For the August Newsletter click here!

They will have to work for their money, but every Saturday morning spent in employment within the company may teach them something about the real world and also clear the jobs that are often left undone such as cleaning, stock counting, data entry, sweeping up, or filing etc.

As long as the task is safe and doesn’t require heavy lifting it’s legal to employ children over twelve.  The hours can’t take up school time and can’t be before 7am or after 7pm.  You may also need to consult your local authority about permits, even to employ your own child.

You must add your child to the payroll of the company as a regular employee.  Help them to complete a form P46 (new employee without a tax record), as they will be employed for more than one week.  The company will get tax relief for the full amount of their wages and you get to keep more of your own after tax income!

They will have their own personal allowance of £6,475 (for 2009/10) to use which will cover all their Saturday morning earnings leaving nothing to tax under PAYE.  There will be no NI to pay for under 16s and no employers contributions either.  For over 16s if you pay them less than £110 a week in 2009/10 there is no NI to pay.

But how much do I pay them?

A good benchmark on what to pay per hour is the National Minimum Wage for those aged 16 to 17.  This is currently £3.57 per hour.  People younger than 16 can be paid less than this.

How long can they work?

If they are 13 or 14 they can work for two hours a day on a school day, one hour before school and one hour after.  In the school holidays they can work for up to five hours a day but no more than 25 hours per week.  For two weeks of the school holidays they cannot work at all.  On Saturdays they can work up to five hours and for up to two on a Sunday.

If they are 15 or 16 the above applies, except they can work for up to eight hours a day in the holidays and on Saturdays but no more than 35 hours a week.

Always topping up their phone?

Teenagers nowadays are always on the phone and it can cost a fortune!

Put their phone through the company and save money as a benefit in kind!  As long as the company owns the phone and the sim card and the contract is in the company name then it is perfectly OK and tax free.

Tip

Although aged between 12 and 16 and too young to pay tax you should always ask the taxman to issue an NI number so end of year PAYE forms can be completed correctly.

From 13^th August 2009, amended PAYE regulations came into force which also require those of you with fewer than 50 employees to file your Employer Annual Return online.

The 2009-10 Employer Annual Return (for the tax year ending 5^th April 2010) is the first Return that you must file online. This is due by 19^th May 2010. If you process your own payroll please make sure you have registered with the Revenue for online filing well before the deadline.

Doncaster like many parts of the country has been hit by this arctic weather and while it has made getting about difficult to say the least it does make a pretty picture!

This was the scene outside our offices on South Parade Doncaster as the downfall started to take hold, little did we know that it was going to continue for the whole day!

Within an hour or so the main road into Doncaster had come to a standstill and traffic had ground to halt! Pity it’s not the mad tax return deadline month of January otherwise it may have been snow ball fights at lunch time!

Using innovation as the basis of developing a plan to grow the business and attract new clients the whole team spent two days braining storming and reviewing the current business operations, looking for opportunities for growth. Mark Higham Managing Partner “Taking time out to stand back and look at where we are going and at the same time involving the whole team in the process has been fantastic. Some of the ideas from the team have been mind blowing and the enthusiasm generated in excellent”

CIDA have been able to offer this service free under the Success Doncaster funding enabling Doncaster based businesses to become more successful. To access this excellent service contact Steph at CIDA on 01484  483142.

1. The £150 per employee covers not just the Christmas party but also any transport and accommodation costs. So, if the budget allows and you are feeling generous you could also provide your employees with an overnight stay! I wonder how many of you will do that!
2. If the cost per employee is just 1p over the limit, then unfortunately the whole cost becomes a taxable benefit on the employee. However, if the employee suffers the excess over £150, then that is OK!
3. This allowance isn’t just applicable to Christmas parties,it also applies to any event open to all staff throughout the year! Therefore,you can have a Christmas party, a summer BBQ party, etc and as long as the total cost doesn’t exceed £150/employee for the year then the benefit is tax-free. I’ll drink to that!
4. The exemption doesn’t just apply to big companies with lots of employees. Even a one man company can have a function for himself and his spouse because the event would be open to all employees.
5. You can only recover the VAT on the element relating to your employees. You cannot recover VAT on spouses’ element of the cost.

While all other beer types, such as lager and keg bitters, saw their sales fall in the the first half of 2009, sales of real ale grew 1%, it said.

The independent study, which is backed by a host of brewers, said the number of women drinking real ale has doubled.

Real ale is a natural beer that does not require any added carbon dioxide.

With pub closures running at an all time high of 52 a week due to falling revenues the popularity of real ale offers a real lifeline to pubs threatened by closure.

Unlike lager or processed keg bitters, real ale creates its own natural fizz from the second fermentation that takes place in the barrel in the pub cellar.

It is available in a host of styles, from bitters to milds, strong ales to stouts, and the newer range of golden beers. It is typically meant to be served at a cool rather than cold temperature.

Fancy trying Real Ale? Then why not join us in the Salutation on South Parade Doncaster for the start of their three day beer festival with a choice of 30 Real Ales to choose from.

Buy-to-let mortgages are generally treated as business loans, unlike other mortgages which are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The British Property Federation, which represents investors, said regulation would halt “reckless lending”.

Many amateur landlords were drawn into the buy-to-let market during the boom.

The Federation argues that regulation would protect such landlords.

Ian Fletcher, the Federation’s director of policy say’s “Many lenders simply threw money at buy-to-let borrowers during the boom without sufficient checks on who they were lending to or what they were lending for,” .

“Consumers have suffered as their buy-to-let dream turned sour and many buy-to-let lenders were at the root of our economic problems.”

David Poppleton, of Access Property Developments - which finds properties for buy-to-let investors – said that the lack of regulation had been an “anomaly” for some time in the mortgage market.

There is currently a government review into the mortgage market which is due to be released in the coming weeks.

This is an excellent opportunity to come and learn more about what Numero can do for you! Find out more about our events like the Credit Crunch Clinic and Workshop. Talk to us about tax, accounting, business support and our fantasy football league!

Also find out about the Charity Events we have supported and are supporting in the future.

Not all accountants are the same so come and see and experience the Numero difference!

Markets reacted positively to the news, with the main German and French markets up more than 1% at midday before later dropping back slightly.

In London, the FTSE 100 index also rose, with traders anticipating a positive effect on the UK economy, which by contrast shrank by 0.8% in the second quarter.

Asked about why the UK seemed to be lagging behind, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: “Different economies will show different patterns of behaviour.”

“But the key point is all these economies rely on each other; 55 to 56% of our trade is with the rest of Europe. So when [they are] recovering that is good news for our manufacturers and our exports here.”

France and Germany may have been less hard hit than the UK by the global economic slowdown because their financial sectors, which were at the heart of the crisis, account for a smaller proportion of their economies.

Overall the news is encouraging but caution and sound financial managment still remain key for small and medium businesses.