Companies House have started to send out a number of letters to directors of Limited Companies and members of limited liability partnerships, stating that their company or LLP is being proposed to be removed from the register. If you get one of those letters, it may be that it has crossed in the post with something we have sent but it is also possible that Companies House have not updated their records or even that documents have got lost in the post.

Many businesses trade under the standard accounting scheme for VAT, i.e. they account for VAT on their purchases and sales at the date of the invoice.

An alternative to this which may assist with your cash flow would be the Cash Accounting Scheme.  VAT is charged at the appropriate rate on the invoice but is only accounted for at the date of payment/receipt not the date invoiced.

This gives you automatic relief on bad debts as you are not paying the VAT to the authorities unless payment is actually received.

To be eligible for the scheme, your estimated turnover in the next 12 months from today must not exceed £1.35 million.  Once on the Cash Accounting scheme, your taxable supplies must not exceed £1.6 million otherwise you will be required to return to standard accounting.

You will also be unable to use the scheme if the following apply:

• You are not up-to-date on your VAT returns and VAT payments
• You have previously been convicted of a VAT offence or charged a penalty for VAT evasion in the last year
• You buy or sell goods using lease purchase, hire purchase, conditional sale or credit sale
• You import goods or acquire goods from other EU states
• You remove goods from a Customs warehouse or free zone
• You issue VAT invoices and full payment is not due within six months
• You issue VAT invoices in advance of providing goods or services.

Once you have joined the scheme, if it does not suit you any longer you may leave voluntarily at any time by notifying HM Revenue & Customs.

HM Revenue & Customs issued a new style of form P45 in October 2008. 

Until now, they have accepted P45s in the old format or the new one but after 5th April 2009 only the new style form will be valid.  Employers should therefore be ready to destroy their stock of old style forms and either obtain a stock of new forms or be prepared to file online form now on.

For those employers with more than 50 staff, the tax year starting 6th April 2009 is also the first year in which P45 and P46 forms must be filed electronically.  Smaller employers will not be required to do this for a further year.

With regards to online filing of end of year payroll forms such as the P35 Employers Annual Return, larger businesses have been required to file online for a year or two now whilst those with fewer than 50 employees are not obliged to until 5th April 2010. 

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination."