Newsletter #134 - New tax bands confirmed, 10 Tips for securing debt recovery, Are you better off using your own vehicle or a company car?, 21 killer ideas to get free publicity

In this week's Business121:

1. Changes to personal allowance and higher rate tax band confirmed
2. Late Payment - Top Ten Tips for securing debt recovery
3. Contractors and Freelancers - How to avoid late paying clients
4. Company Cars - are you better off using your own vehicle?
5. 21 killer ideas to get free publicity for your business
6. 7 Ways to check your story idea is newsworthy

Small Business News

7. Entrepreneurs remain optimistic despite economic downturn
8. Small companies urged to review finances as bank lending tightens
9. Business administration numbers down on Q1 2008, but up on 2007
10. Recession nears as service sector shrinks for third month

Changes to personal allowance and higher rate tax band confirmed

HMRC has confirmed that - in an attempt to rectify the damage done by the ill-conceived abolition of the 10% tax band earlier this year - changes to the personal allowance and higher rate band for income tax will take effect from 7th September 2008.

Although the changes will take effect from 7th September, these changes are effectively backdated to the start of the 2008/9 tax year.

The result of the whole shambolic affair is that the 2008/9 tax free personal allowance will now be £6,035 - an increase of £810 on the 2007/8 tax year and £600 more than the Chancellor had initially pencilled in for this tax year.

To ensure that higher rate taxpayers don't benefit from this increase, the higher rate tax band (40%) will now start at £34,800 - just £200 more than the 2007/8 tax year and £1200 less than originally planned for this tax year.

If you are running a limited company and take the bulk of your income as dividends, you might want to amend your annual salary to £6,035 to take full advantage of your revised tax free allowance for this tax year.

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Late Payment - Top Ten Tips for securing debt recovery
Small and medium sized businesses continue to be hard hit by the worsening late payment climate - a worrying by-product of the "credit crunch". With late payments resulting in debt recovery problems here are ten top tips to help you to get what's due to you.

Contractors and Freelancers - How to avoid late paying clients
There has been much talk recently about freelancers and contractors struggling to get their invoices paid by the agencies or end clients. Here are some expert tips to make sure you get paid on time, and sound advice on how to tackle late paying clients.

For dozens more guides, articles and tips on all matters relating to business cash flow visit the Cash Flow section of our website.

Company Cars - are you better off using your own vehicle?
Many business owners and accountant's advice alike, would be - if you'll excuse the pun - to "steer away from having company cars", but in view of today's economic climate and spiraling fuel costs it's well worth spending a little time making the comparisons. This guide will help you work out whether you are better off having a company car, or using your own vehicle.

Have you ever wondered how some businesses get lots more press coverage than others? If you'd like to get your fair share of free publicity, start with these guides;

21 killer ideas to get free publicity for your business
Promoting your business with free publicity is a great way to drum up business. Being featured regularly in the newspapers and magazines your target audience reads, will help to increase the awareness of your product and, in turn, boost sales. Here are 21 killer ideas you can use get your fair share of free publicity.

7 Ways to check your story idea is newsworthy
The hardest thing about getting free publicity is coming up with a great story idea in the first place. Creating press releases and selling the idea to journalists is easy when you have with a fantastic idea to drive their interest. So before you start writing a press release, use these 7 easy ways to check that your story idea is newsworthy.

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

Entrepreneurs remain optimistic despite economic downturn
You can't go a day without mention of the "credit crunch" in the media. But despite the gloomy outlook for the economy, a recent study suggests that over half of all small business owners have no intention of changing their expansion plans.

Small companies urged to review finances as bank lending tightens
Small companies are being urged to review their finances. With banks' cash balances falling, there are concerns bank support could soon start drying up, leaving cash strapped businesses stranded.

Business administration numbers down on Q1 2008, but up on 2007
The business advisory firm, Deloitte, has announced its analysis of last quarter's business administration figures - which are down slightly on Q1 2008, but still up overall compared to the same time last year.

Recession nears as service sector shrinks for third month
The Times reports that Britain is a step closer to recession as gloomy figures from the services sector suggested the economy has ground to a halt while manufacturing output fell more sharply than expected.

** For the latest Small Business News, visit http://www.Bytestart.co.uk **

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