If you missed the tax return deadline, you’ll be charged an automatic £100 penalty.

If you fail to pay any tax owed, you will pay further penalties:

• Thirty days late - 5% of the tax you owe at that date
• Six months late – an additional 5% of the tax you owe at that date.
• Twelve months late – an additional 5% of the tax unpaid at that date.

You will have to pay interest on anything you owe at a rate determined by HMRC.

Don’t delay…

If you would like more information on how to complete your self assessment return, call us today on 01327 811164.

Thanks to the weak pound, the export market has boomed, with official figures showing the economy increased by 0.8 per cent between July and September.

Unfortunately this ray of positivity is marred somewhat as the negative effects of the spending cuts start to be felt. Consumers are acting with caution – household spending is in sharp decline, a worrying trend which is likely to get worse as the VAT hike starts to be felt next year.

If the eurozone continues to suffer, this may dampen the positive UK export market – it is our trading partner and Ireland is the fifth biggest player. Due to this fragile situation, it’s likely that interest rates will be kept low.

As 2010 draws to a close we face an uncertain future, let’s just hope that the Government’s support for private business is enough to keep the UK economy afloat and free from a double-dip recession.

This announcement comes in conjunction with the Prime Ministers plans for London’s East End to become a centre of technological innovation to rival Silicon Valley. Global businesses Google, Facebook, Intel, BT, Barclays and consultants McKinsey & Co have already committed to invest in the long-term future of the area, currently growing out of Old Street and Shoreditch. In conjunction with reports that the Olympic Park will become a technology centre after the 2012 games, this part of the capital is set to become a real draw for overseas investors.

According to the Prime Minister, the new visa, “…will mean that if you have a great business idea, and you receive serious investment from a leading investor, you are welcome to set up a business is our country.”

“The founders of Google have said they could never have started their company in Britain. The service they provide depends on taking a snapshot of all the content on the internet at any one time and they feel our copyright system is not as friendly to this sort of innovation as it is in the United States.”

To get round this, a review of intellectual property and copyright laws is also planned, to make them fit the internet age; more in-line with the US’ approach which creates breathing space for new services.

As the world’s resources are being used, savvy businesses know that to be successful they need to consider cutting carbon and putting less strain on natural resources. Under the current CBD framework business does not have a clearly defined role in the process of discussing and creating international policy solutions – regional and national involvement is extremely variable.

The plan put forward, entitled Effective Biodiversity and Ecosystem Policy and Regulation, states that international governments will not be able to create a more sustainable world unless businesses are harnessed as a progressive force.

The report’s goal is to provide insights from a business perspective on public policy options that can achieve the greatest positive impact on biodiversity and ecosystem, with case studies from leading businesses such as Volkswagon and PwC.

All companies affect ecosystems and are dependent on functioning ecosystems to remain in business. Over the next 40 years, ecosystems will be altered faster and more extensively than ever before – posing significant business risks as well as opportunities for new eco-efficient goods, services and technologies.

Policy makers and business cannot keep doing things the same way and expect different results for biodiversity. Business can no longer ignore its biodiversity impacts and dependence – and governments must seek business input to their public policy forums.

Sir David Tweedie made the remarks while speaking in New York to a gathering of analysts. He stated that this was “The last chance”, adding: “The next year is critical, this is it. We can’t kick this tin down the road much longer.” The US is due to make a decision next year on whether to commit itself to full convergence with international standards.

The US still uses US GAAP. Its own national standard setter, FASB, remains without a confirmed new chairman after the sudden retirement of Bob Herz. Leslie Seidman, a board member, is acting chairman from this month. Russell Golden, a favourite for the role, is due to be in London to speak at PwC’s Meet the Experts conference.

The Barclays Business Regional Impact Index has revealed that:

• Yorkshire and Humber had the highest proportion of firms making profit
• Enterprises in London, the south-west and Wales make the biggest contribution overall to their regions
• Companies in central England are growing at the fastest rate and creating more jobs at the quickest pace.

Professor Robert Blackburn of the Small Business Research Centre said that the results show how important small firms are to the UK as a whole, he said: “While this localism is crucial to providing opportunities for consolidation and growth, it is also important for these businesses to look for customers and markets further afield if they are to move to a next stage of development.”

It seems public sector employment has been particularly hard hit, with thousands of people potentially losing their jobs. For the private sector, the picture is not quite so bleak. The Government pledged to invest £200m by 2014, to support manufacturing and business development with a focus on ‘high-growth’ businesses.

Other positive news:
• An extra £2bn a year on capital spending
• Focus on education, science and a low carbon economy
• Developments on export and the inward investment from overseas
• Creation of more apprenticeships

Despite some positive news, there is still a lack of clarity as to how the cuts will actually pan out. For companies, the suspense is not yet over as clarity on the government’s strategy for growth needs to be given, particularly when it comes to leveraging investment. And, with the public sector loosing 490,000 jobs, these moves in the private sector are unlikely to provide work for all the people that have been made redundant.

Last week Barclays launched a range of mortgage tracker deals, offering discounts of up to 0.2 percent off standard rates for current account customers, a trend which is also seen at Santander, HSBC, Halifax and the Co-operative Bank.

For the banks this makes perfect sense, if these borrowers also have a current account, lenders are privy to more information about their financial situation – particularly important in difficult economic times.

Those who may benefit most from loyalty offers include homeowners with little equity in their property. According to data analyst Defaqto, in cases where borrowers have only 10% equity, they could be better off with a loyalty deal. The average two-year fixed rate is 5.77% versus an average rate on the open market of 5.94%.

If your bank does offer you a deal, be prepared to haggle and compare what they’re offering with other providers. It might even be worth switching your current account in order to take advantage of the best loyalty rates, but make sure you read the small print; most banks require customers to pay a certain amount into a current account every month, until they can make a mortgage application.

In addition, the lifetime allowance for total tax-free pension savings has reduced from £1.8m to £1.5m.

At the moment, the government estimates that 100,000 will be affected – this could potentially double as more people get caught if the annual and lifetime allowances remain frozen and inflation takes off.

Marc Hommel, pensions partner at PwC, said: “While the new tax limits are towards the less onerous end of the ranges previously suggested, substantial numbers of people could still be affected, particularly those in final salary schemes with long service and large salary increases.”

This move will be cast a real blow to high-net worth individuals, but is actually higher than some previous estimates predicted. The principle of relief being available at the taxpayer’s highest marginal rate has also been preserved.

The BDO Optimism Index is an indicator of how UK businesses expect trading to develop over the next two quarters. This has continued to fall from 93.1 in August to 91.6 in September. The scale of the index is such that below 95 represents recessionary conditions – current levels are the lowest since the deepest part of the recession in May 2009.

In addition, the firm’s Business Trends report suggests the UK could be heading for no growth at all in the first quarter of 2011, with negative growth predicted for the second quarter of next year.

These projections are in stark contrast with those that underpin the government’s comprehensive spending review, which expects growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2011 and 0.6% in the second quarter, with improvements to the economy continued thereafter.

BDO partner Peter Hemington said: ‘The key risk for the CSR is that economic growth is much more fragile than we thought a few months ago. The government will be concerned about its credibility with the markets if it signals a desire to back away from its retrenchment programme. But the balance of risks has clearly changed since the election.’

Calls for quantitative easing are endorsed by Hemington who suggested that to stimulate growth £50bn needs to be injected in the economy before the end of 2010.