Regardless of who’s fault it is, and no matter what the collective Finance ministers vote to do in order to help other struggling counties (Greece, Spain and Portugal, I am looking at you), the worlds finances are still in trouble.

All countries have massive public debt.  In the UK, the government is still continuing to borrow more from the debt pot than we repay despite all the corrective measures.  At the end of the day, it can only be repaid from one source – us.  Jo Public.  You and Me.

At each budget review, taxes change in terms of what is allowed, what must be paid, what can be claimed and of course, what your company has to pay.  In order to pay off the debt faster, each budget will get tougher and the government will want us to pay more and more.

Staying Up To Speed

There are several ways of keeping an eye on the tax situation.   If you have a good accountant, they can advice and steer you in the right direction.   There are radio shows (BBC Radio 4 Money Box and The Bottom Line are good examples), magazines and books.

Personally, I like to stay informed.   It’s all well and good having an accountant to help, but when it comes to money, I like to know the options as and when they become available.  I also like an independent source of information.

Indicator

One very good independent source of advice is provided by a company called Indicator.  They provide fortnightly newsletters on a range of business matters including perks for directors, tax tips, investments, corporation tax, expenses etc.  All of their publications have one goal – to allow you to be aware of legal ways of avoiding paying tax.

If you can pay less PAYE, hold back some of the VAT, and reduce the amount of corporation tax you have to pay, it’s all money for you and your company.   All the recommendations are provided in an easy to understand language, with real examples and how the calculations work.

The advice provided by indicator is not free, there is a half yearly or yearly subscription – but for every subscription there is a money back guarantee.  If after the 6 months or year you have not saved at least the cost of the subscription in tax, you get the money back.  A typical half year subscription is around £31.

The only word of caution is that they do provide a MASSIVE amount of different newsletters.  I would generally recommend the “Tax Tips” news letter which covers most tax subjects fairly well.  If you are interested in a particular subject (such as corporation tax, company cars, benefits etc), they also have books which you can purchase for a one off fee.

But at the end of the day, if you are looking for ways to cut the amount you pay to the government and put more money in your pocket, Indicator is recommended.

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