Twice in the last 2 weeks I have been privilidged to see and hear what a professional football club is doing not only for their local community but for a much wider geographical area.
It is normal for me to be seen at a home game for West Bromwich Albion, after all I have supported them since (well probably since) I was conceived. My Dad was a fan and became Chief Steward and Mum was the Granddaughter of Joe Reader who played in goal from 1890 until 1901. But a couple of weeks ago I was not to take my usual seat in the West Stand.
On 14 April 2012 I was invited to attend the game against Queens Park Rangers as a guest of the West Bromwich Albion Foundation in my role of Chairman of the Herefordshire and Worcetershire Chamber of Commerce.
On arrival Community Director Rob Lake and his colleague Jon Ross and they showed us the work going on in the Dome and the Sports Hall. The Dome (a covered full size football pitch with artificial turf) was home for the morning to some 40 youngsters who had travelled up with parents, in coaches supplied by the Club, for a couple of hours coaching. They were then going to get to watch the match from the stands.
Rob and Jon told us that this was done most weeks with children from different areas. In the sports hall we were told about the basketball and dance teams as well as the different sports for the disabled that were hosted there. Funding comes from a number of sources including the FA, West Bromwich Albion Football Club and Local Authorities as well as the Private Sector.
Over lunch though Rob explained how the philosophy of the Club and the Foundation was linked and how they were also working with youngsters who were not in school, and those who were slightly older who were classed as not in education, employment or training (NEETS). In his explanation he said that in these education programmes in particular they had managed to engage teenagers who had an attendance problem at school and had achieved a 93% attendance rate with their courses. These are teenagers who will do anything to avoid school suddenly going to school and as it is a widespread problem in Sandwell the local authority are sitting up and taking notice.
The Foundation are looking to spread their wings and are coming to Worcestershire, working with the University of Worcester and the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce. The project entitled "We are Albion in Worcestershire" is about giving opportunities to areas of the community that are sometimes overlooked whilst the payback to the Football Club is that they will generate a larger fan base. That is bound to be possible with a schools tournament today at Worcester University featuring 16 schools with prizes presented by West Bromwich Albion and Republic of Ireland full back Steven Reid. How many youngsters get to meet a Premier League star?
Back in March I was at the annual conference of the British Chambers of Commerce. One speaker was the Chairman of Timpsons, the shoe repairers, John Timpson. He was saying that they worked with some local open prisons and as a policy were happy to employ ex-offenders in their business. He also told us that 98% of them didn't re-offend. In addition he said that the cobblers in the shops often were characters that customers were more than happy to engage with. The benefit to the business was increased customer retention.
So separate businesses and different industries, but similar strategies and similar ways of making a positive difference to communities and groups of people that Society often reject.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Where do you draw the line?
Back in November Graham Aaronson QC published his report on whether the UK needed a General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR). His conclusion was that a “broad spectrum anti-avoidance rule” would not be right as it might prevent “responsible” tax planning and he proposed the introduction of a “moderate” rule that would not stop this responsible tax planning but would tackle “abusive” arrangements. So far so good, especially for me, who over the past 30 plus years have, I hope, always gone in for responsible tax planning.
However, this starts alarm bells ringing with me. The whole issue of a GAAR is to be consulted on over the summer, with a view to legislation being introduced next April. My first concern is whether the views expressed in the report or the views of HMRC, who are thought to favour a more far reaching rule, will prevail and be legislated. My second and larger concern is, if we do end up with a rule similar to the one proposed in the report, who will decide what is responsible tax planning and what is abuse?
The biggest problem with our tax system is uncertainty and it can only add to the uncertainty, if you are unsure whether any advice given will be attacked as going too far and being considered irresponsible. OK very simple solutions are likely to be unaffected but much is done that, although fairly basic tax planning, HMRC do not like. Will we be faced with a situation that anything disliked by HMRC becomes irresponsible? The government have already done a very good job of blurring the distinction between tax avoidance and tax evasion and this might be a chance to bring tax planning in, to further “muddy the waters”.
