JUL
13
0

Minimising Tax Stress | Money4Dentists.com

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Taxation rules and business ownership regulations seem to be constantly changing and so keeping on top of the financial environment can seem like a never-ending task. 

Just when you think you have understood a new rule, another one is likely to be waiting for you in the Chancellor’s bag. As an owner of a dental practice, it is ultimately your responsibility to ensure your business, employees and own finances are organised correctly and so by spending time, often with an expert, can help to lessen the burden when the end of the financial year hits.

For the last tax year there were 21 new changes implemented by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and now with a new government in place there will no doubt be further changes lined up.  A key part of the Conservative party’s manifesto was to encourage start up businesses and to help in the success of Small and Mid-size Enterprises (SMEs). The majority of dental practices will fall in this band and practice owners are expecting new policies to be introduced to the tax system at the next budget, in July that will benefit their business and employees.

The popular saying of “fail to plan, plan to fail” has never been so true than when applied to tax affairs. Any tax adviser or business accountant with sufficient experience will advise to keep abreast of the tax environment and to plan ahead. Maintaining your records to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date will save a lot of stress at the end of the financial year and minimise those few weeks of scrambling around for information.

Another way to stay in control is by consulting a professional. For example, an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) can direct on how to maximise your income but minimise your tax payments well in advance of the deadline.  They are dedicated to spending time to understand the financial environment and then to advise on what changes you can make to your affairs to best serve you and your business. At money4dentists there is a team of highly experienced and professional IFAs that are dedicated to the dental industry, meaning that they are not only professionally qualified, but also highly knowledgeable about the intricacies of owning and running a dental practice.

With a firm understanding of today’s financial market and over 50 years of experience, money4dentists have a proven track record within this sector. They spend time to understand your professional and personal goals and to then advise on how best to achieve them.  Keep in control, plan ahead and disperse the stress; contact money4dentists today to see how they can help.

 

For more information please call 0845 345 5060, 0754 DENTIST, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.money4dentists.com

 

  3708 Hits
3708 Hits
JUL
09
0

Accountability Holiday

Accountability Holiday

Well the summer looms, indeed some may argue we have had it !!

 

Radiant heat from our nearest star warming the cockles of our hearts is a rare treat in these temperate climes.  Some things never change though, and the weather is one of those. I am sure by the time your read this, moaning about the heat will have rapidly become the usual philosophic whinge about the rain and wind!  Maybe we should talk to our patients about the GDC instead … 

 

And so, it seems, the GDC are to be placed in the same weather related category of criticism. Always something to moan about.  

 

But there is an unavoidable truth:

 

The Executive simply do not get it.

 

The problem, they imply is us moaning dentists  - we just do so always go on about them.  Get a life and move on, you hear, mainly from an anonymous adviser in Wimpole Street somewhere. 

 

 

 

 

Exactly where are we? 

 

 

They are castigated by the Panel Chairman in the Singh case – and we are not talking a “could do better” comment as per my old school report.  We are talking having a “Door Closed, Hat on” interview [Those of a miltary background will recognise that as being as bad as it can get] in which the conversation was very much one way. I think we can imagine the Chairman was using a raised voice when he dictated that little lot!  This of course , suggests the GDC in its imaginative defence, was all down to a one-off with a rogue GDC lawyer who has ‘moved on’.   Funny that.

 

Not satisfied with that there has been a Professional Standards Authority Report. To suggest it is hardly complimentary would be an understatement.  Bottom of the Class. Absolutely useless.   You decide!  The tone of the recent GDC Newsletter for us all suggested they had passed with flying colours. 

 

 

Do they really think we are that stupid? 

 

Many members of the profession have written vociferous, well-argued letters of complaint to their MPs. Although duly acknowledged and in some cases passed on it seems to the Secretary of State for Health, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, little action or redress seems to be being planned.  That said, the MPs and Ministers would be unlikely to signal the intention of Parliament. 

 

 

 

The Damp Sqib of the Health Committee

 

 

It's not about you. It's about not rocking the boats of politics.

 

The Health Select Committee of the House of Commons Accountability Hearing has turned into a damp squib simply because an Election intervened. The HSC committee has only just had a Chair voted in, and the committee has yet to be elected, at the time of writing, in secret ballot of MPs.  Replies from Dr Wollaston MP suggest that the Health Committee might reserve a right to recall the GDC but it is hardly stirring stuff. 

 

 

You would have to be very naïve to image the GDC and its woes are likely to be sliding off the top of the Minister’s full in-tray.  Political agendas are notoriously hard to influence. 

 

 

 

But what weapons do we have to drive change at the GDC? 

