It is quite common to invoice a customer with terms of “30 days or net monthly account”. Small customers will be expected to pay within 30 days, while large customers will be expected to pay at the end of the month following the month of the invoice, so an invoice sent in October would be settled by 30 November 2016. Large companies do it this way because they may receive several invoices from a supplier, and will want to settle all of them with one payment when they do their computerised cheque run. It would therefore be a good idea for the supplier to have sent a statement at the start of November listing all outstanding invoices. Typically the cheque run would be about the 24th to the 26th of the month. If you give credit and have debts to collect, then you might like to have a discussion with local accountants such as us.
Archives for November 2016
Value Added Tax deadline on 7 December 2016
Value Added Tax returns for the quarter ended 31 October 2016 are due to be submitted by 7 December 2016, and any payment which is due should be made electronically by the same date.
Time to see an Accountant
If you know that you need to fill in a tax return for the year ended 5 April 2016, then you should have done something by the end of October 2016. This is either to submit a paper tax return, or to see an accountant. Carlisle accountants David Porthouse and Co can help here.
You need to submit a tax return if you were sent one by the Revenue, or if you had any income they don’t know about, or if you were self-employed at any time, or if you had any capital gains.
Late Night Shopping 2016
Late Night Shopping in Carlisle will start on Thursday 17 November 2016 and continue each Thursday until 22 December. Christmas Lights will be switched on in Carlisle City Centre in an event between 1.00 and 5.30 pm on Sunday 20 November 2016.
Companies with a 29 February 2016 year end
Employer Payment Summary by 19 November 2016
Sometimes when you are an employer, you might have happened to have made no wage or salary payments at all for a PAYE month such as the month from 6 October to 5 November 2016, in which case you must submit electronically an Employer Payment Summary as a NIL return by 19 November. This is too easy to overlook.
If you engage an accountant or a payroll bureau to do your wages, then this will be taken care of. In our case we keep a diary and do a batch of payrolls at about the same time each month. Our payroll files are bright yellow like the P30BC booklet so we do not overlook them.
Aberdeen Businessman does well
May we congratulate Mr Trump, the well-known property magnate and golf-course owner, whom we understand has done rather well for himself in the colonies.
Referendum or Plebiscite
What is the difference in meaning between a referendum and a plebiscite? Around the world these terms can be used interchangeably, or they may have specific meanings. In another country which began with English Common Law, namely Australia, a referendum is binding but a plebiscite is not. It is suggested that this usage be adopted here in the UK.
The Alternative Vote Referendum held in 2011 was indeed a referendum under this terminology. Had there been a “Yes” vote, then section 9 of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 would have come into effect at once, without further reference to Parliament. The vote on the European Union held this year was simply a plebiscite. There is nothing resembling section 9 in the Referendum Act 2015, which of course should have been titled the Plebiscite Act 2015 to make it clear.
This may be incompetent draughting. Such draughting does happen if we recall rubbish like non-corporate distribution tax. However, this cannot be remedied by use of the Royal Prerogative. It is up to Parliament to sort it out. Had Parliament intended the use of royal powers, it would have specified something like section 9 in the 2015 Act, presumably with an authority to make an Order in Council.
The Referendum Act 2015
This Act does not actually offer any definition of what a “referendum” is! Is it just a straw poll? Who does it bind? We are not told. There is a vague reference to a Statutory Instrument, so presumably we need one of these in order just to interpret the Act now that we know the outcome of the Referendum.
A Statutory Instrument is like a micro Act of Parliament, and it needs to be approved by both Houses to be effective. Presumably it would authorise the Government to give notice under Article 50 by means of an Order in Council at a date of the Government’s choosing. This looks like the correct procedure we should be following now, and it is a wonder that our Prime Minister and our Lord Chancellor are not actually pursuing it so we can get on with it and stop dithering.
The Referendum Act might have authorised the Government to proceed with an Order in Council without the need for a Statutory Instrument, but it did not do so, and our judges cannot second-guess the supposed intentions of Parliament. Maybe this is a poor job by the parliamentary draughtsmen, and poor preparation by the Lord Chancellor, but this is what we are stuck with. Invoking a naked Royal Prerogative sets a precedent for a future highly streamlined referendum or plebiscite followed by the Royal Prerogative which entirely bypasses Parliament, which is something to be avoided. The outcome of this Referendum was foreseeable, there was no emergency situation, and therefore use of the bare Royal Prerogative is inappropriate. An Order in Council is like a legitimate use of the Royal Prerogative authorised by Parliament, and is often used in this way. If however Parliament omitted to authorise an Order in Council, then that is just what it has done.
Personally I voted for Brexit and would not pay a penny to the EU until they start getting clean audit reports. Some negotiation is possible, but not at any price. However, we do have laws in this country and we ought to follow them! Let’s hope that in the future Brexit means a return to some correspondence between laws being enacted and laws being uniformly and fairly applied.
CIS Returns to 5 November 2016
Construction Industry Scheme returns for the period from 6 October to 5 November 2016 should be submitted online by 19 November. This includes NIL returns.
It is too easy to forget the need to submit a NIL return when no payments to subcontractors have been made. If you engage an accountant to do your CIS returns, then this will be taken care of. In our case we keep a diary and do a batch of work at about the same time each month.