Spring 2011 Newsletter Content Leading article... Anything up his sleeve? General tax... Relaxed association File under 'e' Research costs? Give early A tax on houses Pension changes Holiday entitlement EISy money VAT... 20:20 vision Horses for courses? Do it yourself That's entertainment All in the contract? Where am I? Law items... What's in a title? The privileged few Called to account Don't mince words

20:20 vision The standard rate of VAT is now 20%. That's where it's going to stay for a few years, according to Mr Osborne – at least that means we won't have to cope with another rate change for a while. There were plenty of problems around 4 January – should I charge my customers 17.5% or 20%? If I agreed a price when the rate was 17.5%, can I increase it afterwards? My supplier's invoice shows 20% when I think it ought to be 17.5% – should I argue, or just pay it and claim the money back from HMRC? If any of these doubts are still unresolved, we will be happy to try to clear them up for you. The simplified schemes for small businesses are not so simple when the rate changes. If you use cash accounting, your method may be to put 7/47 of the receipts in the cash book on your VAT return. That doesn't work if anything was outstanding on 4 January 2011 – if you put 17.5% on the invoice, you pay 7/47 to HMRC even if the money comes in after the rate has gone up. So you need to do a complicated calculation until the last December debtor has paid. If you use the Flat Rate Scheme, the same applies – your flat rate will have changed, but you still apply the old rate to debtors when you receive them. It's also worth checking that the scheme is still in your favour at the new rate – it's possible that you should consider opting back into the normal rules of VAT. At least 20% is easier to work out than 17.5%. For all the other problems, we're here to help.