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Every article from your latest print edition of CA Magazine

August 2008

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Editor's Desk: LITtle local difficulties

Robert Outram finds that the SNP's plan to replace council tax with a local income tax leaves a lot of questions unanswered

In my view: IASB comes to the crunch

Sir David Tweedie looks at how the international accounting standard-setter is moving into a new phase against the background of the credit crunch

President: Will good intentions go crunch?

Glenn Allison wonders whether tough economic times pose a threat to corporate social responsibility programmes

Experts warn on local income tax

Consultation on controversial laws to replace council tax in Scotland with a local income tax has closed, and despite concerns from a range of professional and business bodies, the Scottish National Party administration in Holyrood insists that its proposals will get the support of the majority of voters

Compensation call for Equitable Life victims

Ministers should set up a compensation fund for policyholders in Equitable Life, Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary Ombudsman says

Mills to chair watchdog

Dame Barbara Mills is to take over the chair of the Professional Oversight Board, replacing Sir John Bourne, who earlier this year announced that he is to step down from the role after serving more than two full terms

Credit crunch hits companies

Companies are finding it harder to raise the funds they need as the impact of the credit crunch spreads into the corporate sector, a survey of finance directors at large UK companies has found

FRC issues Combined Code update

The Financial Reporting Council has issued an updated version of the Combined Code on Corporate Governance for listed companies on the London Stock Market

Two firms merge into Haines Watts

The Edinburgh practice of top 20 accountancy firm Haines Watts has merged with Benson & Co and Hodgson & Co

ITEM club warns of battle against slump

Ernst & Young's economic think tank, the ITEM Club, warns that the 'toxix mixture' of a moribund credit market and volatile oil prices will ensure a tough time ahead

MACo links up with AS Fisher

Glasgow accountants and business advisers AS Fisher & Co have merged into Martin Aitken & Co to create the city's largest mid-tier accountancy firm

NAPF warns of fresh final salary threat

Controversial proposals to radically alter pensions accounting could double the liabilities reported by some schemes and risk more defined benefits schemes closing to new members, according to the National Association of Pension Funds

Big Issue chief is honoured

Ian MacArthur CA, group managing director of the Big Issue, has been named Social Entrepreneur of the Year in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards for London and the South East

Top four win social accolade

The Big Four firms have all been awarded the Community Mark award by Business in the Community for their continued investment in the local community

Disciplinary body drops Wakeham case

The accountancy profession's Joint Disciplinary Scheme (JDS) has opted not to take action against Lord Wakeham for his role as a non-executive director and member of the audit committee at Enron when it collapsed

Tax credit '£1.5bn overpaid'

The public spending watchdog has refused to sign off the accounts of Revenue & Customs for the sixth successive year after discovering that as much as £1.5 billion may have been overpaid in tax credits

Office Auntie

I'm unfairly ignored

Shedding light on a powerful savings plan

Scottish businesses are wasting around £660,000 a day because of energy inefficiency, according to the Carbon Trust

'Tache task

Leading private equity players donned fake 'taches to launch an entry for the TacheBack campaign, urging the industry to grow a moustache in September and help raise £300,000 to fight prostate and testicular cancer on behalf of the Everyman Marie Curie Campaign

CA lends hand on Lourdes trip

CA and ICAS Council member Adriene Airlie is now home after a 'wonderful' week's trip to Lourdes in France with a group of special needs and handicapped children and their helpers

Good month, Bad month

Lord Wakeham and Andy Hornby

A nose for lying CVs

The good news for snobs is that fewer people from top universities lie on application forms for City jobs

Travel

A round up of the latest business travel news

Letters

This month's letters: Dangers to small firms of FRS17 on accounting for pension scheme deficits

CSR: No kidding

Never mind the formulaic corporate social responsibility annual statement. Taking it seriously can do wonders for PR and staff morale, writes Richard Goslan – not to mention the environment and the community

Making a difference environmentally

Property management companies might not be typical candidates when it comes to promoting corporate social responsibility activities, compared with multi-nationals talking up their beneficial schemes around the world

The big reveal

How much companies say in their corporate social responsibility reports is entirely up to them, but as pressure rises to make them worthwhile, one suggestion is that accountants should vet them

Private crunch?

Research by the accountancy giant Deloitte shows the very rich may not be getting the service they want from high-end financial managers

Weathering the storm

One thing they agree on is that it depends on the investor's risk attitude, but a range of big players in the investment advice field offer diverse advice on the best ways to manage a portfolio in the face of the financial squalls or, as one of our panel notes, what the Chinese proverb would call 'interesting times'

Blow the economic myths

Alan Steel takes a tilt at the financial doomsayers who wield unhelpful statistics and regurgitate unsubstantiated gloom to spread misery via media that relish a bad news story

Moving away

The non-doms who face the £30,000 fee to avoid UK tax on overseas income have not rushed for the departure lounges, but Andrew Beach finds many experts fear it could drastically reduce London's - and the UK's - attractiveness in future

The spinning wheel

If investment is a gamble, advisers can make the outcome more predictable and less risky by careful balancing of asset classes

A-day advantage

It has been all change in the field of self-invested personal pensions since the big shake up in 2006. Jack McVitie looks at some of the opportunities and how to make the most of them

Spread the benefits

Wall Street, or any other type of investment, is fundamentally a gamble, and financial spread betting makes that explicit. But Anthony Harrington finds that it can have a legitimate place in an investment strategy

City Column: Rule change short on logic

Angus McCrone believes hasty Stock Exchange action affecting investors who gamble on share price falls is ill thought-out and could be unworkable

Interview: Sandy Manson

From his North of Scotland roots, Sandy Manson has built Johnston Carmichael, where he is chief executive, up to be Scotland's top independent accountancy firm

Watching them, watching you

The power of Internet search engines can be used by intruders to hack into company data. Alan Woodward offers a warning and suggests solutions to the problem

Big money games

Will the huge sums being spent on the 2012 Olympics – and the smaller quantities to be paid for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games – all go to big business?

