next post, which goes live on 12 April, Lucy offers advice on registering for VAT. You can also follow Lucy on Twitter.
How to be more assertive Posted 04/04/2012 by Janet Stevenson & filed under Career. Struggle to be assertive in everyday situations? Janet Stevenson shows you how to avoid mis-interpretation and always be clear about what you mean It all began innocently enough. John had been having bad day at work, and just wanted to unwind at the end of the day. He got on well with Sadie, his colleague, and when he bumped into her at the coffee machine and she said she was having a bad day too, suggested they go for a drink at the end of the day to unwind. Sadie hesitated. She had secretly admired John for a long time but her rule was always never to mix work with pleasure. “Well … I … er … OK, then,” she said, annoyed with herself for breaking her rules but nevertheless over the moon that he had asked her. “Great! Give you a shout at five,” he said, a bit confused by her hesitant reaction. After all, it was just a drink to unwind; he wasn’t asking her out or anything. And that’s where it all started to go wrong. Assumptions were made about the intent of the invitation, and neither was assertive enough to clarify the situation with the other. Needless to say, the drink was a disaster; they ended up arguing, Sadie accusing John of “using” her, John accusing Sadie of being over-emotional and a typical woman. The other day, I held the door open for a young mother who had one arm holding a child on her hip, and the other arm pushing a buggy almost toppling over with shopping bags on the handle. She said brightly, “It’s OK, I can manage,” as she insisted on leaning against the door to stop it closing on her, making my gesture of holding it open pointless. I asked, “Do you have far to go?” “No – just the car park”, came her reply. “Well, I’m going to the car park too. Can I help you with those bags?” “No, it’s OK, I can manage … really!” she repeated, toiling on. We chatted together about the weather as we walked back to our cars. Meanwhile, she dropped one bag, the buggy fell over, and still she insisted she could manage. The image of her struggling stayed with me for days after, while I pondered the question, “What is it that stops us from saying “yes” when we really would like help?” Last week I overhead one neighbour asking another, “Could you do me a favour?” “Yeah, sure! Of course, glad to help.” Then the first neighbour asked if the second would mind taking back a chainsaw to a DIY shop which had stopped working. “It’s under guarantee, I’ve got the receipt but I just don’t have time to go myself.” “Er, well …” “Look, it won’t take you long …” “Mmm, OK” (sounding uncertain). And that got me thinking, “Why do we say “yes” to something before we even know what it is that we are being asked?” Would it not have been better to say, “What would you like me to do?” before agreeing to it? An old Chinese story tells of a man called Ren Guozuo, who lived a long time ago. He was ill for a long period of time and seemed unable to recover. He sought out a Daoist priest, and asked him to pray that God would give him peace and good health. That night, Ren Guozuo had a dream and in it he was told, “For your whole live, you have said “yes” when you meant “no”, so the Gods have decided that you will soon die!” This sounds harsh but, in ancient China, someone who said “yes” but meant “no” was considered to be a true villain – disloyal, untrustworthy, deceitful and unreliable. The person deceives no-one but himself. Yet saying what we mean is not always easy. How often have you said “yes” to something and then not turned up? Perhaps you were too busy or stressed out doing other things that you’d wished you said “no” to, or perhaps you really wanted to say “no” to the invitation but didn’t have the heart to refuse? There can be cultural issues too, such as the English art of understatement, or the Japanese importance of saving face. If your “no” should mean “yes” and “yes” should mean “no”, then sign up for the Members Weekender stream on 18 May. Janet Stevenson will be speaking on assertiveness at the Members’ Weekender, which takes place in Bristol on 18-19 May. More information and online booking is available on the official Members’ Weekender webpage.
