30 April 2017 Halesworth & Southwold Community News


READERS may not know that the legal firm of Cross Ram & Co and its precursors have served the town since before 1738. Indeed it’s probable that


CROSS RAM & CO


the firm dates back to the 17th Century and is one of the oldest in the country. Unusually, it has practised from the same site throughout, although the


present handsome building at 18 The Thoroughfare was actually purpose-built by Peter Jermyn in 1820 to create, as was then common, offices on the ground floor and living accommodation above. The building was at least twice


its present size back then, some having been demolished in 1965. Hard to envisage but originally, the gardens stretched right down to the river and included much of the present town park! The firm has ridden waves


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of social change including the move from stool-perching male clerks penning copperplate script with quills to secretaries tapping away on the new-fangled manual typewriters. Of course, nowadays it’s all about the digital age. Dated 1626, this seal of


Charles I relating to land at Bramfield remains in the archives along with many other historical documents Some residents may recall


a time that Halesworth had both Magistrate’s and County Court. This meant that attorneys were expected to ‘multi task’, representing clients in both civil and criminal matters. With these courts long gone, specialisation has become the norm so the firm focuses its expertise on matters of Private and Commercial Development, Conveyancing & Mortgages, Businesses (including shops, public houses and professional practices), Agriculture, Landlord & Tenant (from both sides of the fence), Lasting Powers of Attorney, Wills, Probate & Trusts and associated issues. There will be a chance to take


a guided tour of the building and learn more of its contents and history during the Halesworth Heritage Open Weekend in September. In the meantime, further information about the firm’s fascinating history and professional offerings can be sourced from Cross Ram’s new website: www.crossram.co.uk


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HALESWORTH dementia CARERS’ FUND


FIRSTLY, I am delighted to report an excellent result from our latest film, ‘’Bridget Jones’s Baby’’. This comedy was shown on Wednesday 15th March, and was much enjoyed by all who came and supported us. It was by far the best of the three Bridget Jones films, I think. It was good to see some new faces. Please come again for our future screenings. Thank you to the many who


help support our essential work. As most people know now, every penny raised goes towards providing respite care to families and carers of loved ones with dementia, allowing them some time out for themselves. We also thank Jill with her beautiful greeting cards as well as the Cut and their helpful staff. Last month I wrote that we


hoped to screen the Oscar- winner "Lion" on Wednesday 17th May, but, unfortunately, it


will not be released on dvd soon enough, so we are hopeful for July 19th instead, with ‘’La La Land’’ in September. Instead, we will be showing


a really lovely, true tale ‘A Streetcat named Bob’, I, and several friends have read the book on which it is based and found it very enjoyable. Please come and enjoy it too. As usual, 2.45pm for 3pm at the Cut, alongside our excellent raffle and cards. We are always extremely grateful for donations of raffle prizes. People are so kind keeping us supplied. More next month. May sees the fourth anniversary of our 2013 launch. We are amazed how far we have come, what we have achieved, and the number of families we have helped in these 4 years. More of this next month too. Paddy Flegg, Publicity


Suffolk Wildlife Trust


AT the Southwold Group of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s March meeting Geoff Abbott gave a fascinating illustrated talk on ‘Estuary Wildlife’. He took illustrative examples largely from the estuaries of the Stour, the Orwell, the Deben and the Alde. The tidal aspect of estuaries,


leading to varied and repeatedly changing salinity, results in a habitat where the plant and animal communities are often markedly different from those found elsewhere. Plants have to have ways of coping with the salt and with regular or occasional inundation. We were told how the likes of samphire and spartina are early colonisers of saltmarshes, with sea purslane, sea lavender, thrift, sea aster and other species also finding ways of thriving there. Many of the plants are edible. Many of the birds found


on our estuaries are winter visitors which feed on the invertebrates such as ragworm and snails which live in huge numbers in the mud and on the vegetation in the saltmarshes. The birds varied bill shapes relate to their particular feeding technique. Most waders probe the mud, typical examples being redshank, curlew and avocet. Ducks and geese such as wigeon and brent geese tend to be grazers. Thousands rely on the Suffolk estuaries to get through the winter, with some remaining to breed. Our next meeting, on Thursday 13th April at 7.30pm in St Edmund's Hall, Southwold, is the group AGM followed by a short talk by Matt Gooch, SWT Suffolk Broads Warden. Admission is free. Refreshments, including wine, will be available.


Les Tarver Financial Focus On……..…..Bad Habits


THE late American author H H “Zig” Ziglar said, “All habits start slowly and gradually and before you know you have the habit, the habit has you.” Whether by habit or lethargy, many businesses have chosen one accounting date (quite often the end of the tax year) and then stick almost religiously to it throughout the life of the business. However, for the self-employed


or those in partnership, the choice of the annual accounting date can have profound effects ranging from specifying into which tax year a particularly good or bad year falls (and thus the amount and timing of the tax due), to the allowances available for new capital purchases, to the amount of time you have between the end of the accounting period and the time your Self-Assessment Tax Returns have to be filed. However, you are not required to keep to the same accounting date throughout the life of the business. In fact, reviewing the accounting date every few years can be a particularly healthy thing to do, especially with the curtailing of some tax reliefs in recent years and the introduction of “Making Tax Digital” (see below).