In all my years, I have come across very few clients who do not want to pay any tax, most just want to pay a fair amount, and it is only when the tax bill is considered unfair that they consider tax avoidance solutions or even some of the schemes that are extremely artificial and must therefore come under the heading of abuse. If we face being attacked over tax planning, as well as solutions, it will be somewhat challenging.
Where does that leave us now? I do not want this to be an advert but the only certainty, that tax planning will not be attacked, under a GAAR, is to do it now. Tax solutions have their place, as do some of the more artificial schemes, as long as the pros and cons are fully discussed. The latter will certainly be ruled against and some of the former may also fall foul of the new legislation, so it may well be a case of buy now or miss the chance.
My best guess is that anything done before the pre- budget statement, later this year, will not be affected by any changes made. However, this guess does not extend to anything to do with Stamp Duty Land Tax because the Chancellor in his budget signposted the fact that he would retrospectively act against this avoidance.
However, this starts alarm bells ringing with me. The whole issue of a GAAR is to be consulted on over the summer, with a view to legislation being introduced next April. My first concern is whether the views expressed in the report or the views of HMRC, who are thought to favour a more far reaching rule, will prevail and be legislated. My second and larger concern is, if we do end up with a rule similar to the one proposed in the report, who will decide what is responsible tax planning and what is abuse?
The biggest problem with our tax system is uncertainty and it can only add to the uncertainty, if you are unsure whether any advice given will be attacked as going too far and being considered irresponsible. OK very simple solutions are likely to be unaffected but much is done that, although fairly basic tax planning, HMRC do not like. Will we be faced with a situation that anything disliked by HMRC becomes irresponsible? The government have already done a very good job of blurring the distinction between tax avoidance and tax evasion and this might be a chance to bring tax planning in, to further “muddy the waters”.
In all my years, I have come across very few clients who do not want to pay any tax, most just want to pay a fair amount, and it is only when the tax bill is considered unfair that they consider tax avoidance solutions or even some of the schemes that are extremely artificial and must therefore come under the heading of abuse. If we face being attacked over tax planning, as well as solutions, it will be somewhat challenging.
Where does that leave us now? I do not want this to be an advert but the only certainty, that tax planning will not be attacked, under a GAAR, is to do it now. Tax solutions have their place, as do some of the more artificial schemes, as long as the pros and cons are fully discussed. The latter will certainly be ruled against and some of the former may also fall foul of the new legislation, so it may well be a case of buy now or miss the chance.
My best guess is that anything done before the pre- budget statement, later this year, will not be affected by any changes made. However, this guess does not extend to anything to do with Stamp Duty Land Tax because the Chancellor in his budget signposted the fact that he would retrospectively act against this avoidance.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Charity - Close to my heart
Each year we choose a charity to support and this year the charity is Ataxia UK.
This may be a little known charity but is an organisation I am very pleased to support. I am especially pleased with this year's charity because I suffer from Cerebellar Ataxia, one of the many forms of Ataxia. Thankfully my symptoms are mild and amount to no more than a problem speaking, a problem writing, difficuties with co-ordination and, at times, feeling generally "washed out". If anything, it could be described as frustrating because, often, I can't do what I wish or what I used to do. Equally, this might just be down to getting old.
Ataxia is a degenerative brain condition and is progressive - meaning that it does get worse. It gradually robs sufferers of mobilty, co-ordination and speech. The speed at which the condition progresses varies greatly from person to person. In the word of one doctor "It might be many years before there is any deterioration but I wouldn't advise taking up rock climbing".
Rather than spend a lot of time describing the difficulties that sufferers can go through I will post some links to short You Tube videos that can describe things better than I ever could. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxv_5nyO1QE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wnugGhdr4o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj2WQfu4MhU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVJcAVaW87g
The first is rather hard hitting but the others are more "optimistic".
Our aim is to raise awareness of Ataxia and to raise as much as possible over the next 12 months. This will be formally launched at our Budget Breakfast Briefing on Thursday morning but we have prepared a charity page at http://www.justgiving.com/Crowther-Beard-llp for donations. Your support would be vey gratefully received.