How to use MS Excel's IF function Posted 04/02/2012 by Muhammad Anisur Rahman & filed under Accountancy resources, Excel tips. In his second post guiding you through useful Microsoft Excel tools for accountants, AAT student Muhammad Anisur Rahman shows you how to use the IF function As a Finance MI analyst, to analyse and prepare financial reports, I use Excel’s IF function every day at work. It is one of the most powerful built-in function in Excel which can be used to make decision based on the outcome. For example, we have 10 customers and we have to calculate bulk discount (Bulk Discount: a lower price that is offered to customers for buying a large number or amount of goods) based on following conditions. Sales amount over £100,000 5% bulk discount Sales amount less than £100,000 1% bulk discount In order to calculate the bulk discount we have to use the IF Function which follows the following structure: =IF(logical_test, value_if_true,value_if_false) logical_test First argument logical_test: to check if sales amount is greater £100,000 Sales amount > £100,000 (> greater than symbol) value_if_true Second argument value_if_true: if sales amount > £100,000 then calculate 5% bulk discount Sales amount * 0.05 (Excel use the asterisk (*) symbol, one above the number 8 on keyboard, press Shift+8) value_if_false Third argument value_if_false: If sales amount < £100,000 then calculate 1% bulk discount (> less than symbol) Sales amount * 0.01 For the purpose of above example, create a table of data as per image shown below: Step 1: Create sample data table Now, we will type the IF function in cell D2 to calculate bulk discount for XYZ Ltd. Select D2 and type the formula =IF(C2>100000,C2*0.05,C2*0.01) Step 2: Type IF function in cell D2 This means, if ‘Sales Amount’ in cell C2 is greater than £100,000 multiply it by 0.05 to give 5% discount, otherwise multiply it by 0.01 to give 1% discount. In this case, the amount in cell C2 is £50,000 which is less than £100,000. So, the 1% bulk discount of £500 will be calculated in cell D2 as per our IF formula. Step 3: 1% bulk discount To calculate the discount for other companies, we will copy the formula from cell D2 to D3:D11. Please check my previous blog on the SUM formula to see how to copy formula from one cell to another cell. Select cell D2 and press Ctrl + C to copy the formula. Select range D3 to D11 and hit Enter to paste the formula. Step 4: Copy formula from D2 Now, if you carefully check the formula in cell D7, you will notice that (110,000 x 0.05 = 5,500) 5% bulk discount is given to customer Asha Ltd. This is because the ‘Sales Amount’ is greater than 100,000. Step 5: 5% bulk discount applied You can also watch an online video demonstration of this example to help you if needed: In the next part of my blog I will demonstrate the VLookUp. If you have any suggestions or question regarding this example, please feel free to leave your comment here or contact me direct.
Lessons to learn from Coutts Posted 03/30/2012 by Tania Hayes & filed under Accountancy resources. Coutts – the Queen’s bank – has been fined £8.75m by regulators for taking unacceptable risks in handling the proceeds of crime. Tania Hayes highlights some of the lessons accountants can learn from the case I’m not entirely sure if I was surprised or not to read that Coutts, the bank with a target audience of high net worth individuals, has been fined £8.75m by the FSA for failure to conduct proper checks on approximately 75% of clients who held politically sensitive positions. Surely it would’ve been glaringly obvious to a bank whose philosophy is based on understanding [its] clients’ financial objectives in order to design a wealth strategy to meet their goals. But understanding a client’s financial objectives is very different from understanding their business, and this is the lesson all in the regulated sector can learn from Coutts mistake. The challenge for practitioners is identifying the right information to effectively discharge due diligence obligations. And newspaper headlines are not the be all and end all for these purposes. Nor is the fact that you have a passport and utility bill gathering dust in the filing cabinet. Due diligence broadly falls into three categories: Knowing your client Knowing the source of funds Ongoing monitoring of the above. On a basic level, the requirement to know your client can be discharged with checks against identity, if you are dealing with a person (famous or otherwise). Typically people will have experienced the trawl to find their passport, long since buried in a drawer since the last holiday; and the “right type” of utility bill to put at ease the mind of the regulated practitioner attempting to ensure they comply with their anti-money laundering duties. The challenge is identifying and understanding legal entities which can be used by person X (famous or otherwise) to channel their funds in a tax efficient way (or illegally to evade tax, which, of course, is a predicate crime for commission of a money laundering offence under the Proceeds of Crime Act). And it is probably in this area that Coutts fell foul of the Regulations. Knowing the source of funds and identity of the ‘beneficial owner’ (as well as those with the controlling interest in the legal entity) is key to ensuring that your client is not being used as a conduit to facilitate money laundering. ‘Professional scepticism’ is a phrase coined by professional accountants in ensuring compliance with their ethical obligations, and this in itself is a safeguard in the context of anti money laundering compliance. It is your duty as a practitioner (regardless of profession) in the regulated sector to prevent criminals from accessing legitimate financial services and questions are something we know criminals don’t like answering. Once satisfied that the initial due diligence hurdle has been passed, you are not home and dry. The Money Laundering Regulations require ongoing monitoring of the client and their transactions. This is iterative risk based monitoring based on the initial score given to the client, but also the pattern of behaviour (and/or transactions) that emerges. If anything appears to be out of the ordinary, ask a question – the answer or lack thereof might speak volumes, either affirming your knowledge of the client, or affirming your lack of knowledge of the client, at which point you or your firm can make an informed decision. Report if you have suspicion that the client is laundering the proceeds of crime by virtue of the relationship and/or transaction, or decline to continue the engagement where in the absence of suspicion the client’s risk profile exceeds the risk appetite of the firm. Alternatively, use the newly-acquired information to build on the risk profile of the client and continue with the relationship. Coutts has made very public assurances, ratified by the FSA that their systems and controls relating to client due diligence are now in place, which should act as a deterrent to criminals who may have been rubbing their hands in glee at the opportunity Coutts presented them. It has, however, tarnished the reputation and brand that Coutts has built since its establishment in 1755 with the significant media coverage this regulatory failing has attracted. Tania Hayes is Head of Conduct & Compliance at AAT.
