As we head towards the end of another financial year it's time to consider what's on the horizon for small businesses like you and me, and how much Ryman's makes on those portable metal file holders we keep all our paperwork in.
First off, there's a budget coming up, which always means a flurry of activity for me as I update all the handouts for our business skills training.
This year promises to be handout hell, as this budget will also be the last before a general election. The chances of some kind of emergency budget afterwards are high. Two budgets! Will my laser printer be able to cope?
Recent trainees will know I've been trying to re-invent my 'tax bathtub'® - the graphic disaster that is my attempt to show income tax in visual form.
The bathtub for 2010-11 has needed re-plumbing to allow for the new top rate of 50% for income over £150,000. But it also needs to spring a leak at the right moment to start wiping out the personal allowance once you have over £100,000 of taxable income.
It's not pretty, graphic-wise. (And all this just to represent the top 2% of UK earners.)
We've known about this for months now. So is there likely to be anything new in the pre-election budget?
Probably no more surprises. Mr Darling has no money to play around with and won't want to frighten the horses before we all go to the polls.
So what might happen when we've had the election and frightening horses is back on the agenda?
One view is that VAT may go up - to 19% or 20%. This is because VAT is one of the two main ways the Treasury collects our money, the other being income tax.
The 50% top rate of tax will probably stay for a while, whoever gets in. Watch someone reduce it just before the election after this one, in a vote-attracting gesture.
More likely: the point at which people pay taxes will not move up in line with inflation. In other words the thresholds will stay much the same, slowly putting more people into higher tax bands as their income rises slightly.
For those of us who are limited companies the Tories say they would reduce the small biz rate from 21% to 20%, and the mainstream rate from 28% to 25%. Keep an eye out for any pronouncements from other parties, but don't hold your breath.
Whatever happens, you'll get all the latest on forthcoming courses, and via the accompanying downloads on our site. And don't forget there is free stuff on the site as well if we don't see you on one of our workshops.
Happy Easter!
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