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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!!
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