Question time

Mark Lloydbottom asks whether your firm's time is well spent in terms of client service - in meetings or on run-of-the-mill work in the office

Treasury consultation call over tax on foreign profits

The Treasury has provided an update on the review of the taxation of foreign profits

Vodafone case judge rules that UK law on CFCs is unenforceable

The High Court has issued its judgment in Vodafone's controlled foreign companies (CFC) case.

Pay concession

HMRC has clarified its position on the application of residence rules to employment-related securities earnings but says legislation is a possibility

'Repayment' fraud alert

HMRC has updated warnings on scams aimed at persuading taxpayers to complete a form revealing their bank or credit card details on the pretext that a tax will be repaid directly into their bank account

MIke Clasper is new chair of HMRC

Mike Clasper, formerly chief executive of BAA and latterly operational managing director at Terra Firma Capital Partners, has been appointed chair of HMRC from 1 August

Foreign dividend error to be put right

In her speech announcing the third reading of the Finance Bill, the Financial Secretary Jane Kennedy MP said that because of an oversight, the rules for giving double tax relief on foreign income were not altered to reflect the reduction in the corporation tax rate

Draft fund management fees law published

Following the JP Morgan Fleming Claverhouse Trust case concerning the VAT treatment of some fund management services, HMRC has published draft law, an explanatory memorandum and some draft guidance on how the judgment will be put into effect

Refurbishment VAT victory for gallery

Whitechapel Art Gallery, a charity, has succeeded in its appeal to the VAT Tribunal over the application of the Lennartz principle to the refurbishment of a building to be used for both business and non-business purposes

High Court rejects tax avoidance appeal

The High Court in London has dismissed appeals by two sample participants in a tax avoidance scheme based on the definition of relevant discounted securities which, if successful, would have generated losses of £156m in 2001-02

Penalties confirmed for mistakes by foreign firms in VAT claims

It has been made clear that HMRC's new penalty system applying to errors in tax returns and other documents also applies to Eighth and 13th Directive refund claims

Striving for a better tax law

Donald Drysdale backs a suggestion from the former Tory Chancellor, Lord Howe, for a Government department to reform and reduce UK tax law

Financing plan

The FRC has revealed how it hopes to follow the Government's call fr it to be funded by participants

ASB sets out draft reporting standards

The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has issued a Financial Reporting Exposure Draft (FRED) of Improvements to Financial Reporting Standards

Guidance on deals to limit audit liability

The Financial Reporting Council has published guidance on the use of agreements between companies and their auditors to limit the auditor's liability, as provided for under the Companies Act 2006

Credit union consultation

The Auditing Practices Board has published a consultation draft of Practice Note (PN) 27, the audit of credit unions in the United Kingdom. The consultation period ends on 25 September

CAs asked to help with commentary research

ICAS members are being asked to help research aimed at understanding the 'expectations gap' between users and preparers of management commentary in reports and accounts and related audit assurance

Pensions wind-up assistance

Following consultation, the Pensions Regulator has published guidance to help trustees of occupational pension schemes meet Government expectations that key wind up activities are completed within two years, an approach broadly welcomed by industry

Cash is king

Paul Hally suggests some legal strategies for making sure that cash flow continues strong in difficult economic conditions

Planning for a new tax

James Aitken and Stuart Brodie examine the options for Scotland now that planning gain taxation has been recognised as a devolved issue

Community values

Companies that can show that they are of particular value to the community can bene?t from special status that makes them easy to set up and ensures assets and earnings are not misused

‘Wide concerns’ over SNP tax plan

Large areas of uncertainty remain over the Scottish Government’s proposals to replace council tax with a local income tax (LIT), according to ICAS

Insolvency practitioners face another pensions pitfall

CA Conference: “Making Sense of the Future” Venue: Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire Cost: £550 + VAT For further details Reform including Entrepreneurs' Relief Speaker: James Nelson, Nelson & Co Venue: Merchant's Hall, assets in the pension scheme to cover Pension Protection Fund levels of compensation The Pension Protection Fund must be told if a business with a company pension scheme fails

Teddy Boyd: An appreciation

Teddy Boyd, who died in March aged 79, was regarded as one of the most talented accountants of his generation, writes his son, Richard Boyd

Business mileage plea

Mileage expenses for business travel in employees’ own vehicles need to be increased signi?cantly, ICAS says, to reflect additional costs arising from higher road tax, higher fuel costs and, for larger cars, greatly increased depreciation as a result of changes in government policy

Pensions differences

Fundamental differences of opinion among ICAS members suggest that it may be very dif?cult to arrive at a ?nancial reporting standard on pensions that satis?es all stakeholders

Make sense of the future at Gleneagles

Bookings are coming in for the CA Conference, to be held at the Gleneagles Hotel on 3 and 4 September

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