Spring 2008 Newsletter Content Winter Of Discontent CGT Winners CGT Losers Shifty Business Anything To Declare? Long Arm Of The Law Irreplaceable You Earn As You Pay Ask Questions Later Capital Ideas ISA ISA ISA Referee! Go Green VAT Or No VAT? Taking The Register Close Encounters May Contain Nuts Going Concern Ancient History Business And Pleasure Do Your Duty Know Your Rights Time To Go? Passing The Buck

Earn As You Pay A solicitor persuaded his clients to pay his firm for "stamp duty" which wasn't due on their properties because of tax reliefs. He then wrote cheques on the firm's account to "I Revue", making it look like "Inland Revenue" written in a hurry. You can guess where the money went... he was only caught when one of his colleagues noticed that he seemed to be paying HMRC stamp duty on a property that was exempt, and he asked the awkward question. Cheques to the taxman have been stolen in many different ways over the years - "HMRC" is easily changed to "H.M.R.Charles". These days, of course, it's much harder to open a bank account in a name that isn't yours, and the Revenue are also quicker at asking why you haven't paid them. But it's still worth giving a little thought to the security of your self assessment, VAT and PAYE cheques. And wondering how your solicitor drives a Ferrari...