We don't think its enough to just ask others to give and apart from our fund raising activities (including a Cream Tea in June and a Golf Day in October) and asking for donations we are going to pledge that some of the money we receive for the services we provide are paid to Ataxia.
For each new client - we will pay for Ataxia UK to send DVDs to 5 young people learning to cope with Ataxia.
For each piece of tax planning – we will pay to print 100 info leaflets to raise awareness.
For each piece of business planning - we will pay to run the helpline for a day.
Please help.
This may be a little known charity but is an organisation I am very pleased to support. I am especially pleased with this year's charity because I suffer from Cerebellar Ataxia, one of the many forms of Ataxia. Thankfully my symptoms are mild and amount to no more than a problem speaking, a problem writing, difficuties with co-ordination and, at times, feeling generally "washed out". If anything, it could be described as frustrating because, often, I can't do what I wish or what I used to do. Equally, this might just be down to getting old.
Ataxia is a degenerative brain condition and is progressive - meaning that it does get worse. It gradually robs sufferers of mobilty, co-ordination and speech. The speed at which the condition progresses varies greatly from person to person. In the word of one doctor "It might be many years before there is any deterioration but I wouldn't advise taking up rock climbing".
Rather than spend a lot of time describing the difficulties that sufferers can go through I will post some links to short You Tube videos that can describe things better than I ever could. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxv_5nyO1QE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wnugGhdr4o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj2WQfu4MhU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVJcAVaW87g
The first is rather hard hitting but the others are more "optimistic".
Our aim is to raise awareness of Ataxia and to raise as much as possible over the next 12 months. This will be formally launched at our Budget Breakfast Briefing on Thursday morning but we have prepared a charity page at http://www.justgiving.com/Crowther-Beard-llp for donations. Your support would be vey gratefully received.
We don't think its enough to just ask others to give and apart from our fund raising activities (including a Cream Tea in June and a Golf Day in October) and asking for donations we are going to pledge that some of the money we receive for the services we provide are paid to Ataxia.
For each new client - we will pay for Ataxia UK to send DVDs to 5 young people learning to cope with Ataxia.
For each piece of tax planning – we will pay to print 100 info leaflets to raise awareness.
For each piece of business planning - we will pay to run the helpline for a day.
Please help.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Pensions – The Annual allowance
I have just penned an article to be published in the UK200 Technical Advisor In Focus magazine and wanted to share it with you.
HM Revenue & Customs realise that, following reductions of the annual allowance (AA) for pensions, more people should be declaring on their tax returns an annual allowance charge. It is important that a return of any charge is made to avoid the possibility of interest and penalties. A potential liability is not well known but HMRC do not accept ignorance as an excuse.
The AA, i.e. the maximum pension savings that qualify for tax relief, reduced to £50,000 from 6 April 2011. The use of the term savings is done purposely because, importantly, the provisions apply not only to defined contributions schemes but also to defined benefit schemes (final salary schemes). Just as importantly, it applies to all contributions made to a pension scheme and, therefore, includes employer contributions.
If contributions exceed the AA the excess is liable to a charge at marginal tax rates. For most people caught by this provision, that will be 40% or, perhaps, even 50%.
The AA can be more than £50,000 because it increases by allowances unused in the previous 3 tax years. For these purposes, the allowance for 2008/09 through to 2010/11 are taken to have been £50,000 (although, they were higher). A simple example is that, if pension savings were £30,000 for each of the years 2008/09 to 2010/11, the allowance for 2011/12 is £110,000 (£50,000 plus £60,000 brought forward).
To further complicate the position, the concept of a PIP (pension input period) and how pension savings are calculated for defined benefits scheme, come into it.
PIPs do not have to follow the tax year but have to be allocated to tax years, as the pension savings of a PIP have to be compared to the AA for tax years, to calculate if there is a charge. This is achieved, normally, by allocating the PIP ending in a tax year to that tax year, i.e., PIP to 31 December 2011 ends in and is the PIP for the tax year 2011/12.
If the scheme is a defined benefits scheme the measure of pension savings is the increase in projected pension benefits in the PIP, which could bear no relationship to contributions made.
