Pensioners may receive a tax demand


Andrew Wholey, Tax Consultant


Approximately 146,000 people who started to receive their State Pension from 6th April 2010 until 5th April 2011, and who had other income, may have underpaid tax for the 2010-11 tax year.


The underpayments will have arisen due to a computer glitch at HMRC but as the error was discovered in the year the liability arose these underpayments will not be waived.


Be careful however as fraudsters are latching on to this error and pensioners may be targeted. HMRC would never email or call to ask for your personal banking details so any request that is received is likely to be fraudulent. Any such requests should be ignored.


If you do receive a legitimate claim by letter from HMRC, don’t panic. They have disclosed that they will allow payments to be staggered over three years starting from 2012.


As always if you have any questions or have received a request you’re not sure of then we are here to help.


How to limit the risks of your business being reliant on one ‘key person’


Greg Moss, Financial Planner


Since the sad death of Steve Jobs, co-founder of technology giant Apple, analysts have been speculating about whether the company will ever be the same again.


When shares in the company dropped more than 5% in reaction to the news of his demise, it showed that Jobs, who saved Apple from near bankruptcy in the 1990s and transformed it into the tech giant it is today, was more than just a CEO, he was vital to the company’s success.


Apple is certainly not alone in having one person on whom the business relies, and it is a strange quirk, that businesses are more likely to


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insure their tables and chairs than the people who drive their growth and profitability.


Recent research by the Institute of Directors and British Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with Legal & General, found that the key person insurance “gap”, which is the difference between cover in place and identified risks, remains persistently high at over £1.1 trillion.


Of Limited companies surveyed, 95 per cent identified at least one key person, without whom the business would be in jeopardy, with 39 per cent of those saying they would not survive for more than 18 months without that key individual.


To avoid this situation keyman insurance should be considered:


If a senior member of staff dies or becomes seriously ill, it can be a massive blow for any business. Not only is there the emotional upset of losing such a key figure, but the loss can also harm the finances of the business.


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