Alex Moore first came to Danbro in June 2008, to work as a marketing assistant as part of her Marketing Management course at Manchester Metropolitan University.

After a successful year helping with the marketing of the firm, Alex continued to work with Danbro part-time during her final year back at university. And having graduated earlier this month, she has now returned to Danbro as a New Business Consultant, working with agencies and contractors to bring new clients to the firm.

She said: “During my placement year I worked on all aspects of marketing, from writing press releases to designing promotional materials and organising presentations.

“I found Danbro an interesting place to work, and the people here were all very friendly. While the role I had on my placement was different to what I’m doing now, it still gave me a great insight into how the company and the line of business it was in worked.

“Danbro is a firm which gives people a lot of responsibility straight away and the opportunity to develop their careers with the firm, so I’m looking forward to staying here and building up my experience over the coming years.”

Danbro partner Damian Broughton said: “I’m delighted that Alex has come back to join us full-time – she was a valued member of the team when she was here before, and I’m glad that her time here on placement convinced her that this was the type of job she wanted.”

For more information and free consultation contact Danbro on:

Head Office: 01253 600140
London Office: 020 7836 84000
Manchester Office: 0161 228 7841

The email, which comes from “HMRC Online services - test@test.com” states that the recipient has one new ALERT message and should log into their Online Account to read the message.

The email contains a link to a fraudulent website that requests the disclosure of personal account information and password.

HMRC stresses that it has not issued the email and asks anyone receiving a copy to forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

HMRC has also said that it is aware of emails being issued to advertise a service where the sender applies for a rebate of National Insurance on the customer’s behalf, usually for a fee.

HMRC is stressing that these companies are not affiliated with HMRC in any way.

LINKS: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/index.htm

The guidance replaces the original version published in April 2010 and incorporates significant revisions, in particular on which managers charities or Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) should notify HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) about.

The Finance Act 2010 introduced a new definition for tax purposes of charities and other organisations entitled to UK charity tax reliefs, which includes a requirement that to be a charity, an organisation must satisfy the “management condition”.

The new definition applies to Gift Aid with effect from 1 April 2010 and is due to be extended to other charity tax reliefs later this year. It follows that this guidance applies at present only to charities claiming repayments of tax under Gift Aid.

For a charity to satisfy the management condition, its managers must be fit and proper persons. The legislation does not define “fit and proper” and the guidance sets out how HMRC applies this test to those who have the general control and management of the administration of the charity.

HMRC assumes that all people appointed by charities are fit and proper persons unless they hold information to show otherwise. Provided charities take appropriate steps in appointing staff, then they may assume that they meet the management condition at all times unless, exceptionally, they are challenged by HMRC.

However, where HMRC finds a manager of a charity is not a fit and proper person, a charity will not necessarily lose entitlement to the charity tax relief as HMRC can treat a charity as having met the management condition in certain circumstances.

LINKS: HMRC guidance

With statistics showing that poor performance was raised as an issue in nine out of ten disciplinary hearings*, employment service Acas had produced the How to manage performance guide.

It provides advice on how businesses can set objectives with their employees, including drawing up an effective personal development plan, and is designed to help businesses build engaged, productive teams, improve communication and give employees a clear understanding of where they fit into the business and the skills and competencies needed to fill their role.

John Taylor, Acas chief executive says: “The new guidance from Acas illustrates that managing performance is central to the relationship between managers and employees as well as key to maintaining a productive workplace.

“It also gives employers a chance to monitor performance, develop skills and give employees the chance to express themselves.”

* IRS/XpertHR benchmarking research

LINK: Acas guide

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has announced that the Extra Statutory Concession B46 (ESC B46) would be scrapped next March.

Introduced in 1995, ESC B46 established the principle that penalties would not be charged when employers and contractors submitting tax returns and CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) forms had taken “all reasonable steps” to file their returns on time, but were not able to do so due to unforeseen circumstances such as postal delays.

With the advent of online filing, which is required for P35s and P14s and will become mandatory for Corporation Tax returns from 1 April, HMRC considers the concession redundant because the delays it was intended to address will no longer happen. Returns must therefore reach the department by their due date or incur a late filing penalty of £100.

Confirming the new penalty regime, HMRC said: “Any customers filing a return late will, as now, be able to request us to remove any penalty, if they believe they had a reasonable excuse for the delay in filing. We will consider every case on its own merits. Customers can also appeal against the penalty to a tribunal.”

LINK: HMRC briefing

Most of the Equality Act will become law on 1 October 2010, bringing together and replacing previous discrimination legislation. It covers a range of groups that have protected characteristics relating to:

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• race
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation
• marriage and civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity

The new Act is designed to streamline existing equality law and contains elements that remain unchanged from previous legislation, have been amended or extended or introduced for the first time. Changes have been made in the following areas:

• third party harassment: employers are potentially liable if staff are harassed by people they don't employ, such as external suppliers or customers
• pre-employment health checks: with some exceptions, from October employers should no longer send out pre-health questionnaires with employment application packs
• employment tribunal recommendations: employment tribunals can require employers found guilty of discrimination to take steps to change their policies and practices to prevent further discrimination
• pay secrecy: the Equality Act will make a clause in contracts requiring employees to keep pay secret unenforceable. Employers can still require employees to keep pay rates confidential from others outside the workplace, such as competitors.

In the light of these changes, businesses may need to review and change some policies and practices.

LINKS: Equalities Act summary guides and Acas guide

Launching the OTS on 20 July, Mr Osborne said: “Simpler, more competitive taxes will help us show the world that Britain is open for business.”

Drawing on external expertise from the tax and legal professions, the OTS will carry out two initial reviews over the coming year, focusing on tax reliefs and small business tax simplification, including IR35.

It will publish its initial findings on their work on reliefs in the late autumn and on small business tax by the 2011 Budget.

Over the past decade, the tax code doubled to more than 11,000 pages. Chair of the OTS, the Right Honourable Michael Jack, said: “Entrepreneurship should never be stifled because of an overly complex tax system.

“Simplification in a complex world is a real challenge but it’s one that has to be addressed if the tax system is not to hinder the economy’s ability to grow.”

LINKS: Office of Tax Simplification

Under new rules, existing VAT-registered businesses with annual turnovers of £100,000 or more (excluding VAT), and any businesses that registered for VAT from 1 April 2010 must now file their VAT returns online and pay their VAT electronically.

The vast majority of traders file their VAT returns quarterly, and the first quarterly returns affected by the changes are those covering April -June 2010, which – for most online filing customers – must be filed online by 7 August.

Stephen Banyard, Director of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Business Customer Unit, said: “The vast majority of customers affected by the new arrangements have already enrolled for HMRC’s VAT Online service, and many have also filed their first returns online.

“However, if you’re a VAT-registered trader who’s affected by these changes, and you haven’t yet signed up, you need to take action now.”

LINKS

Sign up for the VAT Online service at: www.online.hmrc.gov.uk/registration.htm
More information on the registration process: www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/vat-online/index.htm.