I have just penned an article to be published in the UK200 Technical Advisor In Focus magazine and wanted to share it with you.
HM Revenue & Customs realise that, following reductions of the annual allowance (AA) for pensions, more people should be declaring on their tax returns an annual allowance charge. It is important that a return of any charge is made to avoid the possibility of interest and penalties. A potential liability is not well known but HMRC do not accept ignorance as an excuse.
The AA, i.e. the maximum pension savings that qualify for tax relief, reduced to £50,000 from 6 April 2011. The use of the term savings is done purposely because, importantly, the provisions apply not only to defined contributions schemes but also to defined benefit schemes (final salary schemes). Just as importantly, it applies to all contributions made to a pension scheme and, therefore, includes employer contributions.
If contributions exceed the AA the excess is liable to a charge at marginal tax rates. For most people caught by this provision, that will be 40% or, perhaps, even 50%.
The AA can be more than £50,000 because it increases by allowances unused in the previous 3 tax years. For these purposes, the allowance for 2008/09 through to 2010/11 are taken to have been £50,000 (although, they were higher). A simple example is that, if pension savings were £30,000 for each of the years 2008/09 to 2010/11, the allowance for 2011/12 is £110,000 (£50,000 plus £60,000 brought forward).
To further complicate the position, the concept of a PIP (pension input period) and how pension savings are calculated for defined benefits scheme, come into it.
PIPs do not have to follow the tax year but have to be allocated to tax years, as the pension savings of a PIP have to be compared to the AA for tax years, to calculate if there is a charge. This is achieved, normally, by allocating the PIP ending in a tax year to that tax year, i.e., PIP to 31 December 2011 ends in and is the PIP for the tax year 2011/12.
If the scheme is a defined benefits scheme the measure of pension savings is the increase in projected pension benefits in the PIP, which could bear no relationship to contributions made.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
No more busy fool
The months of November, December and January are extremely busy for all accountants paticularly those heavily involved in tax. The deadline of 31 January for submission of personal tax returns tends to take over and the other urgent things, that need to be done in these months, leaves very little time for doing the other important things.
It is hard at times to realise that not putting time aside to spend on the less time critical, but no less essential, matters such as strategy and planning means that you are no more than a busy fool.
Please do not think that I do not recognise that phones need to be answered, e-mails need to be responded to, questions dealt with and scheduled work completed. It makes the business go around and is very rewarding but if you spend all your time working "in" the business you are just dealing with the present and neglecting to think about what you need to do so the business has a future.
Unfortunately having ideas and developing a plan is only part of it. Until there is action things do not happen. So you do not only have to do the "normal" work - you also need to have plans and carry them out. It sounds daunting but can be best achieved by setting aside specific time to work "in" the business and other time to work "on" the business, i.e. working on your plan.
It can help to "keep you honest" if you have someone to help you work on your plan and this is, of course, something we can do.
It is hard at times to realise that not putting time aside to spend on the less time critical, but no less essential, matters such as strategy and planning means that you are no more than a busy fool.
Please do not think that I do not recognise that phones need to be answered, e-mails need to be responded to, questions dealt with and scheduled work completed. It makes the business go around and is very rewarding but if you spend all your time working "in" the business you are just dealing with the present and neglecting to think about what you need to do so the business has a future.
Unfortunately having ideas and developing a plan is only part of it. Until there is action things do not happen. So you do not only have to do the "normal" work - you also need to have plans and carry them out. It sounds daunting but can be best achieved by setting aside specific time to work "in" the business and other time to work "on" the business, i.e. working on your plan.
It can help to "keep you honest" if you have someone to help you work on your plan and this is, of course, something we can do.
Friday, December 30, 2011
What do you look for in chosing an accountant?
Back in September I was privileged to hear Hamish Taylor speak at the Annual UK MindShop conference which this year was held in London. But this blog is to ask you something about a comment that was made at the end of his presentation.
Hamish has a CV that the Times said "takes some beating". He has been Head of Brand Management at British Airways, CEO of Eurostar and of Sainsbury's Bank and told an interesting story of how when working for Proctor and Gamble he went to peoples homes to see how they used their products. Clearly as an Accountant we cannot go to see how people use their accounts but we can ask them what are they looking for from an Accountant.
