Albasas -
Banking System Meltdown. Savings & Mortgage Rates Hit An All Time Low.
Who took the money away? Government issuing more notes to the UK money supply. Why? Human greed? Or just another one for the conspiracy theorists to endlessly ponder on bewilderingly?
 
Latest News Updates....
 
 
 
 
 
 
MP's Expenses The Satirical Truth In Song:
 
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The MP Expenses Song
A Ditty To Their Scandalous Behaviour
3 MP's Charged With False Accounting (Theft Act 1968)
 
"17 False accounting
(1)Where a person dishonestly, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another,—
(a)destroys, defaces, conceals or falsifies any account or any record or document made or required for any accounting purpose; or
(b)in furnishing information for any purpose produces or makes use of any account, or any such record or document as aforesaid, which to his knowledge is or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular;
he shall, on conviction on indictment, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years.
(2)For purposes of this section a person who makes or concurs in making in an account or other document an entry which is or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular, or who omits or concurs in omitting a material particular from an account or other document, is to be treated as falsifying the account or document."
 
 
Budget 2010 
'The Waste Of Time Budget?'
 
Alistair Darling will deliver his Budget on 24 March 2010 at 12.30pm.
 
Depending on the election result, we could end up going through the whole Budget process again in June if the incoming Chancellor wants to introduce emergency fiscal measures.
 
Budget 2009 
'The Extraordinary Budget'
 
A Personal commentary. "The delayed annual government unscientific number crunching report or Budget, tells us that not since the end of World War II has the UK economy been so depressed. Although you can take that with a large pinch of salt. Life during wartime? For instance the pound buys less nowadays than it did in 1945-46, and homes are at least 25,000 times more expensive! I also see no sign of grocery rationing, (only obesity), a comparably tiny proportion of grieving war widows to then, and no very serious shortage of housing etc. Everything is relative to the times that we live in, in my opinion, and whilst the billions of pounds in UK national debt is frightening, others will remember worse social conditions and something of 'a lost generation' as recently as the late 1970's to early 1990's. All we really have nowadays is a lack of confidence to lend to others and no trust in the banking system by their very own financiers. Rationalisation of the lending market place in other words. Once complete confidence will return. It must. Or if not we all just give up on our current economic model. The latter being a bit radical and improbable."
 
Budget 2009 - Main Points
 
Income tax will not go up this year for most, however those earning more than £150,000 will see an increase from 45% to 50% from April 2010.
 
Main 2009 capital allowance rate doubled to 40% for general assets to encourage firms to bring forward investment.
 
Loss-making companies can reclaim tax paid on profits made in past three years.
 
Pension tax relief restricted for those on incomes over £150,000 from April 2011. It will be gradually tapered to the same 20% rate received by most people.
 
 
Anti-Money Laundering Legislation 
 
A wide sector of businesses throughout the UK now have to abide by the complex Money Laundering Regulations 2007 or face penalties ranging from £1000 fines to 5 years imprisonment. We have a legal obligation to keep relevant anti-money laundering records about our clients seeking the following services:
 
Accountancy
Limited Assurance Engagements
Book-Keeping
Payroll Agency
Tax Advice and/or the preparation of Tax Returns
 
Most firms are required to process their Clients' data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. One key area of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, is our obligation to undertake 'Client Due Diligence' on both new and existing clients. HMRC and CCAB guidance recommends that we do this annually to ensure that we are up to date with changes to our existing clients' circumstances.
 
 
 
IMPORTANT!
 
Changes to how HM Revenue & Customs carries out compliance checks from 1 April 2009
 
The way HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) carries out compliance checks (also known as enquiries, visits and inspections) will change from 1 April 2009. These changes will affect how we manage compliance checks for:
  • Income Tax
  • Capital Gains Tax
  • VAT
  • PAYE
  • the Construction Industry Scheme
  • Corporation Tax
The new compliance checks legislation is designed to make the tax system simpler and more consistent.
From 1 April 2009, HMRC will have one set of powers covering PAYE, VAT, Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax and Construction Industry Scheme to:
  • visit businesses to inspect premises, assets and records
  • ask taxpayers and third parties for more Information and documents
These powers are provided by Schedule 36 of the Finance Act 2008.
The new legislation will also provide:
  • greater flexibility in setting record-keeping requirements after 1 April 2009
  • new time limits for assessment and claims which will not be fully in force until April 2010 - but there will be some transitional arrangements from 1 April 2009
  • important safeguards for customers
These measures are provided by Schedule 37 and Schedule 39 of the Finance Act 2008.
 
 
 
Hard Times
 
Every other day now is bringing news of business cash-flow problems and failures. These are indeed, (relatively speaking), difficult times for us all, the likes of, not seen for a generation in some cases. It is, as ever then, all the more important to make sure that those that you are transacting business with have the means to pay for your services. If you are having cash-flow problems please contact us- just don't sit there worrying.  
 
