HMRC Cannot Be Trusted

The amazing story in The Telegraph “How one family were brought to their knees by the taxman” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financial-crime/9716421/How-one-family-were-brought-to-their-knees-by-the-taxman.html is unfortunately not that amazing.

The story documents how a legitimate, successful and law-abiding business, Abbey Forwarding, was liquidated by HMRC on the basis of suspected alcohol duty fraud, without evidence or justification.

Non-UK Businesses Now Required to Register for VAT

From 1 December 2012 new legislation requires all non-UK established businesses selling goods or services to UK customers to register and account for VAT, regardless of the value of the sales they make. The legal and technical name for such a businesses is a "Non Established Taxable Person" ("NETP") which term includes any business be it carried out by individuals, companies, partnerships or whatever.

The legislation was introduced in the Finance Act 2012 in order to comply with a recent ruling of the European Union ("EU") Court of Justice and removes the current £77,000 VAT registration threshold for NETPs selling goods or services into the UK. 

Why Patten & Hall Are Wrong For The BBC

I admit up front that I am no fan of the BBC, I ceased giving them credence years ago when I came to believe that their output, both current affairs and entertainment, was rather one-sided in outlook. I am not accusing the BBC of intentional bias, I think their lack of balance stems simply from their hiring a particular type of people so that they fail to represent the views of the wider population. This is common enough, we tend to hire “people like us” and the consequent groupthink becomes part of the cultural identity of our institutions. Which brings me to the Lords Patten and Hall.

Is IT Too Risky?

Seems like a daft question, we all use and depend upon IT in business, to be deprived of it would be like going back to the stone ages, but recent incidents have highlighted that IT risks must be understood and considered in the boardroom. 

There is an old adage in IT: "To err is human, but to really screw up you need a computer". Given the increasing dependence of businesses on IT this is probably more true today than ever before.

Board Appraisal - Why Bother?

If you've never been through a board appraisal you probably don't see the point, the benefits are not always obvious. If you have been through a board appraisal it may have been a good experience or a bad one. If it was good you already understand why a board appraisal is such a useful tool, and if it was bad you probably think it's a useless piece of bureaucracy demanded by regulators or consultants. This article is for those who have never been through the process, and those who have had a bad experience.

De Facto Directors in the Firing Line