And it was this question, the final question of an excellent presentation that was asked of Hamish. What do you look for from your accountant?
His answer was firm and unequivocal.
I think that will not be an uncommon answer from people but at Crowther Beard along with other MindShop trained firms we assist our clients with all three.
Do you agree with Hamish's view of what you should expect from an accountant and if so do you get it from your accountant?
Hamish has a CV that the Times said "takes some beating". He has been Head of Brand Management at British Airways, CEO of Eurostar and of Sainsbury's Bank and told an interesting story of how when working for Proctor and Gamble he went to peoples homes to see how they used their products. Clearly as an Accountant we cannot go to see how people use their accounts but we can ask them what are they looking for from an Accountant.
And it was this question, the final question of an excellent presentation that was asked of Hamish. What do you look for from your accountant?
His answer was firm and unequivocal.
- He expects that all of the worries about filing deadlines and compliance with tax and accounting laws are taken away and dealt with.
- He expects to pay the minimum amount of tax legally and simply, no fancy schemes but make sure he has claimed all that he should.
- He expects the accountant should help him grow the business.
I think that will not be an uncommon answer from people but at Crowther Beard along with other MindShop trained firms we assist our clients with all three.
Do you agree with Hamish's view of what you should expect from an accountant and if so do you get it from your accountant?
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Getting that Marketing Strategy Right
I had a very unusual experience on Thursday. I had agreed to a meeting with a contact a couple of weeks ago and they arrived at my office for coffee at 11 am. What I hadn't realised was what they wanted to speak about.
When she sat down and we had got the usual pleasantries out of the way I was asked what their business could do to break into the local market place as they didn't have any clients locally.
I asked whether they had defined their ideal client and their target market, and spoke about how Crowther Beard identified the property and construction, agricultural, transport and engineering industries, and the medical profession as target markets and had a definition of an ideal client too.
I then moved forward to discuss where we find those clients, joining clubs where they go and how we are setting about creating a following through the Crowther Beard Community on LinkedIn amongst other areas. But the main things that I said that were needed was a plan, commitment and hard work.
We spoke for over an hour about how our marketing was beginning to reap its rewards as I have always believed in the Accounting Profession that it takes at least 12 months for marketing to be effective. I spoke about attending only the networking events that we thought would be beneficial to us because our targets would be there and how we planned each year setting some big targets and then reviewed the plan on a regular basis to ensure that we kept on track towards our goals.
At the end of the meeting my contact was generous enough to thank me for my time and for the advice that I had given.
However I later thought that what I had done was also very important in a marketing plan. Most of the greatest leaders in the business world will give things, their time to worthy causes or just to explain what they have done and how they achieved their goals. That is what I had just done. It is the giving that is important, something of value to others.
That will raise your profile.
When she sat down and we had got the usual pleasantries out of the way I was asked what their business could do to break into the local market place as they didn't have any clients locally.
I asked whether they had defined their ideal client and their target market, and spoke about how Crowther Beard identified the property and construction, agricultural, transport and engineering industries, and the medical profession as target markets and had a definition of an ideal client too.
I then moved forward to discuss where we find those clients, joining clubs where they go and how we are setting about creating a following through the Crowther Beard Community on LinkedIn amongst other areas. But the main things that I said that were needed was a plan, commitment and hard work.
We spoke for over an hour about how our marketing was beginning to reap its rewards as I have always believed in the Accounting Profession that it takes at least 12 months for marketing to be effective. I spoke about attending only the networking events that we thought would be beneficial to us because our targets would be there and how we planned each year setting some big targets and then reviewed the plan on a regular basis to ensure that we kept on track towards our goals.
At the end of the meeting my contact was generous enough to thank me for my time and for the advice that I had given.
However I later thought that what I had done was also very important in a marketing plan. Most of the greatest leaders in the business world will give things, their time to worthy causes or just to explain what they have done and how they achieved their goals. That is what I had just done. It is the giving that is important, something of value to others.
That will raise your profile.
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