Budget 2012 podcast: Michael Steed MAAT’s initial reaction Posted 03/22/2012 by Michael Steed & filed under News. “This country borrowed its way into trouble. Now we’re going to earn our way out.” So said Chancellor George Osborne of yesterday’s Budget. But what does this mean in practicality? Listen to Michael Steed MAAT’s exclusive podcast covering the highlights of the 2012 Budget below – were his predictions correct? (Update: AAT members can listen to a more comprehensive view from Michael at the Budget 2012 page on the AAT website) Budget 2012: Michael Steed MAAT’s initial reaction by AAT Podcasts Michael Steed MAAT is a speaker at the 2012 AAT Members’ Weekender. Learn more about AAT’s Members’ Weekender and buy tickets
How to use the SUM formula in Excel Posted 03/20/2012 by Muhammad Anisur Rahman & filed under Accountancy resources, Excel tips. Microsoft Excel is a complex beast at the best of times, but is an essential for every budding accountant or finance professional. In the first of a series of posts, AAT student Muhammad Anisur Rahman shows you how to use the SUM formula I will walk you through with the widely used powerful SUM formula in this blog. For the exercise example in this blog I have used Microsoft Excel 2010 which is very similar to Excel 2007. This example is also applicable in previous versions of Microsoft Excel (i.e. Excel 2003 and 2007). For the purpose of our example, create a table of data as per shown below. Click on cell A1 and type ‘Area Sales Data’ Press Ctrl + B to change the title to bold Now enter the regional sales data as per table image below Step 1 in using Excel’s SUM formula Make B4 the active cell and select the range B4:F7 Right click on your mouse to select Format Cells… Step 2 in using Excel’s SUM formula Select Number under Category and then tick on Use 1000 Separator (,) Step 3 in using Excel’s SUM formula Now, we will add the SUM formula in cell F4 to calculate the total London sales amount. Select cell F4 and type the sum formula =SUM(B4:E4) and then hit Enter to calculate the total sales amount for London area. Step 4 in using Excel’s SUM formula Now we can see the total amount of £21,400.00 in cell F4. Step 5 in using Excel’s SUM formula To calculate the total sales amount for other areas, we will copy the formula from cell F4 to cell F5 for Brighton, cell F6 for Portsmouth and cell F7 for Epsom. I will demonstrate other ways to copy this formula in the video tutorial. Make F4 the active cell press Ctrl +C to copy Select the range F5:F7 Step 6 in using Excel’s SUM formula Hit Enter key to paste the formula. Step 7 in using Excel’s SUM formula Now, we will calculate the total sales by month Type ‘Total sales’ in cell A8 Step 8 in using Excel’s SUM formula Select range B4:B8 to add January total sales Click on AutoSum to calculate the January total Step 9 in using Excel’s SUM formula You can also type the formula =SUM(B4:B7) in cell B8 Step 10 in using Excel’s SUM formula As we did before, press Ctrl+C to copy the formula in cell B8 (January total) Select range C8:F8 and hit Enter to paste the total formula Step 11 in using Excel’s SUM formula You can watch an online video demonstration of this example to help you if needed: In the next part of my blog I will demonstrate the logical IF statements. If you have any suggestions or question regarding this example, please feel free to contact me. If you would like to find out more about how Excel can make your life easier, then check out our post on essential Excel apps.
