Mixed Messages on Red Tape

We think that there are few confusing / conflicting messages coming out of government at the moment when it comes to small businesses and legislation.

One of the key mantras of the coalition has been about cutting red tape and allowing business owners to get down to doing business rather than faffing with rules and regs all the time. We've even had talk of a two year period during which employers would effectively been able to hire and fire at will, as opposed to the current one year.

Ultimately - the more flexible the workplace can become, then the better for the country surely in terms of giving employers the flexibility to grow their businesses and thereby steering us out of these dark recessionary times?

Well maybe. Flexibility comes at a price - take it too far, and it has the opposite effect. Take the announcement yesterday on parents mixing maternity and paternity entitlements. Sounds great for the parents, and for large employers with plenty of staff to mop up workloads its likely to work well.

Take the small employer though - if mum decides she's going back to work 3 months early, and dad wants the balance of her time off as paternity, then dad's employer has to find cover at short notice for 3 months. Realistically, for a small employer, that will be unworkable, and you'll end up with a small company struggling financially to get expensive short term cover in - businesses will fail.

We think flexibility is great, but only within a framework that is workable for everyone.

Will your business records survive an Inspection?

I picked up on a consultation doc issued by HMRC last week entitled 'Business Record Checks'. This seemingly innocuous sounding document has quite important potential ramifications for all small business owners - the full text can be found here,  though I'll attempt to quickly summarise.

Existing legislation exists concerning the records all businesses must keep, along with the additional records needed by VAT registered firms. HMRC have always had the ability to levy penalties for inadequate record keeping, though in reality these have not often been used.

HMRC estimate that tax loss due directly to poor record keeping is a factor in 40% of random enquiries - they therefore propose to check the records of up to 50,000 businesses annually, beginning in second half of 2011.

That timescale is actually rather soon, if your records are not currently up to scratch!



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Biz Tip Stocking Filler #12 - VICE!

A bit of Christmas fun (ok, its slightly sadistic fun), but being Friday and all......

Ever wondered exactly how much money the govt makes out of your particular vices? You know, the odd ciggy here, bottle of claret there; or those few pints after a hard days work?

Well calculate it here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/vices-calculator presenting you with the Vice-Ometer  - courtesy of thisismoney

The figures are accurate to the budget earlier this year though won't reflect the emergency budget.

It won't stop @plymtax enjoying a few jars this Christmas mind!