With January over, and February the shortest month of the year, it's prudent to face up to the fact that the financial year end is now almost upon us and NOW is the time to take action! DNS invite you to take every opportunity for tax saving because tax-planning is our number one asset and we aim to make it yours.

Over the months in a series of bulletins we've highlighted the best opportunities to minimise tax, avoid penalties, win benefits and take advantage of the loopholes that exist to gain an advantage over the taxman. Let's do a quick review of some of these now. Information on many of the items in February's Newsletter can be found on our newly designed  website, go to our Knowledgebase to find the fantastic library of tax tips and articles that aim to keep you up to speed with some of the ingenious ways the DNS Team work to save you tax at every opportunity.

We wrote to you about P11d returns and the importance of applying for a notice of dispensation from HMRC. Take a look at the HMRC guidelines if you like, or read our full article here, but the important thing to remember is that dispensation will save you time and money because you can claim the rates even if you don't spend all of the allowance, as you don't even have to submit receipts. One warning, however, one-man band companies must be careful in relation to expense verification process. Sure DNS can always help you, so contact your account manager to discuss this further.

This is very important, go to the link now to see what is at stake. Most importantly, excuses such as "I didn't realise" do not wash with HMRC because ignorance is zero defense against the law. First we suggest you read our easy to understand slide-show, and then ring your account manager to implement because tax in all its shapes and forms is complex, but at DNS we have all the knowledge, expertise and rigour to ensure you don't fall foul of tax penalties , providing you:

• Always keep and record assets, income, expenditure, expenses- see above, dispensation can help you avoid costly admin involved with keeping expenses receipts.

• Keep accurate records of your mileage and take care to spend on your business account for

  business expenditure.

These are due soon, so please help our team by supplying the information they ask you for. You can go to HMRC website to look at the tasks involved, but be assured that DNS can look after it all for you providing you are diligent. Read our article about the mistakes that can so easily be made with PAYE and remember that it will be you, the employer that must rectify the error if there's a shortfall. Don't fall foul of a PAYE error: read our article and always respond to your account manager's requests.

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1. Not everyone is eligible
2. The time of year redundancy is taken is an important factor
3. There may be a "package" including for example, shares, pension payment, company car, so you must think carefully about what the redundancy "package" includes
4. See above PAYE errors can be nasty and complex.

Contact your account manager to discuss and they can discuss with you if this can be opportunity to you.   

Share the experience! Join the magnificent world of the DNS 15-minute solution: really! In 15 minutes a month you can have full control of your business finances . The online portal  shows you and us real time status of your accounts. This helps us to quickly find out your dividends, wages and profits and allowing us to help you with better tax planning.It reminds you of your due dates and tells you exactly at any time how much you can take and what to pay to taxman. Not only that it ensures your records are upto date helping with mortgages and reference letters very quickly. 

The good news is that portal will be very soon available to small businesses like restaurants, cash business or any small business so watch out for new announcements very soon for small business. 

Few of you who have not got in touch with us despite various requests in relation to your set up on portal please help us and get in touch with your account manager or portal manager and am sure you would enjoy the experience which many of our clients are already enjoying.