Budget 2012 predictions Posted 03/15/2012 by Michael Steed & filed under News. It is under a week until George Osborne unveils this year’s Budget. In an exclusive post, Michael Steed MAAT predicts what we can expect to hear come next Wednesday. (Update: listen to Michael Steed MAAT’s podcast to hear whether his predictions were accurate) This is probably the most publically debated Budget ever and is caused by tensions within the coalition Government, as well as the usual carping from the opposition benches. Both the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems are playing to the gallery of their own backbenchers and activists. The bookmakers are even taking bets and giving odds on the most likely outcomes. So what do we know already and what don’t we know? We do know a bit about the budget already – this is the first Government that publishes draft clauses for the Finance Bill the previous December, giving three months for feedback and debate. Personal tax measures The personal allowance for the under 65s will be £8,105 and the basic rate limit will be £34,370 for 2012/13. Commutation of small personal pension funds The Government announced that it had published for consultation draft secondary legislation to enable individuals to access savings held in small personal pension schemes i.e. £2,000 or less, by way of lump sum payment (commutation). The consultation ended on 31 January 2012. Non Domicile Taxation The Government has published further details on non-domicile taxation and the statutory residence test. This will now be put off for at least one year (it was expected in April 2012). Working with Tax Agents HM Revenue and Customs published the responses to the consultations on the relationship between the tax agent community and HMRC. Office of Tax Simplification – Review of Tax Reliefs As announced at last year’s Budget, and following consultation over the summer, legislation will be included in Finance Bill 2012 to abolish some old and out of date tax reliefs commencing in April 2013. Extra Statutory Concessions review The Government also announced the withdrawal of five extra statutory concessions and a consultation on supplementary legislation for two concessions. The withdrawals will have effect from the beginning of the 2013/14 tax year. (We’ve already heard about ESC C16 and I will be covering that on the tax update series) The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) Legislation will be included in Finance Bill 2012 to provide for a new tax advantaged venture capital scheme. This will apply to smaller companies, those with 25 or fewer employees and assets of up to £200,000, which are carrying on or preparing to carry on a new business; The scheme gives income tax relief worth 50 per cent of the amount invested to individual investors with a stake of less than 30 per cent in such companies, including directors who invest in their companies (I like this one!); So what’s likely to happen in the Budget; after all any Chancellor likes a few rabbits out of the hat? An increase in the personal allowance? Many experts, anticipate an increase in the personal allowance as a carrot to the lowest paid. This would be very popular with the Lib-Dems. There are already plans to increase this allowance – the income that you can receive before you start paying any income tax – to £10,000 by April 2015, but this could be fast-tracked. However, the cost of implementing it is high – it’s a lot of lost tax. Fifty per cent tax rate scrapped? The top rate of income tax for those earning more than £150,000 was introduced as a ‘temporary measure’ by Labour chancellor Alistair Darling in 2010. While the Conservatives say that they also view the 50p band as temporary, only a very brave punter would take a bet on it being abolished now – the political backlash would be huge! Tax relief on pension contributions There has been loads of talk about a possible reduction in pension tax relief for higher rate taxpayers. At present, you can receive tax relief on up to £50,000 of pension contributions, and those who earn more receive more tax relief because they pay a higher rate of tax. The cost to the government is enormous. The mostly likely thing that could happen in the Budget is that those earning £150,000 or more get only 20pc tax relief, although some politicians are calling for higher-rate relief to be removed altogether. Mansion tax This is a hot topic, especially for the Lib-Dems. Vince Cable’s proposal was that anyone owning a house worth more than £2m should pay a mansion tax of 1 per cent a year. This is unlikely to happen in my opinion. How do you accurately value houses that haven’t been sold recently? Reduction in fuel duty The price of fuel is damaging both the economy and ordinary households. Could it be that the planned fuel duty rise (in August this year) will be scrapped? NIC holiday There has also been some comment about a possible extension of the regional ‘NIC holiday’ for start up companies too. The take-up on this has been disappointing, so the Government will be keen to see it succeed. What do you think? I think the personal allowance could well be increased to say £8,500, but this will be balanced by a reduction in tax relief for higher earning taxpayers for their pensions. Michael Steed MAAT trained and qualified with Coopers and Lybrand (now PwC). He’s spent 20 years in practice, advising a wide range of clients in tax matters. He was awarded AAT’s Past President Award in 2004 for services to membership, and is now a specialist presenter with Kaplan Hawksmere. Michael has a long standing interest in SME taxation and has written articles for Tax Adviser and is an editor for CCH’s tax publications. Michael Steed MAAT is a speaker at the 2012 AAT Members’ Weekender. Learn more about AAT’s Members’ Weekender and buy tickets Were Michael’s predictions correct? Find out by listening to his exclusive Budget 2012 podcast
