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Key Dates
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* 19 September 2011 - PAYE and NIC due for the month ended 5th September 2011. Submit Construction Industry Scheme return for the month ended 5th September 2011.
* If you pay online, the deadline is extended to 22nd of that month. Both dates refer to when the money should arrive in HMRC's account.
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It is not unusual for country houses to have a barn, stable, garaging etc., seperated from the house but within the curtilage, and which are clearly part of the dwelling. These can, however, lead to some complications for tax purposes.
Click here to view the full article.
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Sean Henry Exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral
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CW Fellowes Limited are very proud to be associated with this years largest exhibition to date of work by Sean Henry set on display in the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral and adjoining grounds.
The exhibition runs until the 31 October 2011, please do visit if you get the opportunity. It really is worth it.
For further details please go to www.salisburycathedral.org.uk.
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Photograph taken by Ash Mills
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SMEs access to equity finance eased
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Small businesses are set to be able to access equity finance more cheaply and effectively with early changes to European regulatory measures.
Two amendments to the EU Prospectus Directive have been brought into effect a year early by the UK, allowing businesses to take advantage of the measures from 1 August 2011.
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SMEs will now be able to raise equity finance up to €5 million (doubled from €2.5 million) before having to produce a prospectus. The government says that removing the obligation on a significant number of small companies to issue a prospectus will save UK SMEs around £12 million per year.
Small companies will also be able to target a larger pool of investors (up to 150 investors, from 100).
Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mark Hoban said: "I'm delighted to announce that the UK is taking the lead in Europe by introducing these deregulatory measures early.
"Reducing the regulatory burdens faced by business is vital in making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a company. In order to play their part in the wider economic recovery, small businesses have to be able to access the finance they need – that includes making it easier for such businesses to tap into capital markets."
John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "More small firms should look at equity finance as an alternative route to accessing credit, and these simple changes will help firms who are looking to grow and invest.
"Extending the number of investors and increasing the prospectus value will help more small businesses access equity finance and show there are more options than just going to the bank for credit."
LINK: Treasury announcement
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Capital allowances loophole closed
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The government has brought forward the closure of a loophole that allowed businesses to accelerate capital allowances claims for plant and machinery and obtain advantageous early tax relief.
The change was announced on 12 August by Economic Secretary to the Treasury Justine Greening and took effect immediately.
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The closure of the loophole, which was originally proposed for April 2012, was brought forward because the government had become aware that an avoidance scheme was being promoted that took advantage of the loophole.
Justine Greening said: "By ending this loophole we will preserve important revenue while maintaining a fair system of capital allowances to support business investment."
The capital allowances regime will undergo major reform from April 2012. The annual investment allowance, which offers tax relief at 100 per cent on qualifying expenditure in the year of purchase, will be reduced to £25,000, while the rates of writing down allowances are also set to fall.
LINK: Capital allowances guidance
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New guidance issued on distance selling
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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched a new online resource to help businesses comply with the law when selling goods and services at a distance, such as website or mail order sales
The Distance Selling Hub provides information about the rules and regulations that apply to the sale of certain goods and services over the internet, telephone, through interactive TV, by text or by mail order.
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OFT research shows that many businesses are not fully complying with the Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs), the main law that relates to shopping from a distance. An OFT report in 2010 estimated that only nine per cent of business respondents considered themselves to be very familiar with the DSRs.
The DSRs give shoppers specific legal protections and different cancellation rights from those buying in store, including:
- an unconditional cooling off period (usually seven working days), during which an order can be cancelled and a full refund received (this excludes certain items such as perishable items or personalised goods)
- a full refund if the goods or services are not provided by the date agreed. If a date was not agreed, then the shopper is entitled to a refund if the goods or services are not provided within 30 days.
The OFT is urging traders to review their sales and returns policies to make sure they are lawful and has launched the Distance Selling Hub help them understand their legal requirements. It provides a simple at-a-glance guide to the law, detailed explanations, practical examples, and training materials developed to help businesses understand their obligations.
Jason Freeman, director in the OFT's Goods and Consumer Group, said: "The growth in distance selling – in particular via the internet – is bringing great benefits to consumers and the economy, but also creates new risks.
'Businesses need to check that they are treating their customers fairly so that shoppers trust them and can continue to shop confidently. We know most traders want to comply with the rules and the development of this hub is designed to help them stay on the right side of the law.'
LINK: www.oft.gov.uk/distanceselling
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Retailers warned over online security
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Businesses have been urged to do more to protect customers' data after hackers were able to access the payment details of thousands of customers of cosmetics and toiletries retailer Lush.
Lush breached the Data Protection Act after the security of its website was compromised for four months, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said.
