The coronavirus and measures to slow it down are unprecedented in our lifetime; people are worried and scared, they feel out of control. There are many things that are outside of your control, so concentrate instead of the things you can, and remember: This will be over one day; Help yourself and family first; and…
How to negotiate a time to pay agreement with HMRC
HMRC has published details of the specific helpline to contact to negotiate a time to pay agreement if you are likely to have difficulty paying tax because of Coronavirus, but it’s not known whether HMRC will change its usual approach to time to pay, for taxpayers who are having difficulty. In the meantime businesses may find useful…
Self-employed let down badly by Chancellor
Ignore the newspaper headlines congratulating the Chancellor on a ‘historic rescue package’. I said yesterday – more in hope than expectation – that the government should include measures to help the self-employed, as well as employed workers, in its announcement on Friday. It singularly failed to do so. Anyone who is self-employed hearing the promise of…
Are you thinking of working from home?
The recent outbreak of the Covid-19 virus has prompted a large number of businesses to consider asking their staff to work from home. But working from home is not a new phenomenon. The UK has one of the highest proportions of home-based workers, which has grown significantly over the last decade as more people choose…
Is that you boss?
We’ve all heard about the “fake” email sent to the finance department from the CEO asking for a payment to be made to a fraudsters account but a new – and more sophisticated – version of this type of fraud has begun. The emergence of “deepfake” technology – where genuine recordings of people are processed…
“My customers don’t go on Facebook” she told me.
I was chatting with a successful businesswoman this week who has an in-demand service in a well-defined niche. In fact she targets females within that niche. Clever. I asked how she generated leads and found new customers to which she replied “Networking, but its time consuming and I’m not growing as fast as I’d like”.…
Don’t ignore HMRC emails
As part of its strategy to make tax digital, HMRC has been encouraging taxpayers to switch to paperless communication via their online personal tax account. As a result if you consent to paperless filing HMRC will post notices on your online account and send you an email notifying you about the new message. To read the…
Are you becoming a dinosaur?
I have supported Liverpool FC for a long time. I can remember the heady days of the 70s and 80s when they were European champions. For nearly a generation, between 1975 and 1990, Liverpool were dominant. They won 10 titles in England’s top division. They won the European Cup, which preceded the Champions League, four times…
The deficit myth
This week’s Sunday Supplement is a little different from usual. I’d like you to watch a short video of the 2020 Harcourt Lecture by Professor Stephanie Kelton. Her lecture starts after 10 mins (you can skip the introduction) and last for 40 mins. It is worth the investment of your time. Stephanie explains why austerity did more harm…
You can spend it, but can you buy it?
A phenomenon has occurred in recent years that has almost gone unnoticed by most of us. It was always said that time is the only thing we spend but cannot buy. But in recent years more and more businesses have been created that give us the opportunity to ‘buy’ time that we would otherwise spend…