HMRC have a special helpline for those having cash-flow issues specifically to paying off taxes and National Insurance. If you have this problem call them on:
 
0845  302 1435
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Taxpayers Alliance Anti EU Advert
Their Anti-French Political Claims About EU Funding & Budget Inefficiency. Not Necessarily Held here. Food Mountain For Thought? Or Just Tired Old Propaganda?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
        
 
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Banking System Meltdown
 
To give some idea of the problems here, when the Royal Bank Of Scotland recently went all but bust, its debts where 15 times that of the Gross Domestic Product of Scotland! Over in the troubled Celtic Tiger economy of the Republic of Ireland, they too, had all but in word Nationalized the banks. The whole meltdown was caused in the first place by the US A's refusal to Nationalize the troubled merchant banker's Lehman Brothers. Something they ended up having to do anyway with subsequent big financial services businesses. Doh! So what if Scotland had embraced Independence in the way our First Minister had originally proposed, (with Edinburgh  a great centre of world finance?). Would we have gone the same way as the Icelandic economy he used as his model? That being bust! Or like alarmed UK Post Office National Savings Account holders, just watch on helplessly as the neighbouring economy holding and regulating their savings, shrank before their very eyes? Or worse lose the lot and threaten another sovereign country with gunboat diplomacy as Westminster did to the Icelandic. Any thought of Scotland being financially independent on the back of great wealth created from so called Scottish banking or financial services is surely now dead in the water- a discredited economic policy. As well as repaying back to date our projected £140 billion of taxpayers money loaned to them, it will surely take decades to repair the entire banking sectors reputation let alone any so called Scottish banks. Unsurprisingly, the latest opinion polls show that the (economic) Union with England, Wales & Northern Ireland, is under no threat. People are taking on board the seismic economic shock of several major Scottish banking institutions having to be bailed out by the UK Westminster Government. It was their original hasty commercial lending decisions in particularly Russia and Eastern Europe, compounded by buying other lenders debt ridden businesses, which lead to all the toxic bad debt and hence general global market panic in the first place. Not ordinary people buying houses they can't afford- that's just propaganda in my opinion.
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Nationwide Advert Annoying Bank Manager Fishing Haul Hook
Really annoying!!! But he's brilliant!
So blame yourself if you must! Nationalization by the UK government, was in turn, a sleight of hand, achieved at the cost of printing more money than we have and then the majority public ownership of these bankrupt banks. All this can only surely mean that the UK taxpayer will pick up a bill for it all as the ultimate consumer here. It is said that Scottish and Northern Irish banks must deposit £1 for every £1 of money in their own notes in circulation with the Bank of England. At present this is a very unlikely and albeit simple economic monetary equation. It is obviously impossible for so called 'Scottish banks' recently making the Government a majority shareholder to do this. Instead we the taxpayers as majority shareholders have just bailed them out and 'loaned' them the money. All this plus the recent SNP council tax fiasco which cancelled the proposals to introduce a local income tax via the so called 'Tartan Tax' in Scotland, show just how fragile and economically interdependent we all are on our near European, American and Commonwealth neighbours in this modern global liberal democratic capitalist market place model. One World with no rules for bankers but plenty for everyone else, perhaps excluding MP's etc!
 
 
 
 
 
SELF ASSESSMENT TAX RETURNS.
 
AN END TO THE ANNUAL JANUARY DEADLINE BLUES?
 
The annual stampede to file an Income Tax Return by the 31 January tax enquiry deadline should, hopefully, soon become a thing of the past. Lord Carter's recent changes mean that:  
 
If you still prefer completing a return by pen then you must have your paper returns in by 31 October each year, or face a £100 penalty.
 
People filing returns electronically, all our clients for instance, still have until the 31 January to get the job done. Earlier filing of tax returns by this date is encouraged where appropriate.
 
Here's the best part:
 
The January deadline is now the final tax accounts deadline and not the official window of enquiry deadline. Meaning that the Revenue now only have 1 year from the date you actually file your tax return to enquire into the return made. Encouraging early filing of returns in the process! 
 
So Tax Returns can be made anytime between 6 April and 31 Jan and HMRC get 1 year from the filing date to enquire from this year on. Much fairer in our opinion. Hopefully this will soon make the January deadline less of a concern for everyone here and especially at HMRCs. So get cracking with those income tax return forms from 6 April each year now and not 1 December!  
 
 
 
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Robin Hood Tax
Probably A Somewhat Idealistic UK Based Global Transaction Tax. Good Idea But Will It Harm The UK Taxpayers Already Considerable Stake In The Banking System As 'Speculative' Type Transactions Just Go Abroad Or To Offshore Banks Etc To Avoid THe 0.05% Tax Muted? Sceptical Here That The UK Can Do This Alone. Nice Idea In An Ideal World.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Credit Crunch Anthem
Comedy Credit Crunch song starring Bush and Brown. Sit back, relax and make light of the recession for 2 min 26 sec! Funnier than the Chuckle Brothers In charge of the government. Some say....!