With the introduction of the 50% tax rate and restrictions on pension contribution tax relief, the need to plan prior to the new tax year commencing on 6th April 2010 is more essential this year than in previous years.

In particular, if:

Your personal taxable income is expected to be more than £100,000, or
You are looking to make pension contributions towards your retirement funds, or
You are looking to replace your own vehicle, or those of your business, or
You are looking to make repairs to your furnished holiday lets, or
• You are looking to maximise your savings

you should click on the following link, or please contact your Principal Adviser or our tax specialist Janice@a4gsolutions.co.uk to discuss your options.

From April 2010 ‘sick notes’, issued by doctors when an employee is off for a period of time due to injury or illness, will change slightly to become ‘fit notes’.

The emphasis will now be on how fit a person is and the doctor will sign a form to state whether the employee is either not fit for work at all, or that they may be fit for work if some alterations are made to the working conditions or hours etc. 

If you have a sickness absence policy you may need to consider whether any amendments are needed in order to account for the new working rules.  If you have any queries about the new rules please click on the following link or contact our payroll supervisor Nigel Newman at nigel@a4gsolutions.co.uk

Sage are currently offering discounts on their new Sage 50 accounts packages. Unlike versions prior to Sage 2007 (version13), Sage cover extra allows you to link your Sage to the HM Revenue & Customs website to file your VAT returns online; a compulsory regulation from 1st April 2010.

If you would like to find out more about upgrading your sage package at a cheaper rate or are looking to use an accounts package for the first time then please contact our Sage specialist Matt Finch at matthew@a4gsolutions.co.uk for further details.

As you will have recently heard, the date for this year’s budget has been announced for Wednesday 24th March. We will therefore be issuing our easy to read newsletter special covering the key aspects for owner managed businesses on Thursday 25th March.