Our support for charity CEOs, trustees and FDs through recession

Apr02

The last few years of economic difficulty have lead to reduced spending and a lack of disposable income for many individuals and corporates, and charities across the country relying on the generosity of the general public and help from businesses continue to have concern and are deeply affected.

Figures from the NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Donations) show that 8% of donors give half of all donations, and the Budget 2012 introduced a £50,000 cap on personal tax relief, which could signal a reduction in donations from these donors going forward.

The voluntary sector is seeing rising costs and a drop in income at a time when their services are most needed, and must ensure that they take measures to review their operations, in order to reduce risk and protect their valuable assets. This is particularly important in a time when services previously provided by the government will be expected to be provided by charities in the future.

Wilkins Kennedy recently teamed up with the IoD to offer a marketing focused Charities Conference providing support and advice to charity CEOs, trustees and financial directors.  A variety of marketing tools and innovative financial ideas were discussed to assist the charities in remaining competitive and to survive and prosper through a recession.

The half-day event at Leeds Castle received positive feedback – it allowed the sharing of fundraising and operative ideas among 70 voluntary sector attendees and I shared my presentation  “Using your accounts as a marketing tool”.  Too many charities see their annual financial statements as a dreary statutory document rather than an effective marketing tool – which they can be if they are prepared in an appropriate format.

How has the recession impacted your charity, or your charitable donations? How do you give to charity?

Have your say here:

Posted in Charities | Leave a comment

Budget 2012 – A budget for all?

Mar22

Despite all the fiscal easing that has been instigated by the Bank of England it was a fairly safe bet that the Chancellor’s budget would to a large extent be a reallocation exercise and first impressions are that this is largely the case.

Big business will have been helped by lower corporation tax rates (to 24% from April) and unincorporated micro businesses with a turnover of up to £77,000 will benefit from the proposed simplification of the tax regime.

Proposed increases in the standard personal tax allowances to £9,205 in 2013 will mean that 24 million low paid workers are better off whilst the top rate of income tax is being reduced from 50% to 45% .

For those that can afford houses with a purchase price over £2 million there will be the introduction of 7% stamp duty land tax and the well publicised loophole of purchasing those properties through companies is now plugged, with the introduction of a 15% tax charge, and the possibility of retrospective measures to be introduced.

Attempts have been made to reduce the effect of withdrawal of child benefit by a watering down of the original proposals, tapering the loss for households where someone earns over £50,000, and raising the cut off point for those receiving child benefit from £42,475 to £60,000.

Duty rates for alcohol are to rise by 2% above RPI from 26 March, there was no cut in fuel duty (a 3p rise is already planned for August) and a 5% above inflation rise on tobacco products came in from 6pm on budget day.

Pensioners will be losing out through the freezing of age related allowances from April 2013.

Do you think the budget was fair? Please leave a comment:

Posted in Budget, Corporate Tax, Stamp Duty Land Tax | 1 Comment

Pre-budget predictions

Mar15

The 2012 budget is almost upon us and the media frenzy is shifting into top gear as the public, UK businesses and political parties air their views and clamour to get their opinions and demands across.

Speculation is rife, from rumours regarding abolition of the 50p higher rate income tax cut, to the rumoured increase in tax-free earnings to £10,000, to changes in VAT, fuel duty and corporation tax, the potential introduction of a wealth tax on pensions or mansions, changes in tax relief on pensions, new tax avoidance measures, changes in SDLT rules (Stamp Duty Land Tax rules) and an increase in training investment.

The UK government will be looking to raise funds and continue their debt reduction plan and will be looking for ways to increase business and public confidence.

What are your predictions for the budget? Leave a comment below.

Posted in Budget, Tax | Leave a comment

Entrepreneur’s Relief issues solved?

Feb15

“Take advantage of Entrepreneur’s Relief” is a phrase that accountants use frequently with clients when dealing with Capital Gains tax, but is it as clear cut and straightforward a relief as we believe it to be?

The implementation of Entrepreneur’s Relief (ER) has raised many issues amongst advisers over the past four years with some feeling that there have been a number of problems surrounding the practicalities of the relief since it was first introduced in 2008.

