Newsletter #150 - Pre-Budget Report 2008, How to build a DIY digital marketing plan, Ensure business success with good money habits, Guide to the redundancy procedure for small companies, Jail threat if you allow staff to be hurt in 2009

In this week's Business121:

1. Pre-Budget Report 2008
2. How to build a DIY digital marketing plan
3. Ensure business success by developing good money habits
4. 20 Essential international body language tips
5. Guide to the redundancy procedure for small companies
6. Jail threat if you allow staff to be hurt in 2009

Small Business News

7. Pre-Budget Report: Tax cuts now, but we'll pay later say accountants
8. Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) Rates 2009/10 and 2010/11
9. Household spending falls fastest since 1995
10. Brown accused of 'secret VAT bombshell'

Pre-Budget Report 2008

Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget Report contained a raft of announcements of concern to small business owners. Here are the main points affecting small businesses;

1. The main rate of Value Added Tax will, from December 1st, be reduced from 17.5% to 15% until the end of 2009.

2. Deferral of the increase in the small companies' rate of corporation tax. The rate will stay at 21% from April, instead of rising to 22%.

3. National Insurance rates will increase by 0.5% from 2011 - for both employers and employees.

4. A 45% rate income tax band will apply to salaries of £150,000 and above from after the next General Election.

5. The £120 rebate for basic rate taxpayers - introduced after the "10% rate fiasco", will remain and will be increased to £145 from April 2009.

6. The so-called "income shifting" legislation will not, after all, be included in the Finance Act 2009.

7. A new Small Business Finance Scheme to support up to £1 billion of bank lending; a separate £1 billion guarantee facility to support bank lending to small exporters; a £50 million fund to convert businesses’ debt into equity; and a £25 million regional loan transition fund.

8. Introduction of a new HMRC Business Payment Support Service to allow businesses in temporary financial difficulty to pay their HMRC tax bills on a timetable they can afford.

9. Changes to the taxation of foreign profits - including the introduction of a foreign dividend exemption for large and medium-sized businesses, supported by a worldwide debt cap on interest.

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How to build a DIY digital marketing plan
The internet is without a doubt the most exciting marketing opportunity your business will ever have. It's never before been possible to reach so many people with so little money or effort. The UK economy may be in a bad state – but for those of us who invest our time and energy into smart online marketing, we have the best possible tool to beat this downturn.

You can either employ a marketing agency to help you to leverage digital marketing channels, or, with a bit of help from Bytestart you can put together your own DIY digital marketing plan.

Ensure business success by developing good money habits
Whatever your business does, the purpose of it is simple: to do it at a profit. That's the whole point of business. Even if you run a not for profit organisation, you still need to make a profit to reinvest.

While the point of business may be to make a profit, staying in business is all about cash flow. Run out of money and there is no business, simple as that. Most businesses that go under do so not because they aren't profitable, but because they run out of cash. Here are some good money habits to help ensure the financial success of your small business.

20 Essential international body language tips
There are so many ways we can give off the 'wrong' signal, or an inappropriate one. Here are 20 valuable tips on getting it right - especially when doing business overseas.

Guide to the redundancy procedure for small companies
The sad fact is that many small companies will have to consider making some staff redundant at this time. Redundancy is a potentially fair reason to dismiss an employee, but it is vital that you get this procedure right as failure to do so could result in an unfair dismissal claim at the employment tribunal. Here's what you need to know about the redundancy procedure.

Jail threat if you allow staff to be hurt in 2009
From January 2009 there will be much stricter punishments for breaches of The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008. Changes to the law mean that individuals, such as managers and company directors, deemed to be at fault can be individually liable.

Punishments can include jail sentences of up to two years for individuals found to be at blame, so you could go to jail if an employee is hurt or killed while working for you.

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

Pre-Budget Report 2008: Tax cuts now, but we'll pay later say accountants
Following today's Pre-Budget Report, leading accountancy body - the ACCA, has warned that the country will be subjected to large tax hikes in the future in order to pay for cuts today.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) Rates 2009/10 and 2010/11
The Chancellor announced in his 2008 Pre-Budget Report that over the next two years - April 2009 and April 2010, there will be major reforms to the Vehicle Excise Duty regime. The article provides an overview of the changes, together with the new rates.

Household spending falls fastest since 1995
Economy shrinks by 0.5% in third quarter, new figures confirm, with retailers feeling pain as consumers cut budgets.

Brown accused of 'secret VAT bombshell'
David Cameron accused the Government of "planning a secret tax bombshell" after official documents disclosed that ministers prepared to increase VAT to 18.5 per cent after the next election.

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

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