Turn to teaching accountancy Posted 03/14/2012 by Steven Perryman & filed under Career. With jobs increasingly hard to come by, turning to teaching accountancy is more popular than ever. We meet three AAT tutors who did just that having successfully passed their AAT qualification We all remember a good teacher, don’t we? We may remember a bad one too for wholly different reasons, but a good teacher is someone we look back on with affection and gratitude. Whether it is helping us realise our potential, sharing knowledge or just showing us skills to use beyond the classroom, teaching is up there as one of the most rewarding career choices out there. In these times of austerity and, with it, increased unemployment, teaching has become a viable career option for many. In fact, the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) saw a three-fold increase in public sector workers turning to teaching through its Transition to Teaching scheme last year. In a special AAT Comment post, we talk to three former students who all turned to teaching AAT. Sonya Ashbarry FMAAT, Eagle Education Whilst I was studying AAT I was complimented on my ability to explain topics to other students in a clear and concise way. It was suggested that I might like to consider teaching, so I studied for a recognised teaching qualification alongside level 4 (AAT). I achieved both qualifications at the same time and was offered part time employment at the college as a teacher. I wanted to continue to inspire others, but in a modern teaching environment using modern, flexible teaching methods. In 2002 I took the courageous step to set up my own business, Eagle Education and Training. Eagle is now a distance learning specialist and we pride ourselves on delivering flexible courses using creative learning tools which suit a variety of needs. A decade on we are now a team of seven teaching hundreds of students a year. Each year we grow in size, but also our reputation continues to grow as our students value the flexible, professional and robust service we provide. Teaching for me is very rewarding; it’s not just about teaching people how to do something. You can help people discover skills and abilities that they didn’t know they had, help people grow in confidence, realise their potential and shape their future. Cathy Littler MAAT, Centre Coordinator, Milton Keynes College I’d studied maths at college, but I’d fallen into a full time job after college working in my local sports centre. I was doing a bit of everything, including accounting. I decided to study accounting to move away from leisure and my tutors suggested that I do some teaching. As I am passionate about working with people I took the opportunity to do some part time teaching and within six months was teaching full time. I now am Centre Coordinator for Milton Keynes College (MK) – AAT’s largest further education college, as well as Deputy Head of Leadership and Business at MK with 50 staff. I still teach 10 hours a week. I’ve always felt it important to make time for actual teaching – I love interviewing students and hearing why they want to study; it’s what drives me to teach. My whole philosophy on teaching is that each and every student is different and therefore it’s important that they all learn and understand in a way that’s right for them as individuals. If you are considering a career in teaching/tutoring you will need a sense of humour, the ability to get on with everyone, flexibility and determination. A good teacher will facilitate good two-way communication with students. While teaching at times can be testing, it’s the best feeling in the world when you realise how far your students have grown and they pass their exams. It really is a fantastic feeling to be part of that. Lisa Leonard, Accounting Trainer, Letchworth College I started out as a trainee accounting technician at Hertfordshire County Council, gaining the AAT qualification at Letchworth College. From there I moved onto a property management software company training clients on the accountancy software. This also included training up in-house staff on accountancy processes. I then moved to a company called Parker Hannifin, which was my last role before this one. While there I implemented JD Edwards Finance software into their sites around Europe and conducted on-site and in-house accounting training. It was a strong IT-based role which didn’t challenge me enough, so when I saw the opportunity to go into teaching I grabbed the chance. My advice to anyone who is thinking of a path into teaching is to keep up to date with your AAT knowledge and ideally you should try to obtain a PTLLS qualification. This is not always possible so see if you can gain experience of training some accountancy based subject, either in the workplace or on a voluntary basis. Ask your local college if they will let you do some work on a voluntary basis to gain an insight into teaching AAT. If you are interested in teaching AAT you can find out more information on the AAT website.