14 NEWS


MARKET TRADER, FEBRUARY 2 - 15, 2018


The Darwin £10 note is almost extinct... are you ready?


After March 1 this year the new polymer note featuring Jane Austen will be the only £10 note with legal tender status (Photo: Bank of England)


The Bank of England will wi thdraw legal tender status of the paper £10 note featuring Charles Darwin at 23:59 on Thursday March 1, 2018. With just weeks to go, all


businesses that handle cash need to plan and prepare for the change. After March 1 this year


businesses and the public will no longer have to accept the Darwin £10 note as payment or in change, and the new polymer note featuring Jane Austen will be the only £10 note with legal tender status. The Bank of England is


encouraging retailers and businesses to follow the steps outlined in the checklist below ahead of the March 1 deadline.


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Checklist: How to prepare your business


• Clear out your safes. Start banking your paper £10 notes now.


• Update your machines. Ensure you know which cash handling machines are being operated by


your business and check whether an adaptation is required with your supplier.


• Check your note supply arrangement with your bank to understand whether they will continue to accept paper £10 notes after the withdrawal date.


• Train your staff. An A4 poster is available to download or order free of charge to support staff training on withdrawal. It can also be displayed in the shop front.


• Manage your customers’ expectations. If you have not been able to adapt your machines before the note is withdrawn, have a process in place so that customers can exchange old notes if they are dispensed in change.


Keep up to date with the


latest information about polymer banknotes, and other banknote news, by registering at: www.bankofengland. co.uk/banknotes/Pages/


subscribe, or email Banknote. Enquiries@bankofengland. co.uk. Some banks and building


societies may accept paper £10 notes after March 1, 2018, but this is at their own discretion. The Bank of England will continue to exchange Darwin £10 notes for all time, as it would for any other Bank of England note which no longer has legal tender status. The current Darwin £10


note was first issued on November 7, 2000. As at January 5, 2018, around 70 percent of £10 notes in circulation were polymer £10 notes, and around 257 million paper £10 notes are currently still in circulation. The paper notes returned


to the Bank of England to be destroyed will be recycled using a composting treatment , and the end product is used as a soil improver for agriculture. Bank of England banknotes


retain their value for all time and can be exchanged in person or by post.


Excuses and claims


Every year, following the January 31 Self Assessment deadline, HM Revenue and Customs receives a number of imaginative and intriguing excuses for not completing tax returns on time. Each year also sees some


widely optimistic expense claims.


Recent excuses include:


• I couldn’t file my return on time as my wife has been seeing aliens and won’t let me enter the house.


• I’ve been far too busy touring the country with my one-man play.


• My ex-wife left my tax return upstairs, but I suffer from vertigo and can’t go upstairs to retrieve it.


• My business doesn’t really do anything.


• I spilt coffee on it. SS002404 SF MARKET TRADERS AD 262X370 AW.indd 1 30/11/2017 15:20 As well as the excuses,


HMRC also receives some questionable items which taxpayers have tried to claim as expenses: • A three-piece suite for my partner to sit on when I’m doing my accounts.


• Birthday drinks at a Glasgow nightclub.


• Vet fees for a rabbit. • Hotel room service – for candles and Prosecco.


• £4.50 for sausage and chips meal expenses for 250 days.


The excuses and expenses


listed above were all rejected. Angel a Ma cDona ld,


HMRC director general of customer services, said: “Each year we’re making it easier and more intuitive for our customers to complete their tax return, but each


year we still come across some questionable excuses, whether that’s blaming a busy touring schedule or seeing aliens. “However, help will always


be provided for those who have a genuine excuse for not submitting their return on time. “We also receive absurd


expense claims, from vet fees for a rabbit to room service at a hotel. “It is unfair to make honest


taxpayers pick up the bill for other people’s spurious claims, so HMRC will only accept sincere claims such as legitimate expenses for a job”. Anyone who has missed


the January 31 deadline is advised get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible. “The earlier we’re contacted, the more help we can offer,” advised Ms MacDonald.


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