Contents
All change for pensions
A waste of time & money
Tax credit mess
Fuel up (shock)
Gimme shelter
Gulp! SIPPS
Paper or plastic?
Re: Mortgages
Bank the cheque
Subs beware
VAT's the limit
Dividend end?
The buck stops
Sack with care
Selling up
A matter of trust
We're watching
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If you start up your own business, there are a lot of different new rules that you need to worry about. One of the most important - once you've got things going - is VAT registration. You don't have to register for VAT the moment you start a business, although you can - and, if your customers are other businesses, it will probably save you money if you do. So it's possible to carry on a small business, quite properly ignoring VAT, and growing quietly without worrying about it. Once your VATable sales (which doesn't include every kind of income - the rules are complicated) go over £60,000 in the last twelve months, you have to tell Customs. Even then, you won't have to register if you can convince them that it's just a 'blip' and your turnover in the future will fall again. But you do have to tell them - you aren't allowed to convince yourself it's a blip and keep quiet. If you don't register for VAT at the right time, you may have to pay a penalty when you finally do so. Worse, you will have to pay over the VAT you should have been collecting from your customers. If you knew you were supposed to be charging VAT, you would probably have adjusted your prices to reflect that. Now it may be too late - it certainly will be if your customers are the general public. So you have to find all the VAT out of your own funds. If you are a small and growing business, you need to get your VAT registration right. We can advise you on doing this. |
© Bayar Hughes & Co., 2010.