Accounting Services for the UK Licensed Trade

Budget: Beer duty to rise 4p a pint
12 March, 2008

By James Wilmore

Courtesy of The Publican.
www.thepublican.com

Alistair Darling hits trade hard in his first Budget with across the board above inflation alcohol tax hikes

Chancellor Alistair Darling dealt a severe blow to the pub trade today as he announced across the board above inflation duty rises on alcohol in the Budget.

During his first Budget speech, Darling said that duty on beer will rise by 4p a pint at midnight on Sunday.

Wine duty will increase by 14p a bottle.

Cider will rise by 3p a litre.

A 10-year freeze on duty on spirits was also ended, as the Chancellor slapped a 55p rise on a bottle of spirits.

He added that alcohol taxes would increase by two per cent above inflation for the next four years.

Tory proposals to increase tax on alcopops by 50p, and super-strength lager and ciders, while cutting tax on lower strength drinks, were ignored.

Pub trade groups were also pushing for a freeze on duty to help combat spiralling costs, sinking sales, fragile consumer confidence and the smoking ban. The UK already has some of the highest alcohol taxes in Europe.

Darling said it was only his tough stance on alcohol taxes and by closing tax loopholes that he was able to provide additional support for families and lift more children out of poverty.

Cigarettes will rise by 11p for a packet of 20 and a packet of five cigars by 4p.

Darling also confirmed plans to introduce a single 18 per cent rate of capital gains tax, scrapping taper relief which had allowed a 10 per cent rate for business assets held for at least two years.

However he confirmed he will grant a concession, first announced in January, allowing 90 per cent of small businesses to continue to pay capital gains tax of 10 per cent.

Funds available through the small firms loans guarantee will also rise by 60 per cent in the next year, Darling said.

On the environment, he said that all new non-domestic buildings would be zero-carbon by 2019.

It pays to have accountants!

Income tax errors hit 1m people.
A million taxpayers paid the wrong amount of income tax last year because of official mistakes, a report says.
More info.

 

The Queen’s Speech – a summary for businesses

(c) John Swannell / Camera Press

Gordon Brown has set the agenda for his first parliamentary session as Prime Minister at the state opening of parliament. Delivered on the 6th November in the House of Lords, the Queen’s Speech* raised a number of issues that could affect businesses in future.

Business Link South Yorkshire has prepared a summary of the key points for SMEs that will be debated in the coming months.
KEY POINTS FOR BUSINESS

Education and Skills Bill
“… to ensure that young people stay in education or training until age 18, and to provide new rights to skills training for adults.”
Regarding raising the participation age, this would include duties on employers to release young people for the equivalent of one day a week to undertake training and to check whether a young person is participating before employing them.
Apprenticeships - draft legislation
“Draft legislation will be brought forward to reform apprenticeships.”
Apprenticeships are currently in practice without the need for legislation, however the government is keen to widen the current provision and introduce an entitlement to an apprenticeship for 16-18 year olds, therefore legislative measures would need to be considered.

Work-life balance - proposals
“My government will bring forward proposals to help people achieve a better balance between work and family life.”
The government is considering extending the right to flexible working.

Pensions Bill
“A bill will place a duty on every employer to contribute to good quality workplace pensions for their employees.”
This would include powers to introduce mandatory employer contributions into a qualifying pension scheme, and to require the automatic enrolment of eligible employees into qualifying schemes.

Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill
“A bill will be introduced to reduce regulatory burden on business.”
This would include the establishment of a Local Better Regulation Office as a statutory corporation, giving it five key functions:
1. issuing guidance to local authorities
2. supporting best practice by local authorities
3. giving advice to ministers
4. reviewing and updating the government’s list of national regulatory priorities
5. promoting consistent regulatory enforcement by local authorities.
For more information on the items listed above and a full list of the proposed business for this parliamentary session, visit the 10 Downing Street website at
www.number-10.gov.uk/queenspeech

* The Queen’s Speech is read to both the Commons and the Lords at the state opening of Parliament. The speech is written by a cabinet committee and sets the government’s agenda for the parliamentary session, outlining the business it intends to carry out. The contents of the speech are then debated in the two houses, and bills become acts of parliament (often after changes are made to the original bills) or are dropped.

REACTIONS FROM BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS
The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Confederation of British Industries (CBI) have all, on the whole, reacted favourably to the proposed issues outlined in the Queen’s Speech, although all will comment further during the appropriate consultation periods.
All three organisations welcome the recognition in the Education and Skills Bill and the Apprenticeships draft legislation, that skills need to be improved both in the workplace and amongst school-leavers. Again, all three welcome the proposed rise of the age for compulsory learning, but the FSB feels pupils should be encouraged to take vocational subjects to establish education, employment and training as a natural progression.

On flexible working, the BCC says the government should realise that most SMEs are already working flexibly, and the adding of burdensome legislation could interfere with competitiveness. The FSB adds that the employer must continue to have the final say in granting flexible working to ensure the business does not suffer.
Regarding pensions, the BCC and the CBI welcome changes, but are waiting to hear more details. The FSB is more cautious. "We believe that the importance of individuals taking responsibility for their own retirement should be reflected in the new legislation,” said John Wright, FSB national chairman. “Any new scheme must be affordable, easy to administer and introduced carefully to minimise the burden on businesses least able to cope with sudden increases in costs and administration. The burden on small businesses would be reduced if the new scheme could be run through existing payroll structures, rather than setting up a whole new system for employers to work out."

Both the FSB and the BCC welcome proposals to cut red tape, and the BCC is particularly keen for the government to amend the workplace tribunal system.

For more information on the views of the BCC, FSB and CBI, visit their respective websites below:
British Chamber of Commerce
Federation of Small Businesses
Confederation of British Industries

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Buying a Pub with the help of one of the UKs leading Pub Accountants.

 

Whether buying a pub or considering buying a pub with a lease you need to do your homework first. Look at the local area, pubs, clubs and hotels. How are they trading, what price are they selling products for? Get talking to local landlords, find out the history of the pub you're going to buy and it's reputation.

When buying a pub obtain recent accounts from the seller and barrelage figures from the brewery. Many prospective licensees forget to ask about rates, these can be up to £1000 per week and can be a reason for not buying a pub.

Produce a business plan – what are you going to do to make the unit work?

When buying a pub you should think about:

· local competition,

· refurbishment,

· promotions and new products etc.

Once you have produced this you should then prepare a profit and loss forecast/cash flow forecast with the help of Roslyn's specialised pub accountants – if we are lucky enough to obtain your business when you move in we prepare profit & loss and cash flow forecasts free of charge!

If you are signing a lease or buying a pub ensure you have a survey completed by a qualified person, in the event of areas of concern becoming known. It doesn't mean that you should avoid buying a pub, just negotiate with the brewery/pub company so that they remedy the faults or reduce the selling price so that you can.

Buying a pub/club/hotel is a time consuming business, you may well need assistance every step of the way. Roslyn's pub accountants will assist you with this giving advice, support, production of information – most of this (subject to certain conditions) is free of charge.

Using specified pub accountants is the first step in ensuring that your venture into buying a pub is a successful one. Pub accountants are able to assist you and give helpful relative advice every step of the way.

Running a pub is a rewarding business, offering good social life, and in a lot of situations a good profit, but you must get the right advice first.

Good Luck!!