Turnaround Programme: Q & A's

1	Ten years ago I set up a graphic design consultancy business with my girlfriend. We've got clients all over the country now so it's doing very well and we have recently decided to get married. Is there anything we should be aware of in terms of shareholdings and structure before we take the plunge?
	If the business is operated as a partnership then there will be no significant changes as a result of your marriage. If the business is a limited company and you and your girlfriend are both director shareholders, the marriage will have no effect in terms of your remunerations/dividends from the company as you will remain separate individuals for tax purposes, although you will be able to transfer shares between you without any tax implications. As a limited company, you will need to be aware of any other companies which you or your girlfriend may control. Once married, you will each be deemed to control the company by virtue of your spouse's shareholding. If you control any other companies, individually or jointly, the corporation tax bands will be reduced thereby potentially increasing the amount of corporation tax payable. Finally, as with any major changes in circumstances, you should review your wills and make sure your accountant is aware of the changes taking place.
2	I run a manufacturing business and employ around 80 people. One of my employees has mentioned to our HR department that there is a scheme called "Gift Aid It" which enables donations to charity to be made via PAYE. I have never heard of the scheme but apparently it can be beneficial to both the charity in question and the individual making the donation. Do you have any information on how I can set it up?
	"Gift Aid It" enables charities to claim back the tax from any person whose salary is paid through PAYE. For very pound given, the charity will receive an extra 28p from the Inland Revenue. This means that a £10 Gift Aid donation, is worth £12.80 - which can make a huge difference to the charity you support, and it doesn't cost you a thing. On top of this, higher rate taxpayers are eligible to reclaim as much as £23 from the taxman for every £100 donated to charity, by including details of their Gift Aid donations on their Self Assessment form, by contacting the Inland Revenue or Tax Accountant will enable you to complete the information for the claim. If want the charity to receive instant tax savings, it is suggested donations through Payroll Giving is the most tax efficient way of giving for two reasons;, firstly all donations received are tax efficient as the donation is taken at source, secondly the charities benefit as they do not have to process the claim, cutting down on administration. The Charities Trust, one of the largest Payroll Giving Agencies in the UK and based in Liverpool, can assist will any Gift Aid It claim or help any organisation who wishes to setup Payroll Giving. There is an SME Grant available for companies with less than 500 people setting up Payroll Giving for the first time. For more information on Gift Aid and Payroll Giving visit www.charitiestrust.org
2	I run a small business which sells package holidays for people over the age of 60. I have been told my website is not compliant with disability regulations. Is there a way of designing a site that could be specially designed for people with sight difficulties or, for example if they are colour blind?
	There are lots of options available to web designers when addressing issues with visual impairments. Most professional designers already try to develop their sites so the widest cross section of the community can access them. With the diverse range of software available to users nowadays, it is becoming more and more important to design sites which are easy to access. There should not be any loss of quality in design though. A good resource for guidance to designing sites for visually impaired users can be found at: http://www.rnib.org.uk. For site visitors who are colour blind, there are various techniques that can be used to make the site easy to use. Blacks and deeper shades of blue will, on the whole, stand up well but as you probably know there are varying types of colour blindness and to discuss the implications fully would take several pages. Visit http://www.InternetTG.org/ This site even has a colour chart which shows the different colours a user would see based on a web safe palette. In general, an overall recommendation would be to seek out professional guidance to help you achieve a satisfactory result for all users to the site.

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If you are having problems call the Turnaround Hotline immediately
on 0845 050 1820 in confidence and remember, if you see an advisor there is no charge for the first visit.

You can also email turnaround@afm.uk.com or call the AFM switchboard on 0151 236 4040.