Following a number of technical queries being raised surrounding ER, a new practical guidance document has been issued by the ICAEW Tax Faculty to tackle issues surrounding Entrepreneur’s Relief. The document shows examples of stumbling blocks encountered and discusses solutions.

The document can be viewed here.

Have you noticed any practical issues with the relief?

Have your say here.

Posted in Entrepreneur's Relief, Tax | Leave a comment

Exporting for growth

Jan19

Driving company growth in a recession can be a challenging prospect and stagnating growth in the UK and Europe has lead to a multitude of restructuring and recovery efforts, along with many mergers and acquisitions.  Companies often look to free up assets in a recession, and businesses with purchasing power can exploit the opportunity to grab a larger share of the market.

Exporting is high on the agenda, especially to those countries that have not experienced a recession such as China, the world’s fastest growing economy, and the other BRICS countries; Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.   High-tech, green energy and creative industries are in high demand as are the UK’s management and engineering skills.

What does this mean for UK businesses?  How can UK companies make this work for them?

Wilkins Kennedy is the accountancy, tax and finance partner of the LinkToChina (www.linktochina.org) initiative, a joint project of the British Chambers of Commerce and the Chinese Chamber network, CCPIT.  The project offers a unique business matchmaking service and complements the work of UKTI and professional advisors very well.

LinkToChina organises events throughout the year, which offers UK businesses and investors the opportunity to meet with company owners and investors from China markets.

In 2010, there were over 2.5 million companies registered at Companies House.
Perhaps some of these businesses need to look beyond traditional markets to discover a business opportunity in the world’s growing markets?

What do you think? Please leave us your feedback here, or let us know if your business would like to get involved!

Posted in LinkToChina, Restructuring & Recovery | Leave a comment

Corporate Tax Avoidance and the Ethics debate:

Dec09

The last twelve months has seen a certain amount of public unrest in the UK following a period of deep recession and economic turmoil.

Following the global recession, the coalition government has highlighted a number of national debt issues the UK is facing, including an £80 billion pension deficit.

Grassroots anti-austerity action network UK Uncut has brought the tax avoidance issue to the forefront of the news agenda, listing a number of targets on its website, including: major retailers, banks and the government – all of which they feel could be contributing more to the economy by means of their tax bill.

Public protests and sit-ins have taken place around the country, encouraging boycotts of certain corporations for taking advantages of loopholes in the system to avoid paying tax.

What do you think? Should the loopholes be exploited? Is it up to the organisation to voluntarily choose to pay tax, as it is ethically correct? Or if the loopholes are there to benefit the company or shareholders, and the action is lawful, should it be taken?

Have your say here:

Posted in Corporate Tax | Leave a comment

A slice of audit pie, anyone?

Nov25

Huge changes could be on the horizon for the UK’s largest accountancy firms as Michel Barnier, the European Union Internal Audit Commissioner, looks to shake up the European Audit Market with some radical reforms.

Historically, the Big Four accountancy firms PWC, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young have dominated the audit marketplace, but following the financial crisis, the auditing market has taken much more of a high profile position in the accounting industry. A new proposal from the European Commission seeks to increase competition by restricting certain service operations and by introducing compulsory rotation of auditors and joint auditing.

Critics of the new proposal argue that restricting firms from carrying out lucrative non-audit services with low-margin audit work will have a huge impact on service quality and long standing client relationships. Furthermore, smaller firms may not wish to take the risks and be held accountable due to the strict regulation that comes with the territory.  Joint auditing could involve a cost increase and is not without its complications including data sharing and firm compatibility.

Could the new restrictions even cause the break up of these dominant firms, and /or break off smaller accountancy firms to form as frustrated partners shun restriction and take their clients elsewhere?

Supporters of the new proposal say it will be a healthy change, open up the market and increase opportunities for mid size and smaller firms like Wilkins Kennedy, who offer a range of audit services.

The new plans are due for publication on November 30th – what’s your view?

Posted in Audit & Assurance | 3 Comments