Winter Months at The Bury St Edmunds Farmers Club


The busy month of January closed with an exclusive Wedding Fayre with displays by 20 suppliers catering for all manner of wedding needs and attended by over 60 people looking for the ideal venue for their weddings this year. The Farmers Club is seeking a licence for the performance of civil ceremonies in this elegant Grade I listed building and also offer a range of flexible wedding packages to suit all individual requirements including room and floral designs, personal menu planning, town centre car park-


ing, musical arrangements and discos and guest invitations carried out by the professional and dedicated Club personnel to suit every choice from small and intimate parties to more lavish and grand occasions.


The program for February was equally enjoyable including a very popular Valentines Day Dinner, a Special General Meeting when members were apprised of plans for the future, the launch of a new Company Membership Plan and closing with a Sunday Roast Lunch with the Clubs' two restaurants full to overflowing. The March program starts with a pres- tige lunch at which the guest speaker will be Una Ellen Jenkins, author of "West Row Girl" in which she describes life in the Suffolk village - a small agricultural community on the edge of the fens in the pre-war period and has followed up with "West Row Girl in Wartime" which covers the momentous events that occurred between 1936 and 1945 and how they affected the village community.


The month will close with a Gentleman's Dinner with guest speaker Mr David Sheepshanks former Chairman of Ipswich Town Football Club and, current- ly, Chairman of the National Football Training Ground. All in all a busy and highly exciting time in these Traditional, Elegant and Exclusive surroundings.


Eric Flak


Gary Howard is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and founder of Howard & Company.


It's your last chance to use those tax free allowances...


Gary Howard


As the tax year ends on 5 April 2012 it's your last chance to use up a number of tax limits and allowances which cannot be carried over from one tax year to the next. I believe the phrase is "use it or lose it!"


Every individual


has a personal allowance of £7,475 (for 2011/2012) and earnings below this level are not chargeable to tax. If a family member helps out in your business you may want to pay them a wage to help reduce your taxable profits. A wage between £102 and £136 per week will not create a national insurance charge but it will help them gain credits towards state pension and other state benefits.


There is still time to contribute to a registered pension scheme and get tax relief on your contributions. This means for example that you could pay £4,000 into a scheme and the govern- ment would pay £1,000 so that the pension scheme receives a total of £5,000. You can also contribute up to £2,880 net of tax (£3,600 gross) on behalf of your children or grandchil- dren. The fund would be protected from tax charges and I am sure they would thank you when they reach 55!


If you are feeling flush then why not make a gift of £3,000 free of inheri- tance tax before 5 April 2012? If you didn't use this exemption last year then you can make gifts of £6,000 this year. You are also allowed to


make small gifts to the same person of £250 in a year. If there is a wed- ding pending parents can make a gift in consideration of marriage of £5,000. Grandparents can give £2,500 and anyone else £1,000.


Don't forget to take advantage of your ISA investment limit of £10,680. Up to one half of the allowance can be saved in cash with one provider. You can do this with a simple bank trans- fer and save some tax. Both partners have their own allowed limits. The income and capital growth in an ISA is tax free.


If you dispose of an asset you are entitled to a Capital Gains annual exemption of £10,600 (for 2011/2012). You may have a large gain on an investment on paper. It may be possible, particularly with shares, to dispose of just enough to use up your annual exemption and hold on to the remainder. There are special rules for shares preventing you from buying back the shares with- in 30 days (known as bed and break- fasting). After 30 days the share price may have changed.


Are there any young entrepreneurs out there?


I was talking to a colleague last week and we discussed the dire situation our youngsters face in these difficult times. My colleague's son, with a first degree in law, was working in a call centre a long way from his chosen career. If there are any youngsters out there thinking of or have started a business then I would be happy to provide them with some free business coaching until they get established together with a free report on The 8 Lost Secrets of Growing Any Small or Medium-Sized Business. I only have a limited number of places so please get in touch early if you would like to take up my offer.


Contact details: Tel 01284 704363 gary@gmhoward.co.uk


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