Last month we reported on the campaign by the professional bodies to stop a proposal to bring forward the personal self assessment tax return deadline to the end of November from its current date of 31 January following the end of the tax year. This month we are able to bring you some hope on this issue.

• IHT and trusts
• Tax return deadline
• Pensions white paper
• Work and families bill receives royal assent
• HMRC get tough on status
• Businesses looking for older employees
• Consultation on holiday entitlement
• Free guide for new employers
• ‘Train to Gain’ incentives
• Ebay tax cheats

Last month we reported on the proposed inheritance tax (IHT) changes for trusts. The professional bodies are lobbying HMRC and the government to reconsider the rules and we will keep you in touch with developments. If you have a trust, created before Budget day, there is no need to take any immediate action as the IHT charges will not generally take effect until 2008.

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HMRC have issued revised guidance on the treatment of tips and troncs. This issue has been the subject of debate for some time with HMRC changing their guidance. Part of their recent attack was aimed at troncs, schemes operated by employees (and not the employer) to collect and distribute tips to other employees and, in particular, the National Insurance Contributions (NICs) due on tips distributed through troncs.

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A decision in the High Court has overturned HMRC’s usual interpretation of the rules on associated companies. The small companies rate of tax of 19% is payable where a company’s profits are less than the upper limit of £300,000. Where the company has associates (broadly companies under common control) the upper limit has to be divided equally between the companies, resulting in the companies paying higher rates of corporation tax if they breach this reduced limit.

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Last month we reported that forms P11D which report details of employees’ benefits in kind and expenses have to be with HMRC by 6 July. Some of you will no doubt be trying to collate the necessary information to prepare these forms which is a time consuming process.

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Under the Civil Contingencies Act local authorities are now obliged to help businesses plan for disasters such as fires, terrorist attacks and bird flu. The new services, launched recently, are designed to ensure that disasters cause as little damage to the economy as possible and businesses continue to trade.

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Independent shopkeepers are expected to score a higher percentage of alcohol sales than the big supermarkets during this summer’s football World Cup. Scottish and Newcastle UK predicts that independents will account for two thirds of the extra sales of beer to be drunk at home during the tournament.

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Did you know that more than 1,000 emails were sent every second in the UK last month. Nine out of ten were spam according to research by search engine provider Lycos. The worst offenders are finance and pharmaceutical firms. Record numbers mean some people are reaching ‘email overload’, with 12% of users receiving more than 200 messages a day.

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ACAS have published a free guide for business owners to help them prepare for the regulations which take effect from 1 October 2006. The guide looks at key areas such as recruitment, appraisal, promotion, redundancy and retirement. The guidance is being produced now so you can review your procedures before the legislation takes effect.

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There has been a lot of recent publicity about HMRC formally requesting financial institutions, including Barclays, to deliver up details relating to offshore bank accounts. This is clearly a major offensive by HMRC, who seem to feel that many UK residents ‘hide’ monies offshore.

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Two new Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) are to be created under a multi-million pound government scheme to boost innovation, jobs and growth for small businesses trapped in the equity gap, Small Business Minister Margaret Hodge has announced.

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