  • We could continue to write to our MPs and let the heat of correspondence volume light the fires of scrutiny. 
  • We can continue to write to the PSA but they do not have the powers required. 
  • We could as a profession, call an Emergency Conference – perhaps jointly led by the FGPD, the BDA and perhaps an Indemnifier. As well as a Vote of No Confidence, we could request the resignation, in the name of the wider profession, of the dental members of the GDC.  There are only 6!! 

 

 

 

Peep Peeeeep?

 

We could ask that the Council registrant members use their Whistle-Blowing policy.  Now ironically, they have to go the Chief Executive, or The Chairman [I think not ...]  or the PSA … who have just issued their terrible report, and whom, of course,   … have no authority to do anything! 
 
The PIDA [The Public Interest Disclosure Act] list at the GDC Governance Document written for Council members states 
 
The specified matters should be issues that are in the public interest, for example, under the PIDA these are:  

  •  a criminal offence that has been committed, is being committed, or is likely to be committed; including actual or suspected fraud or misuse of funds;  
  • failure, or likely failure, to comply with a legal obligation;  
  • a miscarriage of justice has occurred or is likely to occur;  
  • an act causing or likely to damage to the environment  
  • actual damage or risk of damage to the health and safety of any individual;  
  • deliberately concealing or attempting to conceal information relating to any of the above 

 

 

 

Well it strikes me based on the cases reported on the GDPUK forum that the GDC are certainly open to accusation on at least three of that list - I will let you adjudge which!


 
GDC Standing Orders for the Council permit either an Emergency Motion [SO 3.7] [requires at least 4 Members to sponsor it]  or a Routine Motion for discussion [ SO 4.3]. 

 

If anything such as a Council Vote of No Confidence were to occur it would need a pretty unanimous vote by the Council and would patently be resisted by the Chairman, Dr Moyes since these items are perversely at his discretion. 

 

 

 

 

So where are we ? 

 

 

 

You have to give the Chairman and his Chief Executive due credit – their hides must be sun baked to a hardness not previously seen. 

 

For Accountability Hearing at Parliament, it looks more like an Accountability Holiday! 

 

The Registrant members by their silence speak volumes and it would appear that  they are happy to take the GDC Shilling. 

 

The BDA are trying, as are the FGDP but are it would seem simply bouncing off the armour plated skins of the Executive. 

 

That leaves us – you know, that’s you, me and the others - to make a public gesture of some sort.

 

A Conference it has to be Ladies and gentlemen to offer a vote of no confidence and to request the honour-bound resignation of dental members of the GDC

 

 

 

 

Who will rid us of this corrupt and disgraced body? 

 

 

It has to be us, everyone else has sadly left town on the Accountability Holiday Omnibus 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GDC Whistle Blowing Policy for Council Members  Page 27/28  http://www.gdc-uk.org/Aboutus/Thecouncil/manual/Governance%20Manual%20for%20COUNCIL%20MEMBERS.pdf 

 

 

 

  11227 Hits
11227 Hits
OCT
13
0

Measuring Success

Measuring Success

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” (Peter Drucker)

On a number of blogs I have written over the last few years, I have mentioned one huge benefit of advertising online and that is accountability and the fact that transparency can be seen as a huge advantage to the marketing team.

Having the ability to track or getting feedback from your ads is critical. Other advertising forms can be hard to track; using display ads means you can receive weekly or even daily updates. This kind of information tells you whether your advertising/marketing effort is succeeding or you need to tweak it. Feedback reports can guide you to better strategies and more successful marketing.

Experienced marketers say that one of the greatest benefits of online advertising is its measurability and the information it provides about your audience. It is a win-win situation, you can learn about your visitors while they are getting to know you. This means you are getting instant input about the effectiveness of your campaigns which can then be quickly modified to increase conversions and sales.

Online marketing is wildly more measurable than offline marketing but it is still marketing, as we are all aware humans are complicated and unpredictable, I just think it appeals to the marketer’s brain and budget constraints that there is a huge benefit to receiving reports and statistics to show for their marketing spend.

We have just returned from the BDIA Dental Showcase, it was great to catch up and chat with a range of people in the Dental family. When it came to the subject of online marketing, they kept coming back to accountability and the fact that since they had embraced digital advertising; they were increasingly getting a better idea of which campaigns worked and which media platforms to use.

It is still too early to make a final judgement but I believe the appeal of greater measurability and accountability in online marketing is beginning to pick up further support from the dental marketing community. What do you think? Is it true that you cant manage what you can't measure? Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

  5122 Hits
5122 Hits

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