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The breach, which occurred between October 2010 and January 2011, meant that hackers were able to access the payment details of 5,000 customers who had previously shopped on the Lush website.
The ICO announced on 9 August that it has required Lush to sign an undertaking to ensure that future customer credit card data will be processed in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
It also warned online retailers who do not adopt this standard, or provide equivalent protection when processing customers' credit card details, that they risk enforcement action from the ICO.
Lush discovered the security lapse in January 2011 after receiving complaints from 95 customers who had been the victim of card fraud. After making enquiries, Lush found that its website had been subject to a hacking incident that had allowed hackers to access customers' payment details. The security of the website was then immediately restored.
The ICO's investigation found that, although Lush had measures in place to keep customers' payment details secure, they were not sufficient to prevent a determined attack on their website. The retailer's methods of recording suspicious activity on their website were also insufficient, delaying the time it took the company to identify the security breach.
ICO acting head of enforcement Sally Anne Poole said: "With over 31 million people having shopped online last year, retailers must recognise the value of the information they hold and that their websites are a potential target for criminals.
"This breach should serve as a warning to all retailers that online security must be taken seriously and that the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard or an equivalent must be followed at all times."
LINK: PCI Security Standards Council
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Rule change on agency workers' rights looms
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New rules affecting employers who take on agency and temporary workers will take effect from 1 October 2011.
From that date, the Agency Workers Regulations mean that agency workers who work in the same role with the same hirer for 12 continuous calendar weeks will be entitled to the same basic employment and working conditions as employees in comparable roles.
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Agency workers will be able to accumulate the 12 weeks' service even if they only work a few hours a week. Once the qualifying period is completed, they must be treated as if they had been directly recruited on the first day of the assignment.
As of the first day in a temporary role, the hirer must give agency workers:
- access to the same on-site facilities as a comparable employee would have, e.g. staff canteens, childcare, parking and transport
- access to information on relevant job vacancies within the business.
Once agency workers complete the 12-week qualifying period, the hirer must also give them the following equal treatment entitlements:
- key elements of pay, including salary, overtime pay, shift allowances, bonuses, lunch vouchers, and/or annual leave pay
- working time, including duration of working time, night work, rest periods and breaks and annual leave.
LINK: Guidance on the Agency Workers Regulations
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NHS worker on sick leave for a year entitled to holiday pay
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The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has found in favour of an NHS employee, ruling that she was entitled to payment in lieu of holidays she had been unable to take while on sick pay for a year.
The NHS Leeds worker was signed off sick for the whole of 2009-2010 and was then dismissed on the grounds of incapability due to ill health.
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She was not paid in lieu of untaken annual leave on the grounds that she had not formally requested leave, a stance in line with previous case law that suggested that employees need to ask for annual leave while they are off sick, otherwise they will lose it.
An earlier tribunal had ruled that the claimant should have been paid in lieu of her annual leave. Following the EAT on 29 June, Mr Justice Bean found that the claimant had not been well enough to take her annual leave because of sickness so she had the right to carry the entitlement over to the following year, without having to formally request that.
Giving judgment in NHS Leeds v Larner, he said: "The right to be paid for that annual leave crystallised on the termination of her employment; as it happens, only a few days after the end of the pay year."
Permission to appeal against the EAT decision has been sought from the Court of Appeal.
A government consultation on reforming employment law, which includes changes to the Working Time Regulations as a result of European cases on the interaction of annual leave and sick leave, closed on 8 August.
LINK: Working hours guidance
LINK: Consultation on Modern Workplaces
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Research highlights cookie law non-compliance
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New research has highlighted the potential scale of organisations and businesses failing to comply with EU directives on downloading cookies.
An August report issued by the Society for Local Authority IT Managers (Socitm) revealed that only six out of 603 public sector websites it checked were compliant on regulations that came into effect in May, which require website operators to ensure they have the informed consent of users for the use of cookies.
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A cookie is a small file that a website places on a user's computer so that it can remember something, for example the user's preferences, at a later time.
The Socitm audit, which included council, police and fire websites, found that the average English county council website had 186 cookies. Prior to the audit, Socitm asked organisations how many cookies they thought they had and the best guess was just 19 per cent of the total.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has given businesses and organisations that run websites aimed at UK consumers until next May to take the necessary steps to comply with the new cookies rules before enforcement of the law begins. It has also issued information and guidance on the rules.
Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said: "As the regulator, I'm conscious that my own website will be looked at for a model of how to comply.
"We've decided to place a header bar on our website giving users information about the cookies we use and choices about how to manage them.
"I am not saying that other websites should necessarily do the same. Every website is different and prescriptive and universal 'to do' lists would only hinder rather than help businesses to find a solution that works best for them and their customers."
LINK: ICO information and guidance
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