Starting simply, if a sole trader


makes his annual accounts to, say, March 31 each year, he will have 10 months in which to prepare his accounts before any tax is due. However, a trader with a year-end of April 30 has 21 months to do the same task. More importantly, for the trader with a March 31 year-end, if he has a particularly good year he will have almost no time before April 5th to consider


the making of additional pension contributions (which can no longer be carried back). Contrast this with the individual with a year-end of April 30, who has 11 months before the end of the tax year in which to decide whether to invest further. So how easy is it to change


your accounting year? Actually, pretty straight-forward - but it should not be undertaken too often and certainly not without good reason. To change an accounting year-end, largely all that is required is to notify HMRC of the change (which can be undertaken on the annual Tax Return) and draw up the accounts to the new date. There are some additional rules of course and your new accounting period from old to new should not exceed 18 months, you should not have changed accounting date within the previous five years without a very good commercial reason (which obtaining a tax benefit isn’t) and changes of accounting date have no effect when just starting or ceasing a business. When you change accounting


date, the new date forms the end of a notional period of 12 months. Depending on which way you are moving your accounting date (towards or away from April 5th), this can cause some profits to be assessed twice so you ideally want to avoid a very good year when doing this. The double- assessment gives rise to “Overlap Relief” which is then carried forward and is used either when you change date in the opposite direction or when the business ends. There are also special rules to restrict loss relief to that actually incurred and critically you need to be careful if you then end up with two accounting periods (old and new) ending in the same tax year. But if we return to our March


31 trader, if he has a poor year to March 31 2017 and then chooses to switch to a June 30 year end (away from April 5th), drawing up a short period of only three months for the change, the notional 12 month period for 2017/18 as required by HMRC repeats nine months of the poor trading thus depressing his income tax and NIC liabilities for longer. Apart from delaying his income


tax and NIC liabilities, such an approach would also be useful if he were planning to have a one- off source of income separate to


the business. This might include a one-off lump-sum pension payment from a deferred State Pension entitlement, a bonus from an employment or the encashment of a Life Assurance bond which, if added to a good trading year, could push him into the next tax bracket, trigger a reclaim of Child Benefit or even cost his personal allowances. Conversely, changing your Accounting Date towards April 5th instead of away from the end of the tax year, you could accelerate loss relief to be offset against other income or capital gains, utilise Overlap relief or obtain relief for asset purchases sooner. To add to complications is the introduction of the new “Making Tax Digital” (MTD) which will be discussed in greater depth in a future article. These new rules from HMRC broadly require businesses and landlords who have turnover above £10,000 to make quarterly returns of three- monthly income based on your year-end. For example, if you have an April 30 year-end, your Returns will be July 30, October, January and April. MTD will come into force from April 6 2018 (under current plans as at the time of writing) with a staggered start and will apply to the first annual accounting year that starts after this date. Therefore, someone accounting with an April 5 year-end (which starts on April 6 2018) will have to join into MTD nearly a whole year before someone who accounts to March 31 annually (which starts on April 1 2019). MTD adds


further


complications to those with multiple source income – for example those with both self- employment and rental income. Landlords are currently unable to change from an April 5 year end as they are assessed on a tax year. Therefore, if you are also self-employed and account to February 28 (for example), under current rules, you will be presented with the mind-blowing bureaucracy of having to make two sets of quarterly returns under MTD – one set for your business on February 28, May, August and November and another set for your rental income on April 5, July, October and January (plus of course your annual accounts and Tax Returns). In this example, as you cannot move your rental accounts’ year-end, it


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would make sense to reduce your MTD compliance by moving your business year-end to either April 5 or to another one of the “landlord” quarterly accounting dates that will already be required and thus remove the obligation to file eight quarterly returns rather than four. (Alternative suggestions might also include considering the merits of moving the rental income into a spouse’s name - especially if the rental income by itself is less than £10,000). Again, more on this later


MTD is therefore an opportunity to tidy your year-end, not least to either reduce your administration by making your VAT quarters line up with your MTD ones (if VAT registered) or try to avoid an MTD quarter falling during a particularly bad annual period (such as harvest or other annual personal or business events) or to reduce the double-reporting requirements. However, purely changing your year-end to delay the introduction of MTD should not be undertaken lightly. In order to delay a one-off introduction of additional HMRC administration by 11 months you may trigger an increase in tax due (by having a good year assessed twice), or using your “once every five years” opportunity. There is no “one-size fits all” advice with either changing your year- end or the introduction of MTD (again see a future article on this matter) and professional advice is strongly recommended Whilst the mathematics involved in determining the benefits of changing your annual accounting date can be tortuous and complicated, by considering breaking your regular accounting habit, there could be substantial benefits to be had. Just don’t rush into doing it. For further information on


any of the above points or to discuss your tax affairs generally, please contact Robin Beadle at Ensors Chartered Accountants, Saxmundham, on 01728 603005. This article seeks to address


general business and financial issues and due care has been taken in its preparation. Ensors cannot accept responsibility for loss incurred by any person, company or entity as a result of acting, or failing to act, on any material in this publication. Specialist advice should always be sought in relation to your particular circumstances.


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