Attack On Self-Employed In Budget 2017!

In his first Budget on 8th March, the new Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced that he would  level the playing field between employees and the self-employed by increasing Class 4 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from 9% to 10% from 6 April 2018 and then to 11% from 6 April 2019. His justification is that the self-employed are now entitled to more generous state benefits than in the past and thus NIC rate should be increased towards the 12% Class 1 NIC employee rate.
Note that the flat rate Class 2 NIC contributions, currently £2.80 a week, cease on 5 April 2018.

The chancellor stated that only the self-employed with profits in excess of £16,250 will pay more national insurance.

Tax Free Dividend Allowance To Be Reduced To £2,000

The Chancellor also announced measures to limit the rise in tax-driven incorporation. The £5,000 tax free dividend allowance introduced by George Osborne will be reduced to just £2,000 from 6 April 2018. Mr Hammond claimed that many smaller owner-managed businesses have incorporated as limited companies mainly for tax reasons. Typically the director/shareholders of such businesses have paid themselves in dividends and paid less tax than similar unincorporated businesses.

Currently, once the dividend allowance has been used the remaining dividends are taxed at 7.5%, 32.5% and then 38.1% depending upon whether the dividends fall into the basic rate band, higher rate band or the additional rate. There are rumours that these dividend rates may also be increased in future years.

Although the cut in the tax-free dividend allowance is clearly aimed at owner managed companies, it will also impact on those with substantial share portfolios. Mr Hammond reminded us in his speech that the annual ISA investment limit increases to £20,000 from 6 April 2017 and that dividends on shares held within an ISA continue to be tax free.

Start Of Digital Reporting Delayed For Smaller Businesses

The Government is committed to the "Making Tax Digital" (MTD) project which is scheduled to start in April 2018 with the first quarterly updates being submitted by the self-employed and property landlords in July 2018.

Many business owners, professional advisors and the Treasury select committee had

expressed concerns about the timescale for the introduction of MTD. The Chancellor announced that there will be a one year deferral in the start date to 2019 for self-employed businesses and property landlords with gross income below the VAT registration limit.

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How to Manage Business Mistakes?

No matter what type of business you run, mistakes will happen. All employees make mistakes. However, the key to resolving the situation when things don’t go to plan is to manage your team and the actions they take, effectively.

When things go wrong, stop and analyse the situation. How big is the mistake? Is it one that should not have been made but can be rectified? Or did it cost your company hundreds of thousands of pounds?

If a team member makes a mistake, hopefully they will own up to it. If not, you may have to raise the issue with them. The key at this point is to communicate clearly and in a professional manner. There is no point getting angry and shouting at people. Instead you should outline your expectations.

Discuss the mistake with your team member and ask them what they think they can do to rectify the situation. Outline that the most important thing right now is to come up with an effective remedy rather than pointing out whose fault it was.

If the mistake is a one-off occurrence, you should outline to your team member that the main thing is to learn from the experience in order to avoid it happening again. If the team member in question has made various mistakes in the past and it is becoming a regular issue, then perhaps it is time to consider getting HR involved. Maybe the individual is making regular mistakes because they aren’t properly qualified for their job or perhaps they just aren’t suited to their current role.

As a manager, you should think about what type of leader you are and what you want to accomplish. Do you want your team members to be scared of you or do you want to encourage them and support their actions? As a manager you can’t be their friend but you can be supportive. A supportive manager will use mistakes as a learning opportunity for the team.

If your firm's current culture for handling mistakes is not one that encourages learning or growth, it might be time to update your strategy. The best modern businesses use mistakes as an opportunity to step back, look at a process and find a better way of doing things. This type of approach helps to identify best practice, minimise the chances of similar mistakes happening again and may even create a better, more efficient way of managing parts of the business.

Skype Translator

Skype Translator allows users to talk to people anywhere in the world with real time translation.

Skype has designed the system in order to break down language barriers between friends, family and colleagues.

Recently, Skype has expanded the availability of its real-time translation feature, integrating the tool with calls made to mobile phones and landlines.

Previously, the translation feature, which began rolling out to users back in 2014, only worked for Skype-to-Skype calls.

Skype Translator supports over 50 languages. The system works best with headphones and a microphone and it helps if users speak as clearly as possible. As you or your contact speaks, it will be translated in your headphones and the translations will also appear on your screen.

In order to use Skype Translator, users will need some (paid for) Skype credits. To enable the translation functionality, users must select a contact then select the translator icon and turn translator on.

Finally, it is necessary to select the language for translation using the drop down next to your contact’s name, while in a call or instant messaging / chat.

When the person on the other side answers a call that is using Skype Translator, they’ll be played a message telling them the call is being recorded and translated. The rest of the call will take place with short delays while waiting for the conversation to be translated.

The system is good but it is not perfect. Skype uses automatic translation powered by deep learning systems, which are designed to improve over time.

As the technology develops, the errors will gradually reduce but in the meantime, it is a good compromise and it’s certainly